Jerry_Atrick

I was wondering why Finnair were offering discount fates to Aus :-)

Fair assessment.. (except for the bean counter... but that is a personal dislike - but at least I admit it)

And the recycled pollies PHON have at the trough are different in what way, exactly? Oh, you want people with proven skills at sticking their snouts into the trough doing it. I get it.

In my case, that is true. In the 22 federal election I would have probably voted for them. Sure, PHON is a party of protest too, and they are also nutters and LNP rejects, but they seem to espouse stuff more Aussies can relate to... Not sure if that is a good or bad thing. For the record, I would vote Green before PHON, but neither would get my vote. Australia needs a party of Pococks.

Why is it a bad look to have them do what the premier is suggesting (I am assuming it is not forced)?

Did you actually read the article? "Premier Ben Carroll said if Labor won the November election, it would work with Corrections Victoria to develop a pilot program to put supervised, minimum-security prisoners to work performing roadside maintenance. The plan would include having inmates take over basic duties such as mowing lawns, controlling weeds, removing graffiti and picking up rubbish." A photo and then "Premier Ben Carroll, who served as roads minister between 2020 and 2022, said it would free up skilled roadside maintenance crews to concentrate on fixing potholes. Low-security inmates are already involved in day-release programs doing gardening, weeding and rubbish collection in some parks." So, there is no plan to use inmates to actually fix the roads... Another beat up

Go back to GON's post. They don't want to change things for the better. They want to punish the incumbents in a big way. It is that simple. Chump, Farage, PHON, and some of the right wing nut job parties in Europe are well funded and have the backing of enough of the press to make a dent. You bet it will get worse for them.. No one said it would get better - except those seeking to disrupt. Getting better doesn't factor into their thinking. Maybe it is getting even?

It doesn't matter.. The fact we are heading downhill slower than the others doesn't make it good nor excusable People are wanting things to turn around, not to be told it will turn around and then the same path continue. After at least two generations of things getting worse, people are saying how do we change this. They only have one really big lever. The problem is, there is no one to step up with the real fixes so the only alternative is to, as @willedoo put it - burn the house down and start again. A lot of people don't see Chump's actions as anything but that... Even one of his MAGA supporters said it is the bitter medicine America needs to heal and get better (I am not sure I subscribe to that way of thinking, but the reality is there are far too many being pushed to the margins and they are getting angry).

It's hardly fixing potholes: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-31/victorian-prisoners-to-work-on-road-maintenance/107096380 And it's hardly using chain gangs

I think you'll find they get their information from their bank account and what is left in them after the bills are paid.. or their crumbling health services, etc. Murdich makes it easy ti fund someone to blame and someone to use to punish the incumbents. Look over here.. a PM who finally gets it and with really tiny tweaks, the protest party, Reform and his mates are imploding in the polls

It is depressing but the reality is the incumbents won't change unless it is forced on them.. And there appears only one way they will get it.

Count Binface, a satirical candidate in the Clacton by-election included in his policies requiring anyone who denies human-caused climate change to return to school. Quite frankly, I would have voted for him if he was in my electorate on that alone. The Australian death toll from the Nepal disaster alone - which is hard not to ague was the result of climate change - was 46. Stuff will get worse.. My favourite saying is facts don't give a ship about what people think.

This post is an exemplary representation of the way many voters feel today. It is no use arguing with the post or the reasoning because the post isn't arguing for anything better, worse of different than we have today. It's a recognition that the average person is squeezed and those in power are not putting the people first. There is nothing in the post to say ON will be any better.. it is about punishing those in power who are ignoring the people - plain and simple. For a stereotypical family, both parents are working and struggling to make ends meet when in yesteryear that wasn't the case as much as it is today. There are structural reasons for it.. modern life is more complicated. It is useless a polly saying don#t have your avocado toast, because it makes little difference in the end. You're lifestyle today is busier. People are working longer hours or when in the office travelling longer to get there and back. Many people when they get back do some form of work where that was rarer in previous generations. So, they are time poor and it is less of a luxury and more of a necessity - unless you want them to eat unhealthy processed food and eventually put more pressure on an ailing public health system. Ad don the need for smart phones for virtually all the family as you just can't do some things without them these days (or it costs you a lot more), tolls, longer hours, after school activities, child care for younger ones. And to help with a far more complex family life than in my day, it costs the government more. What people don't realise is the government has little levers to pull to manage the cost of living unless it starts taking measures that people will then complain of government overreach. So in some respects, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. To make things cheaper for example, we need denser housing because Australia suffers from diseconomies of scale. A land mass the size of the USA and 1/10th of the population. The more land with the fewer people, the more it costs to get services - especially those requiring infrastructure - to the people. So when the incumbents start to take things for granted - such as a vote - and let's face it even Labor is being a little less conspicuous in that taking for granted, people get pissed off because they can see the parties working for vested interests of the few - and themselves - and not at least trying to make decisions that are better for the people at the same time - like finding a balance. The gas excise issue is hotting up and people are now well educated on how Australia is being fleeced. This is a deal I think penned in the Howard years, but it can be fixed. The ALP consistently refuse to do it. That would add if I remember rightly $16bn to the coffers per year. You could solve quite some issues with that. The persistent morally corrupt lack of support for veterans; the Robodebt royal commission has not resulted in any meaningful change. The gambling ads report has not been implemented at all; Upping the public take of the pokies and other gambling is not being done. Approving fossil fuel leases/mining when there is clear majority opposition to it - and these never result in the promised jobs for locals; And then there was a recent bailing out of a mine or something... when was it Woodside or BHP (can't remember which one) are making massive profits?? WTF. In the last administration, they threw away a nascent market advantage by going for an early transition of energy (Yes, Siso, I know you don't approve). It wasn't until it was clear that SFM was going to lose the election and backing fossil fuel companies was costing him big time did he do a back flip. The above post says we have had enough of being fleeced. We want to send a signal to the incumbents that just because they may be the better, it is of a pretty bad bunch.. and we don't care if the next ones are worse, because until you get it through your thick brains that we are onto you, we are happy to vote in the next bunch of idiots, because in reality, for us, it will make little difference in the end... I don't think they believe ON will be any better.. they may use it to justify their actions, but when inaction is so poor with the incumbents, I agree wit the post - ignore the people and you're done for. This is exactly what is happening in the UK until Reform shot themselves in the foot; and it is exactly what happened in the USA (with the help of a media hell bent on getting an outcome for its advertisers regardless of the impact on the country). I think it is what is happening throughout Europe. People are sick of the same ol' same ol'. May as well make life hard for the "establishment".

This is a great vid.. And if they keep doing this, I will be on it: