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I've got it, it was a bit hard to work it out and it took me a while but I finally figured it out. The line in the middle of the road is continious saying you can't overtake but it is obvious and clear enough that you can...Phew, that was a hard one

We may have burned that bridge. I'd like us to learn the lessons from Ukraine and give up on manned subs altogether. Remotely operated seems far better in every respect.

1.6b would be worth it. Staying in will result in orders of magnitude more loss and still nothing to show for it. The USA is simply not a trustworthy military ally.

Not only do you admit, but you show it with what you think is fake news from the ABC. If renewables are the reason for price rises, why is NSW, SA, and SE QLD getting free electricity because of solar? The reason for electricity price rises globally is the massive increase in gas price increases due to peak in demand of electricity post pandemic, severe supply chain issues, and the Russian invasion. I still don't know why, but that drove up coal prices, and guess what? John Howrards criminally short sighted policies of selling gas to the Chinese at even then knock-down prices and hold them for god knows how long at that price without indexation (must have been a very big brown paper bag involved somewhere) and successive governments allowing coal being liberalised to be traded on the open global market wthout reserving necessary supply domestically at cost of extraction plus decent profit margin (admittedly, when the price of coal is down, that would work against the consumer - but at least there would be certainty of what you have to pay), and - voilla! There you have your increasing electricity prices.. As with any new technology, there is a short term capital investment recovery built into the price, but in a fully competitive or well regulated market where structural impediments of entry and exit exist (take your pick), once that is recovered, the prices tend to stabilise near the cost of production + a margin for ongoing returns. We are starting to see it in solar. Renewables are cheaper longer term than any other form of generation. Remeber the price of colour TVs when they came out. More expesnive in absolute terms than you can buy them now. Imagine the real cost difference? Yeah, ABC don't get it right all the time and they do sometimes show bias, especially on one issue - in my opinion. But I have found when you dig into the facts, more often than not, they are far closer to objectivity than the others, willing to admit they make mistakes better than the others, and even on the area I think they are biased, they are no more so than most of the others (whether it fits my agenda or doesn't).

That was interesting. At the end of the video they make the point that as effective as they Australian’s methods were in the field, they resulted in high levels of PTSD and long term difficulties adjusting to civilian life after the war.

I'll bet he's got just the right war surplus Russian ejector seat for it, too ...... ready to go!

True, we'll never see that money again. Whether we actually get the hoped for subs or not. Further, I question the wisdom of continuing the massive money drain, purely in the hopes of getting some outdated weaponry sometime in the distant future. What new war toys might our military wish to buy in 2040 (or later, when you allow for expected late delivery) for all those taxpayer dollars? Probably not those old-before-new subs. And what manufacturing capability & quality can we expect from the New America? Their industrial abilities are not what they used to be.

There's plenty who whinge more than you Jerry, and not even in England.

I have a question.. Once it is done, which of your helmets are you going to wear when riding it? 🙂 OK.. I'll get my hat and coat as well.. I'll shut the door quietly.

I only heard it for the first time in 2018. I led a sheltered life.

I know the military and the department of defence are always reviewing their property portfolio to optimise it for modern day use. A war machine costs money and requires modern amenities. However, I can't help but think there are brown paper bags passing about in the halls of our decision makers. Not for sall of the properties. But Victoria Barracks in both Melbourne and Sydney, for example, are historically significant and an essential part of the fabric of their area; they are architecurally and environmentally a part of the culture and provide a welcome relief from the many bland building around them. Of course, they and the land they are upon are a developer's nirvana. And developers have little regard for the quality of the environment of what they develop to the communities they affect. Yes, they will be expensive to maintain. But sometimes things are important enought to warrant the cost. Otherwise we end up with bland, faceless streetscapes with no acknowledgment of our past, nor the variety and space that can bring enjoyment to dull days.

Holy thread resurrection! I see it was started and up until today finished a day before I joined the forums! You fellas are into your 10th year suffering my rants and raves - more rants.. England has that effect on one.. Am I now a whinging pom?

It was well known amongst "ordinary" Australian soldiers, that the SAS were called "super-grunts", and they considered all other ordinary soldiers, as far below them in skills. Just the psychological effects of SAS training were severe, and huge numbers of SAS applicants fell out of the SAS courses, because they failed to make the grade. Their training is brutal.

You can't overtake if the unbroken line is on your side of the road too.

Poms were very good at it and DO have the Name. I blame the weather and the fogs in London in the OLD days. A lot of them worked in factories for bugger all. AND........... there was of course, the BLITZ. Nev

Make TRUMP "OWN" "Pulling the Plug " On the deal. Then you have the better bargaining position in the future. and world wide exposure of a poor show. Breast Beating is for SHOWMEN ( idiots) like Scomo who Offsided France and China. Never forget what the USA did to New Zealand when they wouldn't allow US Nuclear subs to Berth there, because they were anti Nuclear policy no matter who you were.. Just Bullies. Nev

He's going to wear his rat bike helmet - fitted with a German spike, of course.

Ian doesn't drive on country highways very much. Long stretches of no overtaking on straight roads are common.

The joke was that there are no potholes.

I didn't say we shouldn't write off the "investment" and stop throwing good money after bad. I was merely stating we are already in loss territory. I owuld like us to buy nuclear subs form the French. The size is more appropriate to our waters.

When he realises it will cost him votes. Too late.. we have already spent $1.6bn under the bits that allow the US or Aus or the UK to kill the deal and we will not get refunded. He should have pulled out day 1 and negotiated a better deal.. For some reason that review when Albo took office was very uick and decided to continue. It would be a lot harder for them to mount that sort of raid in Aus.. And it would cost them a lot more than Cuba already has.

It's an image, so by definition, it is a real image... Just not everything in the image is real.

There is no doubt that Australains who have not been directly impacted by the recent fire and flood situations are sympathetic to those who have. Merely say that the impacted are in our thoughts and prayers doesn't seem enough. What can we do? Many victims only have the clothes they stand up in. Should we send clothing? Nice thought, but impractical. I volunteer at a charity shop where we receive bags and bags of donated clothing. It is a daily battle to sort through these donations to classify them and prepare them for display for sale. Even when that is done, we have difficulty in storing them. If we wanted to dontate them, where would we send them, and how? Clothing is not the only thing that these victims need. Where's the bog rolls; the baby nappies, the female hygeine products, the incontinence pads? Did you ever think that these might be more important to some victims than a selection of clothing? The National Emergency Management Agency https://www.nema.gov.au/ is a Commonwealth agency whose goal is to lead and coordinate national action and assistance across the emergency management continuum. To do this the agency works with State and Federl entities, Charitable organisations and leaders of the Public Sector to get aid to victims of disasters in the immediate aftermath and later in the recovery period. The best way for individuals to give help is by donating money to funds properly set up through charitable organisations and the like where monetary donations can be lodge into accounts managed by the major banks. The warning that must be given about donating is to never donate following a request made via a communication medium. If you want to donate, it is best to walk into a bank yourself.

This bike build project will have to progress in tandem to the shed renovation project. Until the 6x6 metre workshop space is properly sorted not much mechanical work can go on. There's a fair bit of structural alterations needed in there. A few more steel diagonal braces will have their brackets relocated so shelving and benches will sit against the wall better. One set of braces will be removed and the timber frame wall between the steel upright shed poles will be upgraded to a bracing wall to compensate for the loss of the diagonal braces. That section already has a timber wall frame attached to the poles, which also serves as a wall for an attached 3x3 metre room, so it's just a matter of fitting some more tie down and adding bracing ply. If I put bracing ply on both sides of the wall, the kN of bracing should exceed the original diagonals. In the short term, I've been clearing out the attached 3x3 metre room to put some shelving in to hold components for the bike project. As per the attached photo, the inside wall is unlined, so I'll insulate that and cover it with bracing ply, paint the wall, then put the shelves in. Before the shelving goes in, the adjoining wall at right angles to it (the one mentioned above) will have the corrugated iron cladding removed and be replaced with bracing ply (it's the rear side of the wall where the steel diagonals will be removed). In a fit of madness years ago, I fastened that corrugated iron internal cladding with roofing nails instead of roofing screws, so that's added a lot of extra work to removing it.

The ABC have to give equal time etc and get scrutinised More than anybody else. "Insiders" is a waste of time. ABC Covers emergencies way better than anyone Else. The."Others" are against the ABC constantly, of course. Nev

If the ABC said anything that could be construed by the rabid right as even slightly left of centre, regardless of how factual it is, they get hounded by the Murdoch press and face political pressure. There is no comparison with Sky. If you think that the ABC is reporting factually incorrect news, provide examples.

Re the Australian SAS and the American soldiers in Vietnam, this documentary (link below) is quite good, and pretty accurate. A lot of the war and military scenes are irrelevant, repetitive and often unrelated - but the narration is accurate. I'm not sure the Americans have learn anything since Vietnam, their arrogance and gung-ho attitude still persists. Even Gen Westmoreland was quoted as saying, "If you want to see how it's done, go to Phuoc Tuy province and see how the Australians do it". The American military was totally obsessed with one thing - enemy kill numbers. They prioritised that over anything else, this attitude simply led to American soldier lying about kills and simply throwing more and more heavy weaponry into any battle with the enemy. The VC and NVA knew this and specialised in hit and run ambushes on American troops that were very effective. Kill a good handful of Americans in the first 30 seconds, then withdraw rapidly before the Americans could even determine where the enemy were - and the VC and NVA were well away before the U.S. gunships and artillery arrived to fill the entire region with lead and explosive armaments - and half the time killing more American troops than the numbers of VC or NVA that attacked them. Many Australian SAS members had serious reservations about working with U.S. soldiers, simply because it was well known the Americans stood as high a chance of killing you, as the VC or NVA did. The technique of gathering up and studying every piece of enemy information that could be obtained, was reinforced by an Australian Army Engineer, Capt Sandy McGregor. McGregor was OC of our Engineer Squadron while I was in Vietnam - 17 Construction Sqdn. He was formerly OC of 1st Field Squadron, where he developed the Tunnel Rats teams - Engineer Sappers that went down into VC and NVA tunnels and bunkers, armed only with a torch and a pistol, to determine tunnel layouts and size - and especially, to try and capture enemy documentation and equipment. It took real guts to be a Tunnel Rat, and they had to cope with hidden booby traps in tunnels and bunkers (even poisonous snakes and scorpions), coming across enemy, and being flooded and drowned by VC/NVA traps. But the intelligence gathered by Tunnel Rats, especially documents and equipment, was utterly invaluable to Australian Intelligence. The Americans would just bomb or destroy bunkers and tunnels with explosives, and gain no enemy information. In one intelligence-gathering raid, the Australian Engineers captured a large list of NVA soldiers names, and top VC operational commanders names - but the list was ignored, and filed away by the Americans.

Trumps "AMERICA" is dysfunctional and can be trusted by NO ONE. That's where we are at. Nev

His administration carried out human rights abuses, including mass killings, and collapsed the economy. Copied from the Wikipedia entry for Idi Amin. I could not help but think that it applies to Trump.

The largest military property sell-off in Australian history is underway, after the Albanese government agreed to put 64 ‘vacant, decaying’ Defence sites – estimated to be worth as much as $3 billion – on the market.. Some of Australia’s most valuable and historically significant military landholdings are now up for grabs, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney’s exclusive Paddington and its Melbourne counterpart, as well as the birthplace of the RAAF, Williams Base at Point Cook. Theis is an operating airfield and home of the RAAF Museum