KhunHeineken

Interesting that Centerlink knows one's date of return to Australia, thus, date of departure as well, which means they know how many days spent inside and outside of Australia in a financial year. Does 183 days sound familiar?

Does it matter which TV channel interviews the people? You are getting their account of the situation. Does their footage lie? There's a shop in this clip openly advertising a packet of cigarettes for $12 with a big sign on the shop.

You've added your own criteria in there. It's criteria that Centerlink does not require. Eg. has paid tax. Say he's never worked a day in his life, and never paid any tax. He qualifies, but does he deserve it? Should he get it? Should the taxpayer fund is retirement in Thailand? This guy openly admits it. CH9 or no CH9, hear the story from his own mouth. People work hard to give this deadsh*t money every fortnight, and YOU defend the system that allows it, simply because he "qualifies." How many of these are able bodied and can work????

I thought you meant a rejected application for a new passport. The re-establishing residency rule has been around for years, and well discussed on this forum. Apart from being outside of Australia, do you even qualify for the pension? Would you pass the asset test? If you qualify, will you return to Australia to do your 2 years?

Yes, few people smoke, but no where near the numbers the government claims. Do you think the people who have been pushed onto the black market cigarettes show up in official data? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-03/black-market-tobacco-manchester-cigarettes-four-corners/104978592 "According to Victoria Police, there are 1,300 standalone tobacco stores in Victoria, and of those, 1,000 sell some kind of illicit tobacco." Still $15AUD a packet for grey / black market cigarettes. Once again, these stats do not address the boom in grey / black market cigarettes. The government has spun it that their huge tobacco tax is stopping people from smoking, and you fell for their BS. Meanwhile, record amounts of grey / black market cigarettes are being imported and sold to smokers. These sales do not appear in any official stats.

Why?

You are simply deflecting. An older report, but still relevant. https://www.9news.com.au/national/dole-bludgers-worst-in-australia-revealed/cf24a1bc-b329-4982-a9ce-5c04ce23acf8 "According to the report nearly 50,000 people in Australia that are capable of working did not attend job interviews in the past year, but are still not being penalised." The reports says 50,000, but according to you, very little fraud. As said, the reason little fraud is found is because the recipient "qualified" but that doesn't mean they can not work. This woman got away with it for 21 years. Had over $240,000AUD in cash in her home. She even instructed others how to defraud the system. Where's the checks and balances to be able to get away with it for so long, and for so much? You don't comprehend the difference between "fraudsters" and to use your word, "qualified" recipients. You still don't see it's the ease of obtaining a welfare payment that is the issue. Here's an example that's closer to home. Say an Aussie expat has been living in Thailand for many years. He now reaches retirement age. He goes back to Australia to stay for 2 years to re-establish residency. He tells Centerlink what they want to hear, that is, his intention is to live in Australia. After 2 years he achieves portability, and flies back to Thailand a day later. He had no intention of remaining in Australia at all. Now, he "qualified" for the welfare, but has he committed "fraud?"

If "the free stuff continues" then how is Skype actually shutting down? I predict March 26 will be the end, credit, or no credit.

I agree. Robodebt was a disgrace. It should never have been allowed to happen, yet ultimately, no one was held to account.

I think the real disingenuous are those abusing the system. Those who have not, and never will, work a day in their life, despite being capable of doing so.

You keep banging on about "fraud." It's that easy to get a Centerlink payment that there is no need to commit fraud. Like another member suggested, Australia has become a nation of bludgers. I looked at the stats and it's 37% of Australia's budget, and Australia's biggest bill. 50% of households across Australia are receiving some form of welfare. These stats tend to prove the member's point. I have posted a news video of a guy who clearly is a "bludger." He "qualified" for the dole so Centerlink gives it to him. Question, is he committing fraud? Do you see the issue? He's getting the dole, but isn't viewed as committing fraud because he "qualified" for it, so he doesn't show up in any fraud stats, but clearly he doesn't deserve the dole because he is able bodied and can work.

It's a simple question. Social Security and Welfare is currently 37% of Australia's budget. At what percent do YOU say there is a problem? The money has to come from somewhere. We've already borrowed 1 trillion dollars, which shows Australia has more outgoings than income, and as I just posted in another thread, they forecast a decade of budget deficits. 45%, 50%, 55%? At what percent of the Australian budget do YOU say "Social Security and Welfare" has become a problem? Can you clarify your use of the word "qualified?" Any Australian citizen can walk into a Centerlink office and put their hand out. Link please. If you watch this, you will clearly see there is a systemic "problem" with abuse of the system. Do you think this guy deserves one cent of the tax payers money? If not, why is he allowed to get it at all? I agree, but which political party is going to stand up to the mining giants and big companies, many of whom "donate" to both political parties. It was tried by Labor and repealed by Liberal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals_Resource_Rent_Tax

I said Australia is broke, and has 1 trillion dollars of debt, and S&P recently warned both major political parties that Australia is at risk of losing its AAA rating. Another member posted Australia has become a nation of bludgers, and I have posted some stats that tend to prove his argument. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-17/chalmers-deficit-federal-budget-confirmation/105060688 "A decade of budgets in the red has been forecast by the federal government for some time, but a weak Australian dollar had increased revenues from minerals exports and fuelled speculation the treasurer might be able to eke out one last surplus." They forecast Australia will run at a loss for the next 10 years, further blowing out the 1 trillion debt. Australia is maxing out its credit card. Quite a list of freebies, and more freebies within the freebies. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/guide-to-australian-government-payments?context=22

It's because ham is offensive to muslims living in South Australia.

I am sure many VOIP companies seeing a spike in new users have increased their bandwidth, considerably, and added to their servers. The Teams user experience is completely different to Skype, so many will be looking for something similar to Skype and will not use Teams. A few years ago, Microsoft should have introduce "Skype for Home" and "Skype for Business" or similar. Skype for Home could have remained pretty much the same, no extra work needed, just keep doing what they have been doing, and Skype for Business could have been basically what Teams is, to compete with the likes of Zoom etc, particularly when the pandemic hit. Microsoft did nothing, so Skype was losing users and profits, so rather than revive a global brand with some R&D, they decided to kill it off because they can afford to.

Am I missing something? Is the below link the company / product you are talking about? https://www.talk360.com If so, there is no "THB" in their drop down currency payment list. Where does your screenshot come from? Below is what I get when selecting GBP on the Talk360 website. From www.xe.com - 6p is 2.63THB and 4p is 1.75THB. Who will you call today? Click below to find the rate for the country you will call 5 results are available, use up and down arrow keys to navigate. Mobile £ 0,06 / min Landline £ 0,04 / min

It's quite a turn around. In the past, Labor would "give" to the worker. Now, Labor takes from the worker and gives it to those who don't work.

Yeah, too many more. That's correct. At 50% of households across Australia receiving some form of welfare, many are taxpayers, but then again, many are not. Question for you. You seem fine with social security and welfare being the Australian economy's biggest bill at 37% of the budget. What percent would it have to be before YOU admit there is a problem?

I thought you meant India Pale Ale.

Robodebt is irrelevant. It's more to do with the ease in which someone can receive welfare in Australia, which has lead to abuse of the system, which now means that the amount of people on welfare must be catered for at election time, and if a political party doesn't, they don't get voted in. Basically, people who receive welfare, many of whom do not work and pay tax, get to decide who governs the country. Australia never used to be that way, now it is.

I suppose why not give out more freebies. After all, Australia is ONLY 1 trillion dollars in debt.

Why would you? Their user interface is not friendly, and their rates are expensive for calls.

Obviously. That's because Microsoft failed to develop Skype and keep up with the competition, then, when the pandemic hit, Zoom was well placed and took off. I use it with friends and family back home, sometimes over a beer together. Every smartphone has the hardware for it these days. No need for webcams etc. I use the paid phone call feature for calling companies like banks, insurance etc. It appears to me Teams was developed with businesses in mind. It's not exactly pitched at the consumer market. I think they will lose a high percentage of their Skype users to competitors. Only a huge company could shut down a global brand and not miss the money. Yes. I bet they opened the champagne after Microsoft's announcement.

If ease of setup is what you are after, have a look at this product. It doesn't get any easier, and they have good rates. https://www.voipbuster.com/dashboard

I checked out Talk360 rates. One of the most expensive rates of all the Skype alternatives put forward over all these Skype threads. To UK: Mobile 6p and Landline 4p per minute. To Australia: Mobile 12c and Landline 6c per minute. (AUD) They don't offer an unlimited calls / minutes subscription.