2022 Victorian State Election

[Bruce Tuncks]

My father-in-law was a teen during the great depression. He lived on a farm near Adelaide and didn't know there was a depression going on. Sure, there was no money around but that was nothing new. There was always plenty to do and plenty to eat.

My own father sure knew about the depression but he survived anyway. He used to ride a bike 300 km to Renmark to pick grapes, and up to Snowtown to load railway wagons with sacks of wheat. Well he grew big shoulder muscles which helped him with golf in later years.

His parents ( my paternal grandparents) had nearly an acre in suburban Adelaide  and lots of poultry. But they never had running water in the house, not even many years later.

[facthunter]

It left a lasting impression on many people of that era. It was pretty grim just after the war too. Much worse in the UK. We both had to pay our war debt. I still recall the Coupons you had to present. to purchase some things.(like butter). Nev

[onetrack]

I don't think any of us could ever really understand how bad the Great Depression was for many people, in particular, those with no assets behind them.

I have a book written by Ron Fitch who was the WAGR's first tertiary-qualified engineer. He later became Commissioner of the Commonwealth Railways, then Commissioner of the South Australian Railways.

He lived to be 104 and gained a PhD when he was 90! He was the first to admit that having a good safe job during the Great Depression ensured he didn't endure the hardships that many endured.

 

Two events he detailed in his book stand out. One was, he was riding the train North of Kalgoorlie during the GD, and another fellow "hitched" a ride on the freight train. The blokes on the train relaxed their riding rules during the GD.

Ron said he watched at dinnertime, as this bloke pulled a single solitary onion from his ragged bag, and consumed it like it was a 3 course meal in a restaurant. That was his entire dinnertime meal!

 

Another instance he related was an 18 yr old unemployed bloke in Kalgoorlie heard of a job going in Leonora - so he walked the entire distance to Leonora (235kms) - with bare feet! - because he couldn't afford any boots.

But when he got there, the job was taken - so he walked all the way back to Kalgoorlie again, in bare feet!

[facthunter]

I think they were Called Swaggy's. looking to do any odd jobs. Some people get rich during depressions. Agony and uncertainty for most and an opportunity for a few to profit from. . Nev

[old man emu]

The effects of the Depression are indeed long lasting and passed down. My grandparents on both sides were battlers, so did do it tough. My mum's parents were OK because they owned their home - bought in the 1920s from the sale of my grandfather's inherited grazing land on the Northern Rivers. But he was just a farm labourer up there, so came to Sydney with no trade, but could handle horses. Anyway, they did it tough. The need to scrimp and even scrape the last of the jam from the tin was inculcated into my mother's way of doing things, enhanced by what rationing there was here in WWII. My wife's parents on the other hand were children in the 30s and teenagers in the immediate post-war period. Although they were English, my mother-in-law doesn't seem to have the same sort of traits that my mother has. Maybe her upbringing was cushioned by her parents having trades to ensure, if not fulltime employment, then better wages for the time they were employed.

 

My wife used to query me on my habit of scraping the dregs out of the jam jar.

[facthunter]

"Licking the dish"?  Wasting food is a mortal sin. Nev

[spacesailor]

And the alternative is  !.

Dreaded isolation ,week & week out , if you missed the postman, not even a " hello ".

I got a little taste of it during the pandemic isolation .

And , I,m not a sociable person , but still felt the same isolation the OLD people feel . When their families don,t bother to visit

spacesailor

[Bruce Tuncks]

My son was so impressed by the fact that his grandfather , who lived on a farm, didn't even know there was a depressing going on, that he decided he wanted a farm himself. He reckons another depression is coming.

Well that's why I'm here...  not that I think a similar depression is going to happen. They were in  ignorance about lots of things in the 1930's, and how an economy worked was one of them.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Bruce Tuncks

[facthunter]

Now we have plenty of People wo PRETEND to know how an economy works.. IF they DO know they are using it for their own benefit, NOT the average poor Barsteward. Nev

[spacesailor]

In my short Australian time !.

It appears to me .  " the recession we have to have " , is politically orcastrated . In that the RBA increases our burdan .

Then the wealthy plus the standard banks , can reap all the benifits of the 'recession '.

Strip the masses of their income , housing,  then into poverty. 

Who benifits  ?.

Those with deep pockets, to buy cheap housing . to sell at a later date for huge profits .

Or astronomical rentles , that pay the new owner,s mortgage. 

spacesailor

 

[facthunter]

I'd hate to be orcastrated how ever it was done.  Cheer up Space. It can't be all that bad..   Nev

[spacesailor]

Did my spell checker get it wrong !.

AGAIN .

' orchestrated to organize the elements of a situation to produce the required effect '

The definition will enlighten my  spellchecker.  LoL

spacesailor

[facthunter]

Just a slight Balls up. Nev

[onetrack]

Orcastrated is a pretty good new word to describe what banks and financial institutions do to us, with the sneaky moves they continually engineer, by way of hidden charges, fees for no service, charges that shouldn't apply, and the multitude of pea-and-thimble stunts they pull to ensure they continually benefit in spades at our expense.

The worst example I've had (and I can relate many) in recent years (about 10 yrs ago) is when my HSBC credit card ended up in credit due to a refund, and I withdrew the cash. HSBC charged me a $25 "cash advance" fee for the pleasure of withdrawing my surplus cash!! I was livid, and cancelled the card immediately, and have never dealt with HSBC since, in any form or manner.

I find I get far better service and modest and low fees from credit unions and smaller operations such as CFCU and Defence Bank. 

[spacesailor]

HSBC 

Tney Always locked my card after three weeks of nil use.

Then when I get to a Far off place . Perth , Darwin , Cairns. Or any Tiny ' bankless ' town.

The credit card is useless. 

BUT 

Low & behold the " sign here " none electronic part got me out of the ' soup ' .

I just never found IF the merchant's were paid.

spacesailor

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Did my spell checker get it wrong !.

AGAIN .

' orchestrated to organize the elements of a situation to produce the required effect '

The definition will enlighten my  spellchecker.  LoL

spacesailor

I wouldn't change a thing, spacey; I get a real lift reading your posts. More fun than any crossword figuring out that spelling. Always look forward to them.

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

Orcastrated is a pretty good new word to describe what banks and financial institutions do to us, with the sneaky moves they continually engineer, by way of hidden charges, fees for no service, charges that shouldn't apply, and the multitude of pea-and-thimble stunts they pull to ensure they continually benefit in spades at our expense.

The worst example I've had (and I can relate many) in recent years (about 10 yrs ago) is when my HSBC credit card ended up in credit due to a refund, and I withdrew the cash. HSBC charged me a $25 "cash advance" fee for the pleasure of withdrawing my surplus cash!! I was livid, and cancelled the card immediately, and have never dealt with HSBC since, in any form or manner.

I find I get far better service and modest and low fees from credit unions and smaller operations such as CFCU and Defence Bank. 

My opinion of banks is about the same low level as big telcos. I used to have my mobile phone with Telstra and was always getting letters from them saying they were increasing charges, then insulting you by telling you how good it was for you. It reminded me of the old line 'don't p*ss down my back and tell me it's raining'. I eventually had enough of them and swapped to ALDI. What a relief. For $15 per month, I get unlimited calls and SMS and quite a lot of MMS, never hear boo from them and just recharge every month. Good coverage as they use the Telstra towers. It's way, way, more than I used to get from Telstra for $55 per month. Now I save $40 per month and don't have to deal with comedians.

 

A lot of big companies, whether banking, communications or energy, have got away with too much over the years in my opinion. Now the spoilt brats are getting a bit of competition.

[octave]

25 minutes ago, willedoo said:

I eventually had enough of them and swapped to ALDI.

 

Same here. I was paying $35 a month but a couple of years ago switched to Woolworths and pay $150 a year for unlimited calls and text and 100GB of data. I can roll over unused data and also my wife and I can gift each other unused data.  It uses the Telstra network and has been trouble free.

[onetrack]

I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I've heard that in some regions where the Telstra towers get congested, Telstra will "throttle back" the "mobile retailers" customers, but keep the Telstra customers connected.

It's also been noted that the "mobile retailers" coverage area is crimped, as compared to full Telstra customers coverage. You only find this out when you travel outside your "normal" area, of course.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/comments/rx436d/anyone_else_with_aldi_mobile_experiencing_severe/

 

[nomadpete]

That's a big problem with Aldi mobile. Although it does use Telstra towers, there is only coverage in high density cities. My Aldi is cheap and great here in Tassie, but when we travel on the mainland, I buy a $2 Telstra sim.

Mrs Nomad has Optus in her phone, so hers works in some rare non Telstra places and my temporary Telstra has coverage in non Optus towns.

 

Sorry for pushing the thread drift, but elections are so boring. Especially ones in distant places

Edited October 12, 2022 by nomadpete

[spacesailor]

Did anyone try the Aldi $100 P A. Special 

I bought it  !.

BUT

When my $15 balnce neared empty I had t ' topup '& no one could tell me how to use the $ 100 special .

spacesailor

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Did anyone try the Aldi $100 P A. Special 

I bought it  !.

BUT

When my $15 balnce neared empty I had t ' topup '& no one could tell me how to use the $ 100 special .

spacesailor

Same here. I couldn't figure out how to change over to it and still keep my existing phone number. Maybe I should have rung them. Never did figure it out and then the 12 months had run out. Now I just stick to the $15 per month plans. I don't do much internet on the phone, so mt 3gig of monthly data has rolled over to about 50gig up my sleeve.

[Jerry_Atrick]

OK, I am going to bring it back on track (sorry, nomad).

 

The floods have obviously taken centre stage at the moment, but there have been some interesting twists. I am fascinated by the machinations and gyrations of elections and what the parties and their supporters get up to during them. Apparently, Vic is not that important to Palmer as he is kicking in only $4Kto the state electoral campaign (at lest, officially). I read that rural Vic still has decent support for the UAP, so would have thought he may have kicked in a few more $. Oviosuly, what return on his investment would bring is probably not much to him personally - Could it be he is not a champion of democracy and offering all of Australia a better future?

 

The state Libs solicitor has quit citing that she was not happy with the Libs complying with the law. Apparently, she has concerns about manipulating the posal vote or something (haven't read it yet). There's not too much on Andrews (at least in The Age or  the ABC), although there werre sone rumblings about strong arming IBAC a few weeks ago. Up until the floods, The Age had taken a tac of asking ordinary Victorians of what they thought was needed from a state government, as I guess comparing the state parties won't go too much in the Libs favour.  There was an artcle today of Pallas defending the debt taken on, insisting rising rates would not lead to a debt blowout. Personally, I think the media should be investigating this, because it will depend on the nature of the bonds they have issued (any inflation linked bonds will definitely have an impact on debt).

 

Accordingf to Roy Morgan research, ALP has a 16% lead in the polls: https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9048-roy-morgan-survey-on-voting-intention-in-victoria-september-13-2022, so, apart from some antics from the coalition, it would appear to become a very boring election. However, the Age did run an interesting article about whether people are getting bored/tired/fed up with Dan Andrews.  I would suspect that this is the case to an extent, and if the coalition had a decent opposition, it would be a very different election.. But even so, it could get interesting as many times, people think the leading part will romp it in, so give a protest vote to keep the incumbents honest.  This did not appear to happen in WA. But the rwo leaders are very different.

 

OK, OK, I am trying to make what looks like a damp squib more interesting. Will one of the political parties do something?

 

Back to mobile phones now.

 

 

 

[onetrack]

It's a sad reflection on the Victorian Liberal Party if they can't produce a worthwhile opponent to knock Andrews right off his perch. The view from where I am, I would've thought Andrews would've been 16% behind, for the appalling stuff ups he's produced in the last couple of years. But maybe the Victorian Libs are like the Libs in W.A., a totally spent and dissolute force, with nothing resembling a worthy leader, and they're still trying to debate and formulate worthwhile policies that would give them a chance to become elected again.

Colin Barnett was the worst thing that ever happened to the W.A. Liberal Party, he was a spendthrift arrogant fool, and did nothing to ensure there were Liberal leaders and worthy future Ministers, coming up through the ranks.

[facthunter]

I really don't think the Liberal Party even slightly resembles those of old where they got in with a plan for the Country.  Today they just seem to want to get into do favours for their Mates (and themselves). or the Pentecostals or just to keep Labor out ANY real talent loses  favour with the kingmakers and is edged out. if you don't fit in with the ideology. Nev.