Domestic Politics

[jw1739]

Cadete do you work in politics? If not then I would suggest giving it a go (maybe run for Mayor of Frankston or wherever you're from) 

It's not that simple. I stood for my local council at one point - "wanting to make a difference." I actually did pretty well in the primary vote - fourth out of 14 if I remember rightly - but was dudded in the distribution of preferences. At least two of the other candidates were simply preference dummies for a third candidate, who was the "real" one who actually wanted to get elected. I learned the hard way that if you really want to get elected you have to do preference deals with people whose policies and platforms you don't like.

[strider]

It's not that simple. I stood for my local council at one point - "wanting to make a difference." I actually did pretty well in the primary vote - fourth out of 14 if I remember rightly - but was dudded in the distribution of preferences. At least two of the other candidates were simply preference dummies for a third candidate, who was the "real" one who actually wanted to get elected. I learned the hard way that if you really want to get elected you have to do preference deals with people whose policies and platforms you don't like.

Ah, sounds like politics alright! 

[cadete]

Cadete do you work in politics? If not then I would suggest giving it a go (maybe run for Mayor of Frankston or wherever you're from) 

No, I no longer work in Politics and I have no desire to ever do so again.

However I grew up in family environment that had/still has a lot of contact with Politicians and Former Politicians from both sides of Parliament and after participating in Politics at the grassroots level in late High School/Early University when I graduated I worked as a Political Advisor until my boss lost his seat.

I think it's also pretty obvious which area of Melbourne I live in if you read my posts and the way the Councils operate around this area are a perfect example of why I would never want to get involved in Local Politics.

[NewConvert]

Of course I define a good Opposition Leader solely on their ability to get into Government, it baffles me how someone would question such a definition.

This is how both major parties Australia wide have defined good Opposition Leaders since the dawn of time and why all Opposition Leaders pretty much do the exact same thing until they actually succeed and get to form Government and what they say and do actually can be acted upon.

That is because an Opposition Leader has no ability to govern until their party oust the current Government and are elected into power therefore focusing on things like sound principles, strong leadership and detailed policy is essentially a waste of energy when none of these can actually be implemented.

The most successful campaigns by Opposition Leaders are almost always those that are Policy Lite and strong at pinpointing which elements of the Government that the public dislike the most, the most unsuccessful are those where Opposition Leaders launch into their own big ideas like Hewson's "GST Debacle" and the ridiculous "Latham Express".

After reading the remainder of your posts I can understand where you are coming from. And like yourself after I graduated I did work closely with a bloke who became a senator. But I drew opposite conclusions to yours. A good opposition leader will concentrate on the governments' defect BUT he will also have policies that can be implemented. I mentioned Hayden and Hewson because they did the hard yards in putting Medicare and the GST policies (although Keating also wanted one in 1985) but those policies were implemented by their successors. So someone did the hard policy work. Kennet also did a lot of policy work and he was one the lucky ones that got to implement those policies. Bracks got lucky in that the policy work was only partially completed by Brumby and they won the election. Baillieau did not have much by way of policy and did not complete his term as premier. Hewson and Latham were political failures because they did not have the nous and wit. It is also the reason why so many policies remain hidden prior to the election. Parties that don't have the policy work done struggle as oppositions and as we have seen, if they win an election, struggle in government.

[carlings]

Not sure where this lies but...Collingwood/ Melbourne City supporter Joffa has been shortlisted for Australian of the year.  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jeff-joffa-corfe-nominated-for-australian-of-the-year/story-fnp04d70-1227532878690

[cadete]

Not sure where this lies but...Collingwood/ Melbourne City supporter Joffa has been shortlisted for Australian of the year.  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jeff-joffa-corfe-nominated-for-australian-of-the-year/story-fnp04d70-1227532878690

Ricky Wong will edge him out this year surely.

[Shahanga]

My 2c. king Malta should have won for his worked in getting Voldemort removed as our gaffer.

[Jimmy]

My 2c. king Malta should have won for his worked in getting Voldemort removed as our gaffer.

:clap:

[Tesla]

Turnbull straight to work filling them quotas. Like the South African cricket team not too long ago had to have 4 'coloured' players in the 11 regardless of their ability, cabinet apparently has to have 5 females  

Not that I expected any less.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Tesla

[cadete]

Turnbull straight to work filling them quotas. Like the South African cricket team not too long ago had to have 4 'coloured' players in the 11 regardless of their ability, cabinet apparently has to have 5 females  

Not that I expected any less.

Well like every decision Abbott ever made it must be because his a Catholic... mind you I am sure the folks on Twatter are not remarking on this move in such a way.

[Tesla]

 

[cadete]

I read about how their is a push to tax bloody soft drink yesterday...

FFS in Berlin a 16 year old can buy a beer which is placed next to the Soft Drink at the Mini Mart and open it in the store with their bottle opener and then walk out on to the curb and drink to his fucken heart's content... and here we want to tax fucken Coca Cola.

Also even though I am back off the fags I still have not forgiven Ruddy for when he got in and also automatically sneakily raised the tax on cigarettes (Knowing nobody could really publicly complain in the media with any real credibility) by around $4 or $5 so that he could look better come Budget time.

 It was the biggest tax increase on them ever by a large amount and pretty ironic considering all the lefties you see in the Inner North puffing away as they complain about Tony Abbott.

Edited September 23, 2015 by cadete

[Tesla]

Senator Leyonhjelm is good value if you ask me, because he knows to focus on the less-extreme parts of libertarian philosophy that will resonate with a large part of the population (like the retarded nanny state shit), rather than the more controversial stuff, and he knows how to negotiate with the government unlike most of the other crossbenchers. This inquiry being a good example, IIRC it's happening because he agreed to back some government measures, and the fact it doesn't look at drugs or guns is a very good call as it would turn into a 'senator wants to legalise ice and ak-47s' thing if they were included and it's not like there is much of a chance of those becoming law (except for maybe recreational marijuana because Australia loves US culture, but we don't even have medical marijuana yet ffs)

Edited September 23, 2015 by Tesla

[hedaik]

When obesity is costing the government 30bn a year in medical costs and with sugar products being so cheap with much higher advertising power than the health alternative, I think something has to be done and a sugar tax levy seems the most obvious to me.

Sugar isnt really a whole lot different to smoking as far as the damage it causes to the populations health. 

Edited September 23, 2015 by hedaik

[Tesla]

When obesity is costing the government 30bn a year in medical costs and with sugar products being so cheap with much higher advertising power than the health alternative, I think something has to be done and a sugar tax levy seems the most obvious to me.

Sugar isnt really a whole lot different to smoking as far as the damage it causes to the populations health. 

There is no conclusive evidence that sugar itself is directly linked to any health problems like smoking is. Neither is any type of fat except artificial trans fat (including satuated fat and natural trans fat).  Sugar itself doesn't cause obesity, neither does fat.  Constant calorie surplus causes obesity. This can happen even if you sit around eating 'healthy food'  all day. 

Btw, fruit and milk are large sources of sugar, do you propose they are taxed? 

Edited September 23, 2015 by Tesla

[hedaik]

 

Btw, fruit and milk are large sources of sugar, do you propose they are taxed? 

Hard to draw a line somewhere, but I wouldnt be against shit like Boost Juice and other juices marketed as being healthy getting the same treatment. 

When people start getting fat from eating 100 apples or 10 glasses of milk a day we can probably start worrying about a tactic then for those products, but I'd tend to think there arent too many cases of obesity being caused from overeating of fruit or milk. Personally I find its easier to feel full from eating fruit, whereas chocolate I just want to eat more and more. 

[Tesla]

Hard to draw a line somewhere, but I wouldnt be against shit like Boost Juice and other juices marketed as being healthy getting the same treatment. 

When people start getting fat from eating 100 apples or 10 glasses of milk a day we can probably start worrying about a tactic then for those products, but I'd tend to think there arent too many cases of obesity being caused from overeating of fruit or milk. Personally I find its easier to feel full from eating fruit, whereas chocolate I just want to eat more and more. 

Because we do have universal healthcare, I'm not necessarily against taxing things that are going to potentially  cause health issues. It's the correct way to do things, at least according to mainstream economic theory. But it's a huge can of worms to open, because there are a lot of things that can potentially cause health issues, which makes it impractical. So it doesn't seem fair to impose it on something like food. The other issue with food is that it's very controversial, there are constantly studies contradicting each other etc, and there is a lot of misinformation because of this.

While obesity is a problem and a drain on tax payer funded health systems, I don't see taxing it as the solution.

Coming from someone who has lost and put on a lot of weight multiple times (I'm one of those people that needs to micromanage what they eat or I get fat), I really dont see what charging a bit more for a chocolate bar is going to achieve. The solution is motivation, and I don't really see what the government can do to motivate people to lose weight. Tax breaks if you lose X amount of kg? Or pay a 'levy' if you're overweight? But how do you judge overweight? It would probably be BMI which is a deeply flawed and inaccurate system. Or is the government going to pay for an accurate measure of body fat %?

It's just a huge can of worms no matter which way you look at it TBH.

Maybe include a few visits a year to a nutritionist under medicare, probably the best that can be done. And making the drugs that are actually effective in fat loss (certain stimulants) easier accessible and PBS covered. Really if a few people have a heart attack running one of those drugs it will still probably be less heart attacks than letting people be obese.

PBS covered Clenbuterol for all fat cunts  

TBH it doesn't help that our strict drug laws ban some of the other effective options that are legal in the US. Pretty sure you can get Ephadrine in the US without too much trouble (no prescription) as an asthma drug, for example. But no chance here as it's a precursor to speed.

If obesity is a huge health issue, why isn't it managed with drugs like other illnesses (and the shitty stimulant you can get prescribed for fat loss doesn't cut it, I could name completely legal and prescription free stimulants that will do more than Phentermine)? Frankly worse shit get's prescribed for less serious things (i'd rather put Clenbuterol in my body than Accutane, for example, and that shit gets prescribed for acne ffs which is hardly a serious health concern).

Edited September 23, 2015 by Tesla

[cadete]

LOL - So if such a Tax got up would Sugar Free drinks be Soft Drink Tax Free?

 

[Tesla]

LOL - So if such a Tax got up would Sugar Free drinks be Soft Drink Tax Free?

 

It would just make me enjoy drinking them more thinking I'm exploiting a tax loophole.

[jw1739]

Taxation is far too complicated already. Apply the KISS principle and move to indirect taxation. Just extend the GST to cover all forms of food. Then introduce a Financial Transactions Tax. Set the levels of these two taxes so that all other forms of direct taxation can be removed.

Q.E.D.

[cadete]

Taxation is far too complicated already. Apply the KISS principle and move to indirect taxation. Just extend the GST to cover all forms of food. Then introduce a Financial Transactions Tax. Set the levels of these two taxes so that all other forms of direct taxation can be removed.

Q.E.D.

I tried digging up the great speech Costello on Youtube made about Beasley wanting some Red Rooster when the ALP were forcing the food exceptions but I dont think its on there... 

[malloy]

I tried digging up the great speech Costello on Youtube made about Beasley wanting some Red Rooster when the ALP were forcing the food exceptions but I dont think its on there... 

I thought it was the Australian Democrats who forced the food and "necessities of life" exemptions.

[Luke]

Just waiting for a domestic violence tax ffs Moar tax is apparently the answer for everything 

[hedaik]

Just waiting for a domestic violence tax ffs Moar tax is apparently the answer for everything 

Derby tickets are expensive as it is without adding another fee on to watch Archie Thompson play. 

[jw1739]

Just waiting for a domestic violence tax ffs Moar tax is apparently the answer for everything 

In the UK there is, or was, what was commonly called the "bedroom tax." Worth reading about.

[Luke]

In the UK there is, or was, what was commonly called the "bedroom tax." Worth reading about.

Yeah, very dangerous territory. Not long before you have every group of victims in the country going to government demanding more money 

[Tesla]

Taxation is far too complicated already. Apply the KISS principle and move to indirect taxation. Just extend the GST to cover all forms of food. Then introduce a Financial Transactions Tax. Set the levels of these two taxes so that all other forms of direct taxation can be removed.

Q.E.D.

The problem is you'd be replacing a progressive tax with what will mostly be regressive taxes, which obviously isn't going to fly.

I agree that the GST should be expanded, it should cover all good and services consumed in Australia, the exemptions are retarded .

Either way the much talked about tax reform is really needed because the current system has it's issues (especially regarding state revenue, but I'm not keen on seeing a GST rate rise).

As for the never ending new taxes, the problem is it's too easy for the government to enact new spending and it is something every government will find hard to resist for political reasons. Which then creates the need for more tax. There needs to be some sort of mechanism that makes it harder to increase spending, I'm not sure what though. Ideally, there should be very limited scope for a structural deficit/surplus to exist, and the actual budget surplus/deficit is determined by cyclical factors, because as we've seen a structural deficit especially is very hard to reverse and if it is reversed the burden will be likely to fall more on increased taxation rather than reduced spending. And yes I realise it was Howard & Costello that created the structural deficit towards the end of their reign but I think that's defendable to an extent for many reasons, 

Edited September 24, 2015 by Tesla

[cadete]

I think Malloy just got a automatic hard on cos he sensed someone somewhere was talking about tax...

Edited September 24, 2015 by cadete

[Begbie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty_tax

[Tesla]

LOL

 

[cadete]

Difficult morning for Pinkos around town today in choosing sides between Turkey and Russia over the shot down fighter jet.

There is whole Putin and Abbott Shirtfront thing that should make Russia automatically the good guy plus the fact that the evil US have condoned their allies in the Turks right to defend their airspace.

However if they chose Russia does that make them guilty of the greatest sin of all in being Islamophobic?

 

 

Edited November 25, 2015 by cadete

[Tesla]

FFS pls don't bitch out Putin, we all know your not some punk, NATO won't do shit if you fuck with Turkey a bit.

[NewConvert]

3 hours ago, cadete said:

Difficult morning for Pinkos around town today in choosing sides between Turkey and Russia over the shot down fighter jet.

There is whole Putin and Abbott Shirtfront thing that should make Russia automatically the good guy plus the fact that the evil US have condoned their allies in the Turks right to defend their airspace.

However if they chose Russia does that make them guilty of the greatest sin of all in being Islamophobic?

 

 

Not really. Assad is a Muslim, a Shia Muslim and so are almost all the other religious minorities of Syria. Also Syria, unlike Saudi Arabia have had a relative 19th century outlook for the last 100 years. Now Turkey were founded on a principle of taking religion out of politics - in other words a secular state, but under the current president, secularism is going backwards. How long will it be before women are prevented from pursuing tertiary education in Turkey? Screw Erdogan.

Taking a cue from Churchill, Russia has always had an interest in the Middle East because it allows them access to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Hence I much prefer my world to accept that Ukraine and Syria are part of the geopolitical interests of Russia, that Latin America is part of the geopolitical interest of the USA and for things to cool down.

Also, it was reported in the Washington Post (not a pinko paper btw) that the USA and Kurdish ground forces were about to choke the military supply line to IS but Erdogan prohibited this move and the USA backed off. Currently, the claim is that fighter jet was in Turkish airspace but that is coming from Erdogan and given his recent history has even less credibility than JVS as an A-League coach.

[cadete]

16 minutes ago, NewConvert said:

Not really. Assad is a Muslim, a Shia Muslim and so are almost all the other religious minorities of Syria. Also Syria, unlike Saudi Arabia have had a relative 19th century outlook for the last 100 years. Now Turkey were founded on a principle of taking religion out of politics - in other words a secular state, but under the current president, secularism is going backwards. How long will it be before women are prevented from pursuing tertiary education in Turkey? Screw Erdogan.

Taking a cue from Churchill, Russia has always had an interest in the Middle East because it allows them access to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Hence I much prefer my world to accept that Ukraine and Syria are part of the geopolitical interests of Russia, that Latin America is part of the geopolitical interest of the USA and for things to cool down.

Also, it was reported in the Washington Post (not a pinko paper btw) that the USA and Kurdish ground forces were about to choke the military supply line to IS but Erdogan prohibited this move and the USA backed off. Currently, the claim is that fighter jet was in Turkish airspace but that is coming from Erdogan and given his recent history has even less credibility than JVS as an A-League coach.

Thanks for the history listen... but who do the Pinkos root for?

NOTE: I CBF going on Twatter to research the answer myself as it's just full of nobodies who think people want to hear their opinion on shit... which of course is not the case hence why these PPL have to resort to Twatter to try feel important and like their opinions do matter.

Edited November 25, 2015 by cadete

[strider]

LEVEL THESE OTTOMANS TO OBLIVION!!!!!!!!! 

[Moraiwe]

1 hour ago, cadete said:

Thanks for the history listen... but who do the Pinkos root for?

I suspect they root for Russia in this case.  Even if they dislike Putin and Russia's intervention in Syria, what we have here is a plane shot down for crossing a border.  They probably see it as akin to shooting someone for walking across your lawn.

[NewConvert]

1 hour ago, cadete said:

Thanks for the history listen... but who do the Pinkos root for?

NOTE: I CBF going on Twatter to research the answer myself as it's just full of nobodies who think people want to hear their opinion on shit... which of course is not the case hence why these PPL have to resort to Twatter to try feel important and like their opinions do matter.

Well I consider myself a pinko (even hung around the Socialist Labour League back in my teenage years) but these days everything is so fragmented that it is hard to work out where people place themselves. I even have a friend that proclaims pinko thoughts but she is fully behind Turnbull - go figure. The hardest thing is actually getting some real facts to make a proper appreciation of things. But as I said in my post I take Churchill's approach that there are no permanent alliances but there are permanent interests. Russia, since imperial times have had a major interest in the Crimea and the Ottoman empire/successor states because it gives them access to the Mediterranean. When it comes to the Middle East, under Hussein and the Assads both countries had the biggest middle classes in the region, tolerance for minority religions was stable (other when the kurds or marsh arabs rebelled at the insistence of the Bush 41), and women could aspire for an education. Although both Hussein and the Assads were/are murderous bastards, the west has also become murderous bastards in the process of trying to stamp out IS and other organisations. One difference is that we, the people of the west voted for these policies - whereas neither the Iraqi nor the Syrian voted for their policies; and as such you and I bear full responsibility for those policies.

As for twatter - I am in full agreement with you.

[HeartFc]

The ideal situation would be Putin converting to Islam and teaming up with Turkey. After that the whole middle east will become friends and bomb the living shit out of the evil imperialists (USA) and their fanboys (Europe, Israel and Australia). The bombs they drop will ONLY kill Islamophobes, Jewish owned media outlets and Catholics. Only the progressive non racist free thinkers will survive. 

As a result carbon omissions will plummet, veganism will become mainstream, skull caps will become obsolete, the pope will no longer be able to rape women into pregnancy and force them not to have an abortion, the word "hate" will be taken out of the dictionary because hate won't exist, Palestine will finally be free and reach their potential, thus leading the world in scientific breakthroughs and nobel prize winners... and of course... Bruce Jenner will win Miss Universe.

Cant wait!

 

Edited November 26, 2015 by HeartFc

[cadete]

That truly was a Masterpiece mate...

[Shahanga]

On 11/25/2015, 2:54:31, cadete said:

... but what do the Pinkos root for?

fun?

exercise?

reproduction?

(TTIM - Americanisms)

PS whilst I'm going an ass is a donkey (you sit on your arse) and if you are "pissed" you aren't angry, mate you are drunk as a skunk.