onetrack

Good ol' Jimmy Buffet, one of my favorite singers! - "Cheeseburger in Paradise".

They would need to double or triple the size of the audit teams to be able to deal with the amount of "collectibles" of modest value, that regularly change hands. So much of it is done in cash transactions.

Nev, I havn't been in business for many years. This is just my retirement hobby. I get no tax deductions for anything!

I have a yard full of "collectibles". Most others view my "collectibles" as "junk". I just have to convince the ATO when I make a killing selling one of my "collectibles", that it's not taxable! 😄

While the Govt tries to exact small amounts of tax on collectable items hoarded by working class individuals, they let global corporations and billionaires get away with paying bugger-all tax on multi-million dollar profits, because it's "too hard" to stop their innovative and devious loophole-finding tax arrangements.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same". Originally coined by French critic Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849, as "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose".

The ABC has a very good and highly relevant article on the current death of democracy, brought about by a common failure to tax billionaires, which leads to autocracy, and therefore excessive concentration of important decision-making power, into a small number of unelected super-rich people. What the article fails to include, is the point that concentration of wealth in just a few peoples hands, leads to a constant cost squeeze on the middle class and working class, who end up bearing the brunt of the taxation payments. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-17/democracy-cannot-survive-trillionaires-gabriel-zucman-elon-musk/106798842

From the Shovel (a satirical mag, in case you had to ask) .....

It appears as if quite a number of councils are really badly run, regardless of the State of Australia they're in. Here on the left coast, we've had quite a few councillors suspended, and their council placed under administration. The suspensions usually come about because of council infighting that makes the council dysfunctional. So the W.A. Govt steps in and appoints an Adminstrator for the Council until new elections are held. In some cases, the council is placed into Administration due to essentially becoming bankrupt due to poor financial planning, bad management, and gold-plated local projects. The Coolgardie Shire Council is typical, they went and built a massive mining accommodation camp, then COVID hit, and they ended up with a half-empty camp and a huge debt. I think the Camp cost around $45M, and there was still about $25M owing on it, when the Govt stepped in with a Strict Monitoring Plan, whereby the Council has to show it can regain proper financial and management control of its operations. The Coogardie Council Primary problems included: Financial Distress: The Shire recorded significant multi-million-dollar budget deficits and incurred liabilities exceeding assets, casting doubt on its viability. This resulted in deferred infrastructure projects, ratepayer protests, and community-led overhaul initiatives. Administrative Mismanagement: The Auditor-General’s audit highlighted that the council used restricted funds to cover shortfalls, failed to follow purchasing policies for a $1-million housing project, and paid out $150,000 to settle two unfair dismissal claims. Remote Work Controversy: The audit exposed that a senior employee was permitted to work remotely from the Caribbean island of Montserrat for almost a year, improperly drawing a council salary. Executive Turmoil: Long-serving Chief Executive James Trail was suspended following workplace culture investigations and subsequently left the council. The Chief Financial Officer was also suspended, requiring the Shire to implement an ongoing Financial Recovery Plan. I am very fortunate to live in the City of Stirling, which is well-run, has minimal debt, no "councillor-enhancing" projects, and has only very modest increases in rates, year on year. The City of Stirling rate increases have ranged from 2.95% to 4.9% annually over the last few years, with this year being the biggest at 4.9%. The City had to cope with a major Auditor-Generals upwards revaluation of Gross Rental Values right across the entire City in 2025, and they reduced the "rate-in-the-dollar" charges to reduce any major impact on residents rate bills. They're the biggest Council in W.A., with 254,000 residents, and they have to look after around 105 sq kms of very intensely developed surburbia. I read an article earlier today, where Albury is looking at a 42% increase in rates over the next 2 years! That is unbelievable! Either the residents have been getting dirt-cheap rates for too long, or the council has been too exuberant with its spending. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-16/albury-council-looks-to-steeply-increase-rates/106802924

No, I think Brendan has a major anger management problem, and he needs to address that, before he can hold a respectful and courteous discussion without ranting.

Fire levies are based on user pays. Rural property owners are wealthy people, they can afford to pay more for firefighting services, than someone living in a city apartment or house - and the farming properties are the places where the biggest fires develop, and need the biggest number of high-cost equipment. I seem to recall all the fire brigades have received hundreds of millions worth of new trucks and equipment in recent times - all due to whinging by farmers. Someone has to pay for it. I own a bare 2000 sq m industrial block in a country town, yet I still have to pay a very substantial fire levy, despite my fire loss risk being virtually zero. All the firies are running around in brand new 4WD Isuzu trucks and V8 diesel Landcruisers, I wish I could afford all the new equipment they get, on a regular basis.

I must say I'm very fortunate to have never taken up smoking or drinking in excessive amounts, from even pre-teen years. I can remember finding a packet of Turf cigarettes on the road whilst riding my bike when I was about 10 - tried one, and after coughing and spluttering for a while, thought, "Why the hell would anyone want to do this??" I threw the rest of the packet away. I guess having bad asthma for many years as a child, made me very wary about doing anything adverse, that would affect my breathing ability or lung capacity. The same went for alcohol. Neither of my parents drank much alcohol at all. They would buy a bottle of Rose or Vermouth and have a little with meals. I never saw them in the bars of pubs, knocking back constant glasses of beer, wine or spirits. My teenage mates were never big on booze, and when I went to parties where beer was offered, I decided I hated the taste of it. So I became a very moderate wine and spirits drinker. A bottle of Whisky lasts me 12 to 18 months, and even longer in recent times. I used have a few glasses every month, of mostly white wine, in the 70's and 80's, but mostly when dining out. I was never a big party-goer anyway, I was always working, trying to build up a business, and operating and repairing machines and dealing with clients. Funnily enough, I worked in industries (earthmoving/trucking/mining) where heavy boozing was just a daily habit. A "carton a day" was common amongst compatriots. Even in the Army, I drank very little, while at least half of the other blokes in the Army were borderline alcoholics, and the lager culture ruled in the military. The more I learn as I get older, is just how much many diseases and body organ failures, are linked back to excessive alcohol consumption and smoking. I have never seen a centenarian who was a heavy drinker, but I've watched a lot of business and work associates, and a few friends, die too young, with alcohol or smoking-related complaints. And of course, quite a few died in alcohol-related car accidents, often self-inflicted. But my elder brother was killed by a drunk in a 5 ton Ford truck when I was 15, and he was 25 and newly married, so I guess that affected me for life, too. Good on you Jerry, for going almost alcohol-free, it has major advantages as you age. I found that as I aged, the adverse effects of alcohol on the day after drinking a few, became harder to shake off.

If you think the current crop of Federal Labor politicians are crooked and liars, you must have a short memory. Johnny Howard was a pretty good liar when it suited his aims. He took us into an unnecessary and useless War in Iraq, selling us American lies disguised as Truth. If Hanson gets any kind of power, she'd be right up there with Trump, sending all our Defence personnel and equipment to help in his unpopular, illegal, and unconstitutional Iranian War. I quoted the Hancocks, because Hanson adores Gina Hancock, takes millions from her, and thereby owes her "big-time", and would do whatever Gina insisted, such as ensuring unions were gutted - just like America, where workers rights don't exist, only continuous concessions to huge corporations. This American bloke in the video below points out how Australia is the land of robber barons, enriching themselves annually beyond the ordinary persons wildest dreams - whilst not working any harder than a lot of everyday employees. The corporate control over all over polticians is frightening - but the right wing politicians continually concede major concessions to them, thus making the everyday cost of living harder and harder for ordinary Australians. Hanson would be a pushover for corporate greed, and corporate greed drives a lot of Australia's basic problems. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/other/the-real-power-structure-controlling-australia-s-economy/vi-AA21hRmY

Gary Larson at his best again, with Far Side humour .....

Bullying?? This - from one of the most abusive, right wing ranters I have seen on any forum? In every second post you are being personally abusive to other contributors, with personal denigration attacks. You take peoples statements out of context, or amplify them to extreme levels. You abuse Nev because he has reservations about Rotax engine designs, and makes out that he says all Rotax-powered aircraft are going to fall from the sky. I'm not "shit-scared" of getting out of my car in Northam - but I do have personal experience of my wife being threatened with rape in a womans toilet in Northam by a gang of dark-skinned teenage juveniles who followed her in, unbeknowns to me. I do know, with 5 police or ex-police in our extended family, that Northam registers high on crime rates, and I know it's a combination of drugs, poor parenting, and juvenile delinquency. My nephews big industrial property just out of Northam was raided, and the thieves stole every computer in the place, costing him a motza. The crims weren't immigrants. These problems, of poor parenting, drugs, juveniles being led in to crime, are world wide, not just in Victoria. Your state does seem to have a spike in crime by the offspring of Sudanese immigrants, I guess the police will get a handle on it, soon. You live in a world of "left-wing" hatred and abuse, generated by Hanson, Trump, Gina Hancock, et al. It's about time you took a hard look at yourself and put yourself in other peoples shoes. You're obviously very wealthy, you own several trucks, you're a businessman, you own aircraft, you can afford to fly regularly, you probably own more than one property. You've achieved all that, despite "left wing liars" (another abusive right wing tirade - as if right-wing politicians never lie) being in Federal and State power, for a large proportion of the 21st century. You still make good money under Labor control and decision-making. I guess you want to live in the right-wing dream world where there are only white people in Australia, where corporations can do what they like, where poor people are alway just regarded as poor, because they're lazy, and where juvenile criminals are sent to the electric chair for stealing a car. You live in a world of childish simplistic answers and solutions.