onetrack

....run by a consistent string of socialist Govts, who support unions and fair wages! Horror! I've even heard those Labor Govts called "Commy Govts" by Americans!

When the Americans built the US Naval Communication Station, North West Cape, at Exmouth, W.A. between 1963 and 1967, everything to build the base, was shipped in from the U.S. When I say everything, I mean everything. The Americans shipped in their own prefab housing, their own power generation, and they even built their own baseball fields and a bowling alley, so the troops would feel right at home, and not in a hostile and foreign environment, like Australia. 😄 Even every fitting in the buildings, right down to hinges and fasteners, was imported from the U.S. In addition, even though LHD cars were banned on Australian roads, the Americans were allowed to import as many LHD vehicles as they wanted, so they wouldn't feel like they were in a foreign land, where the natives drove on the wrong side of the road. Unfortunately, the Americans couldn't change the local road rules, or the side of the road they drove on, so they had to put up with driving their LHD vehicles on the wrong side of the road, at all times. Fortunately, Australia insisted the town had to be on 240V AC power, which must have caused a lot of angst amongst the Americans used to 110V AC power. When the land for the base was leased to the Americans by a Liberal right-wing Govt ("all the way with LBJ!"), it was for peppercorn rental. Only when a Labor Govt was elected in Australia in 1972, was the base operation and rental costs put under scrutiny. Slowly but surely, Australian Naval personnel were allowed to operate in conjunction with the Americans at Exmouth. But all the Australian Navy personnel, including their leaders, were banned from access to the U.S. Naval Communications Cipher Room for many years. Ever so slowly, the Americans gradually relented and handed more and more operational power over to the Australian military, for the base operations. It was eventually turned into an Australian Naval Communication station by 1999, with an Australian Naval Commander initially taking control of the base in 1991. The Americans finally withdrew in 1993, and they sold off the base housing - fairly cheaply, it seemed to many keen buyers. Then those house buyers found that the American houses built there, couldn't be repaired using standard Australian building materials. Doorways were a U.S. standard, 3' 0" wide, to accommodate big Americans (as compared to the Australian standard of 2' 8" or 815mm). Fittings and plumbing all had to be changed if repairs were needed. Those houses ended up not being such a bargain after all. Numbers of the LHD cars from the base stayed here after the local authorities relented, and allowed LHD vehicles to be imported and driven on Australian roads. I would guess the Americans got good money for their used Yank Tanks, due to high local demand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Communication_Station_Harold_E._Holt

Hi Rod, thanks for your input, and much additional information. No, I haven't read your book, but I do sympathise with you, as I stated. I too, have had similar dealings with powerful people who destroyed my life and all my hard-won assets - they're called a Bank, and they are run by despicable people who are prepared to crush customers in favour of intransigent and ruthless bank decision-making. So I do understand how you feel about people with virtually unaccountable power, and little recourse against blatant injustice, unless you want to spend decades in the courts, and spending millions you haven't got. Yes, you have had dealings with me many years ago, via a historical truck forum. I sold you some large diameter studs to suit your Chamberlain tractor. I trust you're keeing well in your advanced years. I find it better as I age, not to dwell on past injustices that one can do little about. Hold your head up high, that you know in your own mind, that you have no regrets about what you did.

This group of British newshounds have a brilliant takedown of Trumps peace agreement with Iran. In essence, he's spent multiple billions to achieve SFA. As the bloke says, in the peace agreement, there is absolutely NOTHING, as regards the following "requirements", originally set by Trump. 1. Regime Change 2. Human Rights and the protection of Iran's regime protesters 3. Free transit of the Straits of Hormuz to all shipping 4. The Iranian Ballistic Missile program being stopped 5. Nuclear weapon manufacturing being stopped However, Trump has now effectively PAID to restore the status quo, as regards America's greatest enemy, with the lifting of sanctions, and the return of Irans frozen assets, which amount to well over US$100B. Iran can now trade its oil freely on world markets, bringing in vast amounts of money, that will enable the regime to repair all the American damage, and build more armaments. Trump savages Obama for his "bad deal" with Iran over nuclear weapon manufacturing. This exercise of Trumps makes Obama's deal look like a winner, in comparison to Trumps latest balls-up. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1477523247022527

The love affair between Geogia Meloni and Trump appears to have fallen on rocky times - thanks to the scales apparently falling off Georgia's eyes. Once, once of Trumps greatest arse-lickers, she stopped at supporting him when it came to the Iran War. She stopped the U.S. from using Italian air bases to carry out attacks on Iran. Trump, speaking in a phone interview with Italian broadcaster La7, claimed that Meloni had “begged” to take a photograph with him. “She begged me to take a photo with her. She wanted a photo with me so badly. I might not even have done it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said. Referring to their interaction at the G7 summit, he added that Meloni was “probably happy that I spoke to her” and that he “was not obliged to speak to her.” Prior to the post-summit interviews, Trump's behavior at the G7 drew notable attention. Footage circulated online of Trump complaining about having "the lowest chair in the room," with cameras capturing Meloni's visible exasperation and eye-rolling reaction. It's good to see that Meloni has finally woken up to Trumps buffoonery and lies and outright fabricated BS at the highest levels. The Italian politicians are especially scathing of Trumps perfomance at the G7. Meloni has come back fighting, saying, "Neither I nor Italy ever beg!" She posted a video answering Trump’s statement, saying that "certain things deserve an immediate response". "Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned," she said. "I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. After all, this isn’t the first time this has happened." She went on, "I can only say that it's a pity he doesn't show the same determination with enemies of the West, with enemies of the United States, with leaders with whom, instead, he is far more accommodating". Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Italys top diplomat, called Trumps words "grave and offensive", and cancelled a scheduled trip to the United States, thus creating a political freeze. How you could place "diplomacy" and Trump in the one sentence has me beat, though. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio suggested Trump’s remarks besmirched the legacy of the US soldiers who died during World War II. “The thousands of crosses marking the graves of American soldiers who died to free us from Nazi-Fascist dictatorship did not deserve such a painful blow to our fraternal ties,” Nordio posted on X. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said he did not believe Meloni would ever beg for a photo, "not even under threat". "Jokes of this kind do no good to anyone: neither to the USA, nor to Italy, nor to the alliance", he said. Trump has come back, complaining that Meloni "lacks courage", has failed to support NATO, and he's threatening to remove U.S. forces from Italian soil. It's amazing that this moron is now abusing Meloni for failing to support NATO, when Trump has done everything in his power to dismantle NATO.

Asia is eye-opening when it comes to vehicle misuse. As Army engineers working on road construction in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, we were constantly amazed at what the Vietnamese considered a normal load for any vehicle or motorcycle. The Lambro 3 wheelers ("Tuk-tuks", or "xe lam" as the Vietnamese called them) were universal transport, and they were used to regularly transport workers to and from the rice paddies. As we often had construction road works they would have to traverse, they would often have to unload passengers to get through the road works. One day, a Lambro full of rice paddy workers (all girls and women, I might add), unloaded its passengers so it could get past us at the road works. We counted THIRTY SEVEN women and girls getting out of that Lambro! Admittedly, the Vietnamese women and girls are only tiny, but even at that, thirty seven people in a Lambro would have to be some kind of record.

And for carrying Mother, when you couldn't afford a car.

"If you can dream it, you can do it". Universally attributed as a saying, to Walt Disney - but the experts claim it was an advertising executive working for GE, who wrote it on a GE recruiting brochure.

Wasn't BMW the original 2WD motorcyle/sidecar combination of WW2? Did Ural copy them?

The only thing needed for munitions storage is a large cleared area in a rural location, with substantial earth bunds around the perimeter to deflect any detonated munitions blast. Then they just set out sea containers at spaced intervals to store the munitions. If large missiles are needed to be stored, these may require a concrete and earth hardened bunker. Not much threat to us, but the earthmovers and concrete suppliers will be clinking champagne glasses when they get the construction job.

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.