Fighting corruption in Australia

[nomadpete]

10 hours ago, facthunter said:

Murdoch has a "Voice" like no other and  he's an American citizen. . Likewise People like SANTOS etc when Sco  Mo was there..  Nev

Note that Merdock proved that you don't have to change the constitution to have an effective 'voice'.

[octave]

6 minutes ago, nomadpete said:

Note that Merdock proved that you don't have to change the constitution to have an effective 'voice'.

Yeah, starting life with Daddy's inheritance and buying up enough news outlets also gives you a strong voice.

[Bruce Tuncks]

The best example I know of where short-term gain beat long-term common-sense was when John Howard sold our natural gas to China for 5 cents/l. And yet I reckon it was more stupidity and poor education that drove him to do this. He seems to have thought that there was infinite gas to replace what he sold. Anyway, there was little complaint at the time, and the recent increases in gas prices  are blamed on the parties now in power.

Howard used the money to give tax cuts to the well-off oldies among us. My uncle Burt got to collect a pension despite being a real millionaire.

[facthunter]

Howard BOUGHT elections and now someone has to unravel it one day.  Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

I think you have a long memory too nev, but the opinion of any dumb voter is equal to yours.( and mine)

The media obfuscated and gave the figures in dollars per petajoule or something like that. I think I was silly in working that out to cents per litre . It didn't make me any happier to know how cheaply it was sold. To this day, Australia is near the top of gas exporters and you can buy australian gas much cheaper in china than in Victoria. Keep it home, says I to the wind...

[Bruce Tuncks]

There is one thing I would like us to aspire to...   being the LEAST CORRUPT country in the world. I would love it if Albanese took this on....  It would make the libs sit up and take notice, but they would have to withstand the electioneering speeches " If you want more corruption, vote LNP.

I did notice the Sun criticising the labor party on its legislation  about corruption in Vic, very weak and non-convincing I thought.

[facthunter]

The Herald Sun is down there with the Terror Graph. . WE have gained in some "markers" we had dropped down a bit in. I'm frequently ashamed of what happens here in the last 30 years or so..  I blame the rotten Merde och influence in most of it. Perhaps the actions of some shareholders may change things. There's some things a foot in the States, in that regard. Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

When we talk about corruption, we inevitably talk about the pollies and public servants. But the media is an industry that holds a lot of unaccountable and unelected power by virtue of it being the information source to most of the population. However, probably because they are the information source, there is rarely discussioin about corruption in the media. Murdoch et al are pushing barrows that are ultimately paid for by their advertisers.. and those with the biggest pockets get the barrow pushed the hardest. Anything anti-corruption should also include the media within its remit.

 

And by the media, I mean both MSM and social media, the latter of which is a lot less regulated and has almost no governance of content. Just look at the BS Musk sputs on his platform, which in a normally functioning society would be defunct by now, but for some reason, people still use it.

 

Concentration of ownership must be strictly minimised.. What regulators thought it was a good idea to allow Murdoch to have the foothold he has? Conrad Black is another, and there are a few more. In the finance industry where these very strict rules apply, yeah, we can bring an economy to its knees if we choose, but a media company can start a war.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Yep I am sure you are right Jerry. But there is no more important battle to have, says I.

[Old Koreelah]

16 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

When we talk about corruption, we inevitably talk about the pollies and public servants. But the media is an industry that holds a lot of unaccountable and unelected power by virtue of it being the information source to most of the population. However, probably because they are the information source, there is rarely discussioin about corruption in the media. Murdoch et al are pushing barrows that are ultimately paid for by their advertisers.. and those with the biggest pockets get the barrow pushed the hardest. Anything anti-corruption should also include the media within its remit...

Every day I have the utter frustration of being surrounded by ordinary people who have no idea how much they are being influenced (manipulated?) by the insidious Murdoch media machine. Copies of The Daily Terrograph are everywhere and people pick them and let the poison in. They have no idea how even a lurid headline seeps into their unconscious mind.

 

This is how he makes his money:

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Or, to put it more clearly:

[facthunter]

He rates right up there with other villains as a destroyer of the democratic process and warmonger. His career reeks of utter self interest. Nothing else. Few will miss him. He's done a lot of damage to many good people. Nev

[old man emu]

He make Goebbels look like a kindergarten tittle-tattle 

[red750]

The Fence Repair - Australian style !!!

 

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence

at Government House.

One is from Cabramatta, another is from

Marrickville, and the third is from Shell Cove.

All three go with an official to examine the fence.

 

The Cabramatta contractor takes out a tape measure

and does some measuring, then works some figures

with a pencil.

"Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about $900,

$400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit

for me."

 

The Marrickville contractor also does some measuring

and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $700.

That's $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100

profit for me."

 

The Shell Cove contractor doesn't measure or figure,

but leans over to the government official and whispers,

"$2,700."

 

The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure

like the other guys. How did you come up with such a

high figure?"

 

The Shell Cove contractor whispers back, "$1000 for me,

$1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Marrickville to

fix the fence."

"Done!" Replies the government official.

 

And that, my fellow tax payers, is how a Government Stimulus plan works.

 

[facthunter]

Hardly likely to pass the most basic of  audits though, is it?  Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

It's just a story nev. the payment to the polly would normally be hidden as a "campaign donation" or something like that. The payment to the organizer would be hidden as "consulting fees " or similar.

[old man emu]

28 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Hardly likely to pass the most basic of  audits though, is it?  Nev

Easily done.

The Shell Cove bloke's bit is written up as a consultancy fee. As part of the consultancy he would have to engage an engineer and security guards. After those payments are hidden by obscure invoices, the $1000 finds it way into a takeaway container that is delivered to the government bloke by a MenuLog delivery guy.

[facthunter]

You  were in the wrong game OME.  Small Bikkies anyhow . Much larger sums are needed to be involved  to make it worth it..  Nev

[old man emu]

5 minutes ago, facthunter said:

You  were in the wrong game OME.  Small Bikkies anyhow . Much larger sums are needed to be involved  to make it worth it..  Nev

 

We're only talking about small fish.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Seems have money, buy residency is still alive and kicking... 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-31/golden-888-visa-home-affairs/103033142?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

[old man emu]

That explains why the numbers of Chinese in the residential property market is so high and why the prices for houses is heading to the stratosphere. 

[onetrack]

Crooked money from Chinese bribery and drug dealing is behind most of the massive property price increases in the last 20 years - in Sydney and Melbourne in particular - but not exclusively.

 

Dozens of properties have even been purchased in Australia by criminal Asians, simply to grow drugs locally. They often pay over the local market value, because the property suits their aims precisely.

 

This small "hobby farm" property (below) was purchased for $660,000, well over local values, and for the initial asking price - by Chinese criminals, for the purposes of drug production.

The words "secluded" and "pine plantation" and "olive grove" must have been all the required key words to fit the criminals aims.

Unfortunately for the crims, nearby Beverley has a gliding club, and a bloke flying a glider got very suspicious when he spotted the "cultivation" activity.

 

Note how the Chinese crim claims he's a "good Australian citizen" since 2012, and has no criminal record. That simply means he's managed to avoid being caught for 10 years, thanks to lots of money.

 

This is only one of dozens of properties purchased by Chinese and Asian crims in W.A. in recent years, and then later found to be drug producing operations.

 

https://www.domain.com.au/130-bellrock-road-beverley-wa-6304-2017615539

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-16/kalgoorlie-drug-accused-faces-court-over-cannabis-seizure/101985664

 

Type in "130 Bellrock Rd, Kokeby" in the search menu below, and then select "Landgate W.A. Now Mosiac" from the layers, to see where the crims had cleared a rectangular area in the centre of the pine plantation at the rear of the property to set up their shadehouses.

Only one road into the property, no roads within a bulls roar of the property, and the plantation is located at the back of the land parcel. Fortunately, the flying fraternity is always on the alert for suspicious-looking setups in remote locations, the largest percentage of these operations discovered, have been reported by aviators.

 

https://map-viewer-plus.app.landgate.wa.gov.au/index.html

 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by onetrack

[facthunter]

Turn lawn into grass with and anti Victa.   Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

Here's what I really don't understand....  why is not greed used AGAINST the druggies? For a small example, if there was a $1000 reward for dobbing in a drug seller, I bet we would all be out trying to buy drugs with noted money. Just try your friendly local cops to see if this is encouraged in your area.

My only explanation is that corruption is at work, but I'm buggered if I can see how.

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

why is not greed used AGAINST the druggies?

There are several flaws in your otherwise flawless plan.

 

For one thing, those who use drugs normally are contemptuous of the Law, unless they have been the victim if some crime - usually assault, theft: crimes that have always been part of living in a community. Therefore, they don't see their dealer in any different light than a shop assistant who sells them their milk and fags. If they dob on a dealer, where are they going to get their next deal?

 

Drug dealers don't take kindly to being dobbed in. Their Intelligence networks are extensive, so it doesn't take long for them to identify the dobber. While at large on bail pending a Court appearance, they are very likely to visit the dobber and discuss the evidence the dobber may or may not give during a prosecution.

 

And there is the sabot in the mill gears - a drug user given marked notes to enable an entrapment????? Even the dumbest druggy would have put the notes through a pokie to exchange them for clean ones before using the untraceable clean ones for the deal. And something in the back of my Policeman's mind calls out that to do a drug buy with a view to identifying a dealer requires a Court Order which would specify which police had the authority of the Court to do it.