21 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

This is what happens when you have criminals running the country, they're only in it to line their own filthy pockets.

Career politicians from both major political parties have destroyed Australia's economy in the last 20 years.

From debt free to $1 Trillion in debt, and no decent manufacturing or infrastructure to show for it.

Australia is destined to be a banana republic.

17 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

This is coming from the man who didn't do a days work in his life except bludge on taxpayers dollars with your government job

He didn't have a government job. He believes "work for the dole" is a job, which made him a public servant. 😂

18 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

another bludger & spiv that milked the system

There's plenty of them in that 37.1% drag on the Australian economy.

18 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Well at least you got away with milking the system and apparently still doing it

Yes, and continuing to do it every fortnight. 🙂

6 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

He didn't have a government job. He believes "work for the dole" is a job, which made him a public servant. 😂

There's plenty of them in that 37.1% drag on the Australian economy.

Yes, and continuing to do it every fortnight. 🙂

Waaaaa, 🙃 you n GG, tag team losers still beating yourself up with the LNP coalition 'if only' rant. It's all over red rover n it's never coming back. I've been emloyed since 16 yrs old,vic, qld and SA govt and in small business, owned pubs, servos, and outback tourist travel Co,mining leases and property.Upwards of 20 grandkids thanks to the good gene pool😭😭 But OAP is just ideal for Thailand retirement and I am set for life, 🙏👌

3 hours ago, Olmate said:

still beating yourself up with the LNP coalition 'if only' rant.

I'm a swing voter, but I haven't voted since living here full time.

3 hours ago, Olmate said:

I've been emloyed since 16 yrs old,vic, qld and SA govt and in small business, owned pubs, servos, and outback tourist travel Co,mining leases and property.Upwards of 20 grandkids thanks to the good gene pool😭😭 But OAP is just ideal for Thailand retirement and I am set for life, 🙏👌

And after all of this, you have accumulated such a large nest egg that you still qualify for the old aged pension. 🤣🤣

"Pull the other one, it plays jingle bells" Olmate. 🙂

Edited July 1Jul 1 by KhunHeineken

Getting back on topic, Australia is going so great that hedge funds are now "shorting" The Big 4 banks, to the tune of $11 Billion.

The Big 4 Banks make up over 20% of the total market capitalization of the Australian Stock Market, so there goes people's superannuation, thus, retirement. They'll be working until 75 years of age, or longer.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/the-big-aussie-short-hedge-funds-bet-a-record-11-billion-against-the-big-four-banks/news-story/269a00b49e5176e98fd8f760f13ee3cd

Some concerning charts, figures, and statistics in this video.

The lucky country no more.

Tiny Island Nation Officially Embraces the Name Foreigners Had Trouble Pronouncing

Nauru, the nearly 8-square-mile island nation located northeast of Australia, has officially become the Republic of Naoero

Well, I'm scratching this new island off my travel bucket list.

Can't pronounce it either. 🤠

2 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Tiny Island Nation Officially Embraces the Name Foreigners Had Trouble Pronouncing

Nauru, the nearly 8-square-mile island nation located northeast of Australia, has officially become the Republic of Naoero

Well, I'm scratching this new island off my travel bucket list.

Can't pronounce it either. 🤠

Good 4 bird droppings!

9 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Good 4 bird droppings!

Many, many years ago. I think guano mining is long finished.

3 hours ago, emptypockets said:

Many, many years ago. I think guano mining is long finished.

So the bats n birds just buggered off then??

12 hours ago, Olmate said:

So the bats n birds just buggered off then??

Doubt it unless the illegal immigrants are them. When the mining was carried out it was mining crap that had built up over tens of thousands of years. I guess they could employ someone to observe and catch birds crapping and then collect that.

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

Doubt it unless the illegal immigrants are them. When the mining was carried out it was mining crap that had built up over tens of thousands of years. I guess they could employ someone to observe and catch birds crapping and then collect that.

I worked nearby Nauru House?, in Melbourne CBD in 60,s, flash building them days!

2 hours ago, Olmate said:

I worked nearby Nauru House?, in Melbourne CBD in 60,s, flash building them days!

That was the golden era for Nauru, 60s to the 80s. I looked at a job there but the money on offer was about a third of the Aussie wage.

On 8/4/2026 at 5:38 AM, SiSePuede419 said:

Tiny Island Nation Officially Embraces the Name Foreigners Had Trouble Pronouncing

Nauru, the nearly 8-square-mile island nation located northeast of Australia, has officially become the Republic of Naoero

Well, I'm scratching this new island off my travel bucket list.

Can't pronounce it either. 🤠

Nauru should have been used by super wealthy Australians as a tax haven. Gina Bank Nauru and Twiggy Bank Nauru. 😂 😂

Nauru - The Lucky Country. 😂

Edited August 8Aug 8 by KhunHeineken

Don't knock Twiggy, great benefactor to many and huge contributor to state of WA tax wise. Two of my grandkids work for him so I,m not biased either!! 👍

And Gina, well she gives plenty to ON, that's all wasted but she still gives it. 😅

2 hours ago, Olmate said:

Don't knock Twiggy, great benefactor to many and huge contributor to state of WA tax wise. Two of my grandkids work for him so I,m not biased either!! 👍

And Gina, well she gives plenty to ON, that's all wasted but she still gives it. 😅

They both give plenty to both parties. They take an each way bet every election.

If they both had their way, they would be importing cheap labor and doing your grand kids out of a job.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-26/unions-angry-at-move-to-allow-foreign-workers-in-mine/4034758

How much personal tax do you think they both paid last year?

Edited August 8Aug 8 by KhunHeineken

It's a great day in the history of Australia. 😂 😂

https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/australia-hits-1-trillion-debt-for-the-first-time-20260820-p60pxk.html

10 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's a great day in the history of Australia. 😂 😂

https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/australia-hits-1-trillion-debt-for-the-first-time-20260820-p60pxk.html

Compared to 40 Trillion $US, seems we are a well placed runner up!!

6 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Compared to 40 Trillion $US, seems we are a well placed runner up!!

America has a population of 350 million people. Australia only 28 million people.

America has way more debt per capita, but also has huge companies. Australia doesn't even manufacture a car anymore.

Nearly $30 billion a year in interest alone.

The states have three quarters of $1 trillion dollars of debt as well. The combined state and federal debt will be over $2 trillion by 2030.

Where the money going to come from to not only service the debt, but to pay it down as well?

More taxes, and a cut to services on the way.

The next federal election and the runup thereto are going to be fascinating.

The outcomes will tell us much about Australians of today: me me me vs hard work & investment, and sensible immigration policies vs Keep the darkies out.

Look on the bright side, you can now short the AUD/USD with gay abandon and make a killing off the falling Aussie Dollar.

2 hours ago, Cameroni said:

Look on the bright side, you can now short the AUD/USD with gay abandon and make a killing off the falling Aussie Dollar.

Hedge funds have shorted Aussie banks to the tune of $11 billion.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/the-big-aussie-short-hedge-funds-bet-a-record-11-billion-against-the-big-four-banks/news-story/269a00b49e5176e98fd8f760f13ee3cd

5 hours ago, mfd101 said:

The next federal election and the runup thereto are going to be fascinating.

The outcomes will tell us much about Australians of today: me me me vs hard work & investment, and sensible immigration policies vs Keep the darkies out.

I don't think you will have to wait that long to see interesting things play out in Australia.

One Nation won a recent byelection.

https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/nsw/farrer-byelection-2026-results-barnaby-joyce-one-nation-looking-ahead-after-historic-win-20260511-p5zvkl.html

Victoria goes to the polls in November 26. and NSW in March 27.

Victoria is broke.

NSW has a big housing crisis and all the premier can do is go to the polls with a gun buy back scheme.

The Federal government will not be able to ignore the results of these state elections.

Get the popcorn.

Add in Bowens new carbon tax that will drive up the price of petrol, diesel and avgas.

The future looks grim for Australia in the short term.

When the Prime Minister says he would bang an ageing pop star and takes the piss out of the Japanese Prime Minister after her gift of a melon, we know we have a country devoid of leadership.

Grim Jim Chalmers got his PhD studying Paul Keating. It's a shame he didn't study Paul Keatings economic policy instead. Keating tried the same foolish policy regarding housing in the 1980's that Chalmers introduced in the last budget. Keating saw the backlash and reversed the policy. Until this happens people in the rental market may be able looking at a 30% increase in rent, or sleeping in the street.

Edited August 21Aug 21 by emptypockets

The broader Asian countries look at us like a retarded child. We have a country with pretty well every natural resource yet we are a trillion dollars in debt.

When you look at Singapore, Japan and South Korea that need to import pretty well every resource yet seem to be doing very well, I can see what they mean.

We only have ourselves to blame. For many,many years, the unions have been controlling wages to the point where we cannot compete in the manufacturing world.

It appears unions would rather send a company broke and lose all of their members jobs than be realistic. They don't seem to realise we need to compete on the world stage.

I know people are of the view that without unions we would be earning 300 baht a day, and to some extent that is true.

However there is a large disparity across the country and industries for people doing the same job.

I have attended many industry seminars and talked to many people.

15 years ago an electrician in my industry would be on a base rate of around 70,000. An electrician at an onshore refinery in Victoria was on $120,000 for exactly the same job.

Anyone who watches the news over a number of years will see a pattern with teachers and nurses. Not begrudging their income but time after time one state union will say their members are the lowest paid in the country. Next year another state says the same thing and gets a raise. After five years the first state again says they are the lowest paid and the cycle continues.

I won't even start on the missing 15 billion dollars from Victoria's big build, that every Australian will pay for.

31 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Add in Bowens new carbon tax that will drive up the price of petrol, diesel and avgas.

The future looks grim for Australia in the short term.

When the Prime Minister says he would bang an ageing pop star and takes the piss out of the Japanese Prime Minister after her gift of a melon, we know we have a country devoid of leadership.

Grim Jim Chalmers got his PhD studying Paul Keating. It's a shame he didn't study Paul Keatings economic policy instead. Keating tried the same foolish policy regarding housing in the 1980's that Chalmers introduced in the last budget. Keating saw the backlash and reversed the policy. Until this happens people in the rental market may be able looking at a 30% increase in rent, or sleeping in the street.

Something had to be done with negative gearing. It turned family homes into an investment vehicle. Whatever changes were made, by whoever was in government was always going to be unpopular because there's so many on the negative gearing gravy train.

What I think should have been done was a cap on the amount of houses one can negatively gear, or a cap on the portfolio's amount. In relation to the CGT, you can sell one investment property at the old rate, any subsequent properties the higher rate.

21 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

The broader Asian countries look at us like a retarded child. We have a country with pretty well every natural resource yet we are a trillion dollars in debt.

When you look at Singapore, Japan and South Korea that need to import pretty well every resource yet seem to be doing very well, I can see what they mean.

We only have ourselves to blame. For many,many years, the unions have been controlling wages to the point where we cannot compete in the manufacturing world.

It appears unions would rather send a company broke and lose all of their members jobs than be realistic. They don't seem to realise we need to compete on the world stage.

I know people are of the view that without unions we would be earning 300 baht a day, and to some extent that is true.

However there is a large disparity across the country and industries for people doing the same job.

I have attended many industry seminars and talked to many people.

15 years ago an electrician in my industry would be on a base rate of around 70,000. An electrician at an onshore refinery in Victoria was on $120,000 for exactly the same job.

Anyone who watches the news over a number of years will see a pattern with teachers and nurses. Not begrudging their income but time after time one state union will say their members are the lowest paid in the country. Next year another state says the same thing and gets a raise. After five years the first state again says they are the lowest paid and the cycle continues.

I won't even start on the missing 15 billion dollars from Victoria's big build, that every Australian will pay for.

Australia is looked upon as "The Poor White Trash Of Asia."

Unions are partly to blame, but how can you pay an Aussie worker $500 a month, so our manufacturing can compete, when houses are selling for over $1,000,000?

Then, you have the privatization of electricity, so the manufacturing company's energy cost can't compete with cheap electricity / gas in Asia, and it's probably Aussie coal / gas they are burning in Asia anyway.

It all comes back to Australia no longer rides on the sheep's back, but on a housing market Ponzi scheme, similar to the US, prior to the GFC.

We were The Lucky Country. Now we are The Dumb Country.

16 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Australia is looked upon as "The Poor White Trash Of Asia."

Unions are partly to blame, but how can you pay an Aussie worker $500 a month, so our manufacturing can compete, when houses are selling for over $1,000,000?

Then, you have the privatization of electricity, so the manufacturing company's energy cost can't compete with cheap electricity / gas in Asia, and it's probably Aussie coal / gas they are burning in Asia anyway.

It all comes back to Australia no longer rides on the sheep's back, but on a housing market Ponzi scheme, similar to the US, prior to the GFC.

We were The Lucky Country. Now we are The Dumb Country.

16 hours ago, emptypockets said:

The broader Asian countries look at us like a retarded child. We have a country with pretty well every natural resource yet we are a trillion dollars in debt.

When you look at Singapore, Japan and South Korea that need to import pretty well every resource yet seem to be doing very well, I can see what they mean.

We only have ourselves to blame. For many,many years, the unions have been controlling wages to the point where we cannot compete in the manufacturing world.

It appears unions would rather send a company broke and lose all of their members jobs than be realistic. They don't seem to realise we need to compete on the world stage.

I know people are of the view that without unions we would be earning 300 baht a day, and to some extent that is true.

However there is a large disparity across the country and industries for people doing the same job.

I have attended many industry seminars and talked to many people.

15 years ago an electrician in my industry would be on a base rate of around 70,000. An electrician at an onshore refinery in Victoria was on $120,000 for exactly the same job.

Anyone who watches the news over a number of years will see a pattern with teachers and nurses. Not begrudging their income but time after time one state union will say their members are the lowest paid in the country. Next year another state says the same thing and gets a raise. After five years the first state again says they are the lowest paid and the cycle continues.

I won't even start on the missing 15 billion dollars from Victoria's big build, that every Australian will pay for.

Dumb n dumber at it today, christ sake it's Saturday😅😅😅

6 hours ago, Olmate said:

Dumb n dumber at it today, christ sake it's Saturday😅😅😅

Australia's debt doesn't take a break on a Saturday. 😂

https://worlddebtclocks.com/australia/

7 hours ago, Olmate said:

Dumb n dumber at it today, christ sake it's Saturday😅😅😅

Do you have anything intelligent to say?