Local Current Affairs Thread

[marron]

Actually, the fault is with me because some other **** employed the surgeon at that hospital and that was the only hospital or surgeon I could now access.

[Unlimited]

3 hours ago, wendybr said:

Maybe you'd better say typical "Liberal politician". And I totally agree with that.

I know plenty of Liberal voters who are good people, and who would have a multiplicity of reasons for voting as they do.

Of course, many others would largely be about protecting their own business interests in voting LNP.

I think that's it.

From a purely economic perspective, I think I'm better off voting LNP. They love tax cuts (which doesn't mesh with "the debt and deficit disaster" but that's for a different rant), retention of franking credits, etc. Which, really, is great for those on higher incomes and those who have shares.

But I don't think - as someone who grew up in Western Sydney - I can really support those policies even though they are advantageous to me. Like it's great I got a tax cut but I'm not in the income bracket that is struggling to make ends meet.

I honestly would've preferred no tax cut and that money put into an welfare increase so that our most disadvantaged people don't have to scrounge and fight for every dollar they have.

[Carns]

5 hours ago, wendybr said:

Feel a bit sorry for Greg Hunt.

What a horrible job to have landed in the middle of a pandemic.

Greg Hunt is a ******* gumby and a lackey, **** him.

26 minutes ago, Unlimited said:

But I don't think - as someone who grew up in Western Sydney - I can really support those policies even though they are advantageous to me. Like it's great I got a tax cut but I'm not in the income bracket that is struggling to make ends meet.

I honestly would've preferred no tax cut and that money put into an welfare increase so that our most disadvantaged people don't have to scrounge and fight for every dollar they have.

Would be interesting to see if your mindset changes as your income grows and you may socialise with wealthier people over time (say any change over 10 or 20 years). Whether or not you'll "forget your roots" so to speak.

[marron]

It doesn't have to be about forgetting roots imo anyway.

What it is about is short-term micro-level benefit vs long-term macro level benefit. Being wealthy is one thing - being wealthy in a society which provides opportunities for everyone has all sorts of benefits for you as an individual. Less crime, better healthcare, better educated workforce.... opportunities for your kids will be better, if something happens to you and you lose all your money you'll be looked after, etc etc, so much stuff.

[Carns]

24 minutes ago, marron said:

It doesn't have to be about forgetting roots imo anyway.

What it is about is short-term micro-level benefit vs long-term macro level benefit. Being wealthy is one thing - being wealthy in a society which provides opportunities for everyone has all sorts of benefits for you as an individual. Less crime, better healthcare, better educated workforce.... opportunities for your kids will be better, if something happens to you and you lose all your money you'll be looked after, etc etc, so much stuff.

Agree with that, in my experience those who live in more affluent areas have less concern for "the other" than those who don't. It's a stereotype and doesn't ring true for everyone, but there seems to be more selfishness (or less regard for the safety net) amongst wealthier people (from what I've experienced anecdotally).

[wendybr]

29 minutes ago, marron said:

It doesn't have to be about forgetting roots imo anyway.

What it is about is short-term micro-level benefit vs long-term macro level benefit. Being wealthy is one thing - being wealthy in a society which provides opportunities for everyone has all sorts of benefits for you as an individual. Less crime, better healthcare, better educated workforce.... opportunities for your kids will be better, if something happens to you and you lose all your money you'll be looked after, etc etc, so much stuff.

That's still voting out of self interest.

Myself and lots of others, and hopefully Unlimited, don't think like that.

[marron]

That's kind of my point though. For self-interested wealthy people, there are still reasons to vote for socially minded policy. But, you know, tax cut next year trumps long term benefits (as does, say, not going into a harder lockdown sooner, or not paying benefits to employees who can't work).

[Unlimited]

1 hour ago, Carns said:

Would be interesting to see if your mindset changes as your income grows and you may socialise with wealthier people over time (say any change over 10 or 20 years). Whether or not you'll "forget your roots" so to speak.

Well, I do order a latte during work coffee runs...

Apparently it's not LAH-tay it's lah-TEH

 

Speaking of voting, the North Shore electorates interestingly swung to Labor at the last election but of course, not enough swing to topple the LNP member:

• Reid (Homebush, Strathfield, Drummoyne): +1.51 Labor (to 55-45)
• Bennelong (Epping, Ryde): +2.81 (59-41)
• North Sydney (incl. Chatswood): +4.34 (64-36)
• Wentworth (Vaucluse, Bondi): 51-49 to Liberal over Independent
• Bradfield (Waitara, Pymble, Killara): +4.48 (67-33)

Meanwhile in the West...

• Mitchell (Kellyville, Castle Hill): -0.81 to Labor (69-31)
• Lindsay (Penrith): -6.15 (55-45)

[theseeker]

2 hours ago, marron said:

Actually, the fault is with me because some other **** employed the surgeon at that hospital and that was the only hospital or surgeon I could now access.

….yeah democracy can be a bitch can't it.

But Albo and comrades might win the next election and all the Lib guys can mean-mouth , insult and vilify the various ministers when they invariably stuff up badly, such as Rudd and Gillard did. Politics is fun.

Somehow I think though Albo and the comrades will get a Three Monkeys type saloon passage on here though.

 

 

[marron]

Yep sure is - still not my fault though is it?

[Carns]

1 hour ago, Unlimited said:

Meanwhile in the West...

• Mitchell (Kellyville, Castle Hill): -0.81 to Labor (69-31)

Mitchell is as rusted on as you'll get. In the time it has been an electorate it has changed hands once (in the 70s) for one election cycle and then immediately changed back. Safe as houses.

[Paul01]

And again the conservatives try to stop a report into corrupt practices by their ministers (Sports & Prime) becoming published.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/18/sports-rorts-coalition-blocking-release-of-phil-gaetjens-secret-report-citing-cabinet-exemption?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[Unlimited]

17 hours ago, Carns said:

Mitchell is as rusted on as you'll get. In the time it has been an electorate it has changed hands once (in the 70s) for one election cycle and then immediately changed back. Safe as houses.

That’s really surprising

I always thought the stereotype of the Hills people were the snobby wannabe Shire/North Shore types but I thought that was a recent phenomenon…

[marron]

No way, that's positively ancient, that.

[Carns]

23 minutes ago, Unlimited said:

That’s really surprising

I always thought the stereotype of the Hills people were the snobby wannabe Shire/North Shore types but I thought that was a recent phenomenon…

I grew up and live in the Hills. The demographics have changed slightly with property price rises. Most of my mates growing up had parents working relatively "working class" jobs. But most of my mates can't afford to live in the area anymore.

There has always been a relatively strong religious element (hence the bible belt stereotype). And that has only been heightened by the presence of places like Hillsong 

[marron]

Yeah, I lived in Castle hill/Baulko round 99/00 (it was Epping for a bit before that). It was kind of broad spectrum without maybe the extremes at either end, but also pretty conservative feeling on the whole. 

[marron]

Property prices going up everywhere have shrunk the broader nature that many suburbs used to have.

[Carns]

27 minutes ago, marron said:

Property prices going up everywhere have shrunk the broader nature that many suburbs used to have.

Diversity goes out the window and everything becomes bland, beige and gentrified.

[Unlimited]

2 hours ago, Carns said:

I grew up and live in the Hills. The demographics have changed slightly with property price rises. Most of my mates growing up had parents working relatively "working class" jobs. But most of my mates can't afford to live in the area anymore.

There has always been a relatively strong religious element (hence the bible belt stereotype). And that has only been heightened by the presence of places like Hillsong 

Ah you know what, that explains a lot...

(not bashing Christianity here, but just find it interesting they trend conservative similarly to America, but that's a discussion for elsewhere)

[wendybr]

5 hours ago, marron said:

Property prices going up everywhere have shrunk the broader nature that many suburbs used to have.

Thing is, with the Metro, and stations at Showground - near me, and in the centre of CH, parts of the suburb are being massively redeveloped. Pockets of CH will be unrecogniseable in 5 years. I live in the middle of a construction zone, now, sadly.

I think the apartments will be fairly upmarket, but this might change the demographic somewhat. 

[marron]

6 hours ago, Carns said:

Diversity goes out the window and everything becomes bland, beige and gentrified.

Yep. Definitely a big part of what I like about the mountains, although the multicultural diversity is lower than WS but then, everywhere on the planet is practically lower. But yeah, it still has that, some hugely wealthy people here but many at the other end. Even up here the squeeze is on though.

 

37 minutes ago, wendybr said:

Thing is, with the Metro, and stations at Showground - near me, and in the centre of CH, parts of the suburb are being massively redeveloped. Pockets of CH will be unrecogniseable in 5 years. I live in the middle of a construction zone, now, sadly.

I think the apartments will be fairly upmarket, but this might change the demographic somewhat. 

Yeah it was pretty sleepy when I lived there, Towers was relatively down market and certainly didn't feel flash or anything (although I don't know how much it has changed). We lived on the border with Baulko and it was funny that people looked down on Baulko! Like... what? haha. My brother in law lives in Kellyville now so I have been there fairly frequently over the last few years and yeah, it's a  pretty different place.

[marron]

Thing is though as well, like, what was the population of Sydney back then? It was "3 million" when I was growing up, when did we hit 4? And what is it now?  (to answer my own question, yep, hit 4 in about 2008, almost at 5 now).

Things have to change, obviously - the density is what it is. But it would be so much better on many levels with affordable housing.

Edited July 18, 2021 by marron

[Unlimited]

2 hours ago, marron said:

Thing is though as well, like, what was the population of Sydney back then? It was "3 million" when I was growing up, when did we hit 4? And what is it now?  (to answer my own question, yep, hit 4 in about 2008, almost at 5 now).

Things have to change, obviously - the density is what it is. But it would be so much better on many levels with affordable housing.

Unfortunately the nation's obsession with property means that everyone just wants to make a quick buck.

Latest case in point:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-17/potentially-fatal-defect-in-sydney-apartment-tower/100298914 

and the fire stairs to nowhere

 

It's crap like this that is pushing me to just renting for life. Or at least for a long while.

[marron]

Cowboys putting up **** housing, charging huge amounts, and nothing happening, and thousands of people priced out anyway, having to travel for hours every day just to get to work, and not having access to quality of life. The dream. But the good stuff trickles down, don't worry.

Edited July 18, 2021 by marron

[Paul01]

FWIW as if we didn't know

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/19/australians-believe-states-managing-covid-pandemic-better-than-canberra-study-finds?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[pseudonym]

https://www.watoday.com.au/business/companies/out-of-office-australia-s-bosses-come-to-grips-with-the-workplace-revolution-20210706-p587aj.html

[Paul01]

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/19/car-park-scandal-same-staffer-from-prime-ministers-office-was-involved-in-sports-rorts?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[Paul01]

Morrison and co up to their usual tricks

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/20/aged-care-workers-keen-for-covid-jab-are-being-hampered-by-australias-messy-rollout?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[Wobblies]

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/20/mathias-cormanns-flights-to-win-oecd-job-cost-australia-11000-a-day

[wendybr]

4 hours ago, Ossified said:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/20/mathias-cormanns-flights-to-win-oecd-job-cost-australia-11000-a-day

Disgraceful, but unsurprising.

This govt treats taxpayers' money as if it was their own.

Worst, most arrogant, entitled, corrupt, unaccountable govt I've ever have the misfortune to live under.