Aussie Federal election 2025

[Jerry_Atrick]

May 3..

 

Only seems like yesterday we had the last one

 

Let the muck begin

[onetrack]

This is probably going to be the dirtiest election in a long time, aided by the Australian Trumpers who will try to create havoc for Labor, as the Coalition desperately seeks to regain lost seats and restore some kind of relevance for the Liberals, to an Australian population whose demographics have changed substantially since the last election, thanks to an ever-increasing level of people of Chinese, Indian, and numerous other "foreign", ancestries.

 

Edited Thursday at 11:41 PM by onetrack

[rgmwa]

I think Dutton is a bigger handicap for the Liberals than Albanese is for Labor and consequently neither party will end up far from where they are now. I cant see the Liberals beating Labor or either one getting a clear majority. 

[facthunter]

I hope Button loses his own Electorate of. Dickson. There's 2 Independents running there.   Nev

[nomadpete]

Sad to see......

 

"election, with lines drawn on cost of living and energy"

 

No mention of.....

 

* Climate

* Transparency of Anti Corruption

* Security independence (AUKUS OR DEFENSE)

* Australian control of manufacturing

* Reducing multinational tax avoidance

* Control of foreign ownership

 

* OUTLAWING LIES IN ELECTION ADVERTISING..

 

......... yes I was shouting.

 

 

 

Edited Friday at 02:45 AM by nomadpete

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

demographics have changed substantially since the last election, thanks to an ever-increasing level of people of Chinese, Indian, and numerous other "foreign", ancestries.

Those who have arrived since the last election may not have met the requirements for citizenship and hence do not have the right to vote. To become an Australian citizen by conferral, you typically need to have lived in Australia for four years, including 12 months as a permanent resident, and meet other requirements like being of good character and having adequate knowledge of your responsibilities as an Australian citizen. Then there is the time after that to have your application granted. For most Australian citizenship applications, 90% are processed within 11 months, with 90% of approved applicants having the opportunity to attend a ceremony within 7 months of approval. 

 

The interesting change in demographics will come from those young people who have reached 18 years of age since the last election. Look at the age distribution:

Those young people endured COVID and we don't really know how that isolation and disrupted education has affected their outlook. This might well be an election strongly directed by internet influencers.

 

[facthunter]

You getting any rain. Yet?  Some who didn't survive COVID won't be  able to vote.  Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

I honestly don't know which way this election will go. In the last election, the ALP should have creamed it in, but they only won by one seat and the primary vote was a tad over 30%. They are not very good numbers at all. Yes, they historically won a by-election as a sitting government, but that was during their honeymoon period and I wonder even half way into their government whether that would recur. The fact that Dutton was able to post any gains in the polls is a difficult pill to swallow, but apparently over the last few weeks, his polling popularity has decreased.

 

The Voice seems to have been more damaging electorally than it should have. If Spacey's views are representative of a decent enough segment of the population, it would put the ALP in a precarious situation indeed, unless they were prepared to second preference the ALP.

 

6 hours ago, nomadpete said:

Sad to see......

 

"election, with lines drawn on cost of living and energy"

 

No mention of.....

 

* Climate

* Transparency of Anti Corruption

* Security independence (AUKUS OR DEFENSE)

* Australian control of manufacturing

* Reducing multinational tax avoidance

* Control of foreign ownership

 

* OUTLAWING LIES IN ELECTION ADVERTISING..

 

......... yes I was shouting.

 

 

 

 

Sadly, out pollies are are a reflection of the perceived view of the electorate and, certainly for a lot of people, struggling to put food on the table and a roof over the head of your family. let alone have any left over for enjoying life is a big issue at the moment. and Australia started off as an already expensive place to live. Sadly, most people don't see too much further than their noses, and things like how climate change, corruption, security independence, and economic sovereignty and its bigger impact even a few years away is lost on most people. I was listening to BBC Radio 4 discussing the desire of the US to takeover Greenland and quite apart from the security and mineral wealth, they are also interested in the vast reserves of fresh water, of which the world is running out of! But if you said to people we're slugging you and extra, say, $200/year on your water bill which will go direct to buttressing and bolstering fresh water supplies, which will become critical in 20 years amidst a cost of living crisis, what do you think the response would be?

 

Dutton has already parroted "If your worse off then you were three years ago, vote for me" type rhetoric. The lazy press will parrot that, especially the Murdoch press (I have noted that the SMH and The Age seem to take a more balanced approach at the moment). The press can parrot it, but they should also be informing us that it is not necessarily the correct question to ask - and rather how has our performance been compared to our peers globally being affected by the same circumstances. But, how many people would read beyond the quote rather than stop and think, "Yeah.. bastards.. I am voting for Dutton"? But, if you look at Australia's performance, it has been up there with the best of our peers.

 

Just look at what has happened in the UK.. Starmer is a bit like Albo in that he is not a very charismatic sort of bloke, at least publicly through the press, and has been copping a wallop as a result. Labour's first budget was in reality as much austerity they could do given the promises around taxation they made before the election, which is in a similar vain as Albo's. However, they inherited a basket case of an economy, where the conservatives concealed over £26bn in what effectively was an overdraft... Yet, Labour got rammed in the press for taking the action they did, despite the Office of Budget Responsibility launching an investigation into the previous government concealing financial information and cooking the books.

 

There are three PMs I could not believe Australia voted for.. Howard (who is the real culprit behind our energy price increases through his deals with othe countries to give away our energy with very little contribution in the form of royalties and taxes, while now Australia having to import gas!!), Abbott, who is a bigger clown that his more famous namesake of comedic origin, and ScoMo, because people were scared of policies, particularly removal of negative gearing that would have... hmmmm... not resulted in the massive property and rental price inflation we have today..

 

The reality is people have their biases and will look for anything to support it. Just look at one of our residents who parrot that it would have meant first nations people effectively running the country, without being able to provide one shred of fact/evidence to support it, but in the face of statements from ex, High Court and Supreme Court judges, constitutional lawyers and even and admission by Dutton himself, still cannot shake that fictional belief.

 

This is what both parties are up against.

[old man emu]

The Cost of Living thing is affecting the global economy. Unfortunately, there is nothing that a small country like ours can do. At least, as Jerry says, we are doing comparatively well. If we want more money to flow into government coffers, maybe we should overhaul our taxation system so that foreign companies can't wriggle out of their tax liability to Australia. 

 

Let's compare Labor's tax reduction to the Liberal's halving of the fuel excise. The latter will have an immediate effect on leaving some money in the family purse. I was upset when I heard the CEO of the NRMA whinge that dropping the excise would mean less money for roadworks. Perhaps we can bear with a bumpy ride for a year or two while we try to manage other household expenses. And why is the electricity price regulator Okaying increases in power costs? Why can't the power companies bear a bit of the pain?

 

Unfortunately, what I have said falls into the "what if" and "why not" categories that mere mortals cannot affect. A for me, I'm going to try to turn off about elections. Last year's USA circus and its result have left me burned out. I'm not going to bother studying the policies of the major Parties. I'll just vote as I have always done, knowing my vote will not matter in my election as the Party I don't like is entrenched here. Anyway, will any Party actually have a policy, or will they all simply make promises that sound good but will not be delivered? Bread and circuses. Bread and circuses, ad nauseum.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Yes.. an overhaul of the taxation system, globally, is overdue. Though, given most of these major corporations represent the living pollies will make after they are finished being pollies, combined with the power of persuasion that their resources brings means little will change and it will be the little fellow that continues to pay, while the corporations benefit from the education and health systems.

[Marty_d]

Well, ultimately it's up to each of us how we use our vote.

I will do my best to vote for good people, or in their absence, the least objectionable.

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

I haven't yet seen or heard anything about them bringing in a Big Beautiful Consumer Affairs Bureau, the likes of which we've never seen before .... or a Beautiful Super Medical Troubleshooting Team, of highly paid and highly trained medical personnel, hand picked for their human attributes towards others.

 

Until they show signs of coming around to these policies, and other beautiful super policies I have in mind, I'll just ignore those parties completely.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Oh.. the ACCC and every hospital  may well fit that bill...

 

You can thank me for letting you know, later...

 

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

You didn't see the report of the little boy dying in his mother's arms in a hospital waiting room. For hours the mother was waiting there. So how cruel can you blokes get, honestly? With a Super Troubleshooting Team, the mother would have only to make one phone call and a team member or two would be on the spot in minutes, to take over, and get medical treatment for the little boy in an instant. No ifs or buts. Then the team members, using their power and authority, would investigate and sack the hospital staff responsible for the inhuman delay.

 

Wake up fellas, this is not the only death in a hospital waiting room. Don't play politics about it, urgent medical care is far more important than selfish political nonsense.

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/grieving-parents-demand-urgent-investigation-into-sydney-hospital-after-death-of-twoyearold-son/a0de6011-adf3-49d2-8206-73ed21331c30

Edited Saturday at 02:44 AM by Grumpy Old Nasho

[facthunter]

WHY are WE Cruel. GON? How could a team be there in Minutes? .  Nev

[old man emu]

Let's not go jumping the gun. That unfortunate death occurred only a couple of months ago. It is classed as an "unusual death" and therefore will be the subject of a Coronial Inquest. That bit is standard practice in Law. Also the parents have asked for some sort of enquiry. That would be a further reason for a Coroner to begin an Inquest. It's now in the hands of the coronial system, which has a heavy case load. It might take a couple of months before this particular one reaches the Bench. So how about we hold off commenting until the findings of that Inquest are released?

 

While I don't see what GON is asking for being established, I can see that the Inquest will bring in some heavy hitters. Personally, I don't trust an expert medico to give an honest answer when commenting on the actions of another medico. Must maintain the espirit de corps, chaps. Don't forget that this death could result in the award of massive damages against the hospital.

 

These are the sort of problems that arise when what we believe to be entities run by government are privatised. A similar situation applies to prisons. At least Minns has made it so that this sort of privatisation of health services should not hapen again.

[Jerry_Atrick]

GON, my response was not a joke. The ACCC have been given more teeth some time ago, and each state has its own consumer body as well. In Victoria it is (or was) the Small Claims Tribunal, of which I successfully took a case of a used car dealer who sold me a car with a pitted windscreen, It wasn't obvious for a week or so until the sun started shining. He said no way would be fit a new windscreen (by law at the time, the car had to be sold with a Road Worthy Certificate, and although it did have one, it was clearly invalidated by the windscreen). So, I lodged a claim, paid something like $20. This was long before the days of VCAT, which is free for claims up tp $3,000. At the time. there was no legal representation and the facts with evidence were put to the arbitrator.. I won the case and the dealer had to replace the windscreen. But it gets better; the arbitrator knew a thing or two about cars and referred to the then Road Traffic Authority (now Vicroads) and the garage/workshop that issued the RWC lost its license to issue them after an investigation. Now, I will admit, nothing is automatic, but to be fair to both parties, someone independent has to have a chance to have their say as sometimes the evidence by itself can paint different interpretations depending on context and confirmation bias.  I understand, when Kennett brought in VCAT, it was weighted on the side of the company, but I have had a family member that also won their case there, too.

 

Re the "Super Medical Troubleshooting" team, shows a little ignorance. Firstly, the case you cite is a very sad one, but relatively rare, thankfully. Yes, we all have tales of how we or someone we love or know has had rotten or negligent treatment. But compare that to the number of patients that come through the system, and yes, no system is 100% complete. Firstly, at public hospitals in Victoria anyway, you can apprach and respectfully challenge staff and then you can lodge complaints. When something like this case happens - or when there is an unexpected death, it is internally reviewed through bursars and the medical board and decisions/actions taken. It can be anything from no fault, to retraining, to dismissal. The AMA get involved as do the states and occasionally federal departments of health.  And, as OME points out, they all go to the coroner, as well.

 

It has been reported that staff claim the desire to cut costs to increase profit by a private company has contributed to the death and other service issues at the hospital. That may or may not be the case, but the Minss government has already moved to ban future public/private "partnerships" for hospitals in the future: https://www.9news.com.au/national/joe-massa-nsw-government-announces-joes-law-northern-beaches-hospital-sydney/adb4a93e-ba29-4c9d-9016-c2a0ac5d3d2e

 

I agree the health system and other public serve systems need to be shaken up. There is too much servitude to the process, whatever that process is, without logically taking action to the facts in front of them. I was at the Monash Medical Centre in Springvale (I think) with an ailment that was painful, but under control. Parents walked in with their teenage daughter doubled over in obviously serious pain; they gave her some panadol/nurofen and told her to sit .. this poor girl was in agony and in the end I went up to the reception to complain that this girl should be seen to pretty quickly. They said their process was first come first serve. .I said that was nuts and surely they could do some triage... In the end I gave up my spot for her.. And I suggested her parents (who were very working class migrants) lodge a complaint as I would be doing (and I did).

 

My point is they already have the systems in place, but, as with Chris Minns, it is the political and management will to do it. I would suggest your "Super Medical Troubleshooting Team" will only act when something goes wrong, and unless they control the purse strings and policy, their recommendations will go the same way the coroners, the AMA, and the hospitals own boards go - as recommendations - and there are people that do that now. And, I think in a previous post somewhere you mentioned these troubleshooting teams should be able to fire at will or words tot hat effect. That is the last thing we want. It is expensive to train medical staff of all types and they don't just fall off trees, so firing should be a last resort for clear cases of breaches of competence (ongoing), conduct or security. If we were to fire them because they made a mistake, even a bad one, you would find we have very fiew medical staff left, and they would be too hesitant to do anything for fear of being fired, and people would be discouraged from entering the professions.

 

So, no, we aren't joking, nor being cruel.  Thee are systems in place that already do what you ask, but there is no American style  "Die Hard" teams.. they are just a hollywood fantasy.

 

Can the existing systems be improved? Of course.. so maybe you should focus your attention on looking for the candidates who are most likely to do so... Not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Edited Saturday at 09:39 AM by Jerry_Atrick

[Marty_d]

GON, you can have your two super teams.

To pay for them, the GST will double and the Age pension halved.

Happy?

[facthunter]

Illusions should not cost much unless you believe them. Nev

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

23 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

They said their process was first come first serve

Yeah, we certainly have a worlds best hospital system, don't we? Would any of you guys defend that childish immature disrespectful process?

 

I'd sack them all, then start working out a brand new way of how to run a hospital, in a human way, not the staff's insane way.

[Jerry_Atrick]

How could you sack them all.. where would you get the qualified staff to take over all of the sacked hospital staff? They aren't childish and immature - they are part of the system - what you are proposing is childish and immature - a bit like DOGE (doge-bags - pronounced doosh-bags); sack a lot of people and the next day spend more hiring them back. Or do you have a secret reserve of medical oompah-loompahs you can deploy at a moments notice?

 

The front line people are doing what they are paid for.. it is the managements responsibility to make sure it is fit for purpose... and it is the politicians responsibility to set the agenda and put the systems in place to monitor and tweak performance...

 

You're going after the wrong people..

[nomadpete]

I have often been  in hospital waiting rooms. In maybe a dozen different hospitals.

 

I have never seen "First in - first served".

It aint a coffee shop.

I always saw "most in need - first served".

 

That is what triage is all about.

[Marty_d]

Yep. Head injury on a kid... Seen very quickly. Chest pains in 50yo man... Seen very quickly.

Our doctors and nurses do a brilliant job in the vast majority of cases.

They are committed and usually work far more hours than they should, as they're understaffed - because states want to spend money on a football stadium (insert your state's white elephant here) instead of funding, training and paying health professionals properly.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Maybe the couple of times I went were v busy...

[onetrack]

SWMBO has a friend who is - actually, was - a senior ER nurse, dealing with some pretty dramatic presentations. They deal mostly with angry, drugged or drunk people who have injured themselves - often badly.

 

These injured patients abuse the nurses and doctors when they're trying to help them. They attack them, they punch them, they kick them, they even draw knives and other weapons on them, and threaten to kill them.

 

They belittle the nurses and doctors, and threaten them when they don't get what THEY want - which is usually more drugs or more alcohol, other unreasonable demands.

The nurses and doctors have to have security staff and orderlies who are expected to deal with violent and abusive patients on a constant basis.

In between all this mayhem - genuine, ordinary people present with urgent medical problems, and expect immediate attention from overworked, abused, and tired nurses, doctors, receptionists, and other hospital staff.

 

I'd like to see GON take up a job in the front line of the emergency entrance of a major hospital - preferably working in security. I'll wager he wouldn't last 5 mins.

 

SWMBO's friend threw in her ER job, and now does gardening work. She says she had to do it, to preserve her sanity.

 

Edited yesterday at 01:04 PM by onetrack