Something is different here, and maybe, potentially a lot of it has been hijacked. The debate on Australia Day is becoming more heated every year - as it apparently represents the colonial history of this fine country. " Welcome to Country " is a thing now, despite being created by two indigenous celebrities in the 70s to mirror the customs of a group of visiting Māori/NZ artists. And look, socially there's a world of other issues.

The goal doesn't always feel like it is to unite as one, the " gap " as it's referred to will never close has it's becoming more apparent the push for two distinct cultures. And the likely end-game is accountability for the last few hundred of years of colonialism. And I guess someone's gotta pay that debt eventually.

Do they have to pay that debt though? Sounds like what we have in the US with the massacre of the natives. We claim to pay that debt, but really we do not give a fuck. Moreso for the slave issue, which is our colonialism crap.  Even reparations, which essentially now been cut down to equal education for black communities and not using young black males to fill the jails, is considered controversial.  

Historically, almost no country ever really pays back the rape and pillage of the conquered though.

Apply now, directly to the Victorian government.

www.vic.gov.au/stolen-generations-reparations-package

NSW :

www.aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au/healing-and-reparations/stolen-generations/reparations-scheme/

The Federal Government in 2021 agreed to pay about $280 million in reparations to survivors who were removed from their families in federally controlled areas including the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. It followed similar moves by state governments including New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia in recent years.

The previous forced removal of children with the intent to purely assimilate indigenous people into the then British/White Australian culture is obviously awful. Especially if the intentions are cheap labour or to breed out the culture, which was certainly something that was happening.

Children are still being removed from their parents today. The Northern Territory has seen something of 65% upswing over the last decade of children in care. The conditions in some of these indigenous communities are grim. Drug, alcohol, family, domestic, sexual violence. Low education and employment rates. Some communities are alcohol free because of the impact it has had. And it's not a new phenomenon.

What we're seeing in Alice Springs today and many other parts of the NT, is what I've been talking about for some time. There's two failings: one of the Federal, Territory and localised governments and services and that of personal responsibility. 

Alice Spring is a so-called warzone, as are other towns. A 2 day ban on alcohol has been announced, 6 months after lifting the ban. It's been called racist, then and now. Since the lift, the Territory has seen an increase in crime and violence. Groups of kids are seen roaming the streets, causing destruction. Store-fronts are locked down with shutters, and industrial areas are installing bollards to avoid being ram-raided. It's said that the kids are actually safer on the streets, due to domestic & family violence and drug & alcohol issues at home. It said to be no-longer safe in the streets for residents. 

Albo flew in yesterday, and it has been criticized by locals. Not Albo himself, because these conditions were worsening when Turnball blew in years ago and it's said the community has been having the same conversations or " having these discussions " for a decade without things getting better. 

25,000 people are said to be employed in the Northern Territory Public Sector, for a population of just 246,500. That's over 10% of the Territory's population on the NT payroll. In contrast, 300,000 are employed in Victoria's Public Sector for a population of over 6.6 Million. And this is what I've spoken about in the past: key measurable accountability on these services - relative to the population size, NT has 5% more people employed in this area than Victoria. Undoubtedly, NT being so big and sparsely populated is likely some contributor to that. 

The Australian Government yesterday announced they will invest $48.8m over two years in Alice Springs to tackle crime, keep women and children safe and provide support to young people in communities. $14.2m in additional funding for extra high visibility Police and law enforcement operations. Providing $25m to extend funding for safety and community services. On top of $99m for First Nations justice measures, including $81.5m in funding for up to 30 community-led justice reinvestment initiatives across Australia, with Alice Springs identified as a priority site. $20m for Gap Youth Centre and other youth services in Alice Springs. 

www.pm.gov.au/media/community-led-response-improve-community-safety-alice-springs

It's so weird the way they cancelled the cashless debit card scheme... It was a great way to reduce the amount of alcohol being consumed in these communities.

Seems like the move was more about ideology than anything else.

Jan 25, 2023 8:27:52 GMT iNCY said:

It's so weird the way they cancelled the cashless debit card scheme... It was a great way to reduce the amount of alcohol being consumed in these communities.

Seems like the move was more about ideology than anything else.

The left considered it " anti-welfare " and racist.

It was seen as a severe means of surveillance over the daily lives and you can only get off it, if you can demonstrate responsible management of your affairs. Many people in particular communities cannot do that.

But don't worry, The Greens and professional oxygen thief Clementine Ford want all non-Indigenous home owners to pay an additional 1% of their income as a tax to a non-regulated, non-government body as a means to pay back First Nations people for stealing their land. So maybe they won't need cashless debit. Oh, because home ownership is white privilege now.

We've seen laws abolished such as public intoxication across different states, because it's also racist. Because it's easier to remove the law than fix the alcohol issues within indigenous communities as a means to reduce indigenous short term incarnation. It's wonderful for statistics but incredibly damaging to the collective community.

Australian fintech OpenPay has become the first buy now, pay later service to collapse.

On Monday, the BNPL provider announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that it had gone into receivership.

It followed OpenPay pausing trading on Wednesday in a sign that the company was on its last legs.

Its collapse could potentially leave dozens of Australian retailers out of pocket as receivers have not confirmed if the stores where it offered its services will be getting their money back.

OpenPay had been struggling for some time, with ASIC documents showing it had not turned a single profit since its debut on the Australian stock market in 2019.

Its latest quarterly report showed that the company had racked up $18.2 million in operating losses.

Feb 8, 2023 6:31:33 GMT NATH45 said:

Australian fintech OpenPay has become the first buy now, pay later service to collapse.

On Monday, the BNPL provider announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that it had gone into receivership.

It followed OpenPay pausing trading on Wednesday in a sign that the company was on its last legs.

Its collapse could potentially leave dozens of Australian retailers out of pocket as receivers have not confirmed if the stores where it offered its services will be getting their money back.

OpenPay had been struggling for some time, with ASIC documents showing it had not turned a single profit since its debut on the Australian stock market in 2019.

Its latest quarterly report showed that the company had racked up $18.2 million in operating losses.

It is a bizarre model, I only found out this week that they do no credit checks.
While some use the system responsibly, a lot of the debts are held by people on welfare with zero means to pay it back.

With interest rates and cost of living rising, more and more people are going to fall behind on their repayments.

Feb 8, 2023 17:22:56 GMT iNCY said:

Feb 8, 2023 6:31:33 GMT NATH45 said:

Australian fintech OpenPay has become the first buy now, pay later service to collapse.

On Monday, the BNPL provider announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that it had gone into receivership.

It followed OpenPay pausing trading on Wednesday in a sign that the company was on its last legs.

Its collapse could potentially leave dozens of Australian retailers out of pocket as receivers have not confirmed if the stores where it offered its services will be getting their money back.

OpenPay had been struggling for some time, with ASIC documents showing it had not turned a single profit since its debut on the Australian stock market in 2019.

Its latest quarterly report showed that the company had racked up $18.2 million in operating losses.

It is a bizarre model, I only found out this week that they do no credit checks.
While some use the system responsibly, a lot of the debts are held by people on welfare with zero means to pay it back.

With interest rates and cost of living rising, more and more people are going to fall behind on their repayments.

I believe it's either OpenPay or AfterPay, likeky both and likely every BNPL, where you only need a mere 25% of total price to make a purchase.

The trick is, something is purchased on a BNPL model, then they'll return the product and ask for cash or wanting the refund put on their debit card.

Either one of the two works through traditional EFT, so you'd only have to tap the debit card in your phone wallet instead of the BNPL card and you've got the full refund.

These sorts of models are dangerous, as they reinforce this idea that money is free. And as so many young people are discovering today, after overcapitalising at 2% - money ain't free. BNPL encourages implusive buying and spending money you don't have.

I don't know what sorts of hoops you have to jump through to set up a BNPL account, but I rarely see any wealthy people using the model, nor anyone who would traditionally own or use a credit card.

Feb 8, 2023 19:13:40 GMT NATH45 said:

Feb 8, 2023 17:22:56 GMT iNCY said:

It is a bizarre model, I only found out this week that they do no credit checks.
While some use the system responsibly, a lot of the debts are held by people on welfare with zero means to pay it back.

With interest rates and cost of living rising, more and more people are going to fall behind on their repayments.

I believe it's either OpenPay or AfterPay, likeky both and likely every BNPL, where you only need a mere 25% of total price to make a purchase.

The trick is, something is purchased on a BNPL model, then they'll return the product and ask for cash or wanting the refund put on their debit card.

Either one of the two works through traditional EFT, so you'd only have to tap the debit card in your phone wallet instead of the BNPL card and you've got the full refund.

These sorts of models are dangerous, as they reinforce this idea that money is free. And as so many young people are discovering today, after overcapitalising at 2% - money ain't free. BNPL encourages implusive buying and spending money you don't have.

I don't know what sorts of hoops you have to jump through to set up a BNPL account, but I rarely see any wealthy people using the model, nor anyone who would traditionally own or use a credit card.

No hoops to sign up, you can do it in 5 minutes on your phone on the checkout.

I don't think you even need 25% with a lot of them.

It's such an odd business model.

AfterPay for example charges the merchant something like 4-6% and the 30 cent transaction fee.

So on the $35 minimum spend it makes say $1.75 at say 5%, then picks up 30 more cents on the deal. Rounding out, it makes $2.00 on that transaction.

The merchant gets paid his $35. But loses $2.00 just for the privilege of using AfterPay. The margin on the product sold may only be 20%.. meaning the merchant paid $28 to sell it at $35.. instead of making $7, the merchant made $5.

AfterPay has its initial $8.75 (25%) + $2.00 = $10.75 and then relies on some unreliable individuals to make their repayments. A few snapshots I saw were approx. 20% default or miss making their AfterPay repayments.

Do this often enough and sure, you make billions.

That's the revenue stream, then you factor in cost of doing business and all overheads and taxation..

You can understand why so many small businesses run on the " na sorry bro, cash only " model and get rich selling fish & chips.

Feb 10, 2023 20:36:29 GMT NATH45 said:

You can understand why so many small businesses run on the " na sorry bro, cash only " model and get rich selling fish & chips.

The trick is to be cash-only and own the closest ATM.

Credit cards with high rewards do a similar thing where the issuing bank charges the merchant a higher fee for the privilege of accepting their card.

Feb 10, 2023 21:09:32 GMT Gyro LC said:

Feb 10, 2023 20:36:29 GMT NATH45 said:

You can understand why so many small businesses run on the " na sorry bro, cash only " model and get rich selling fish & chips.

The trick is to be cash-only and own the closest ATM.

Credit cards with high rewards do a similar thing where the issuing bank charges the merchant a higher fee for the privilege of accepting their card.

Or if you're running something like the Square (1.9%) or Zeller (1.7%) EFTPOS systems, I believe you can pass on the surcharge fees to the customer by simply fiddling with your account settings. The only rule, whether it's law or policy says you can't charge more than the actual cost of the transaction, ie; the 1.9% in Square's case. Tell that to every Café owner. 

The only upside to BNPL is, it allows people without money to spend money they don't have. And if you're a business owner if it weren't for BNPL a percentage of trade would not exist. So you put up with the small cost of each sale. 

Cash allow for some devious, creative accounting though. Hence why builders and tradies love a cash job.  

NSW residents have cast their vote to decide who will lead the state for the next four years.

Labor is on track to form a majority government with Chris Minns to be the state's 47th Premier.

Dominic Perrottet and the Liberals have been booted from power after 12 years.

- News.com.au

Trains were an absolute nightmare last night, ironic considering that’s been a key issue.

Feb 10, 2023 20:36:29 GMT NATH45 said:

It's such an odd business model.

AfterPay for example charges the merchant something like 4-6% and the 30 cent transaction fee.

So on the $35 minimum spend it makes say $1.75 at say 5%, then picks up 30 more cents on the deal. Rounding out, it makes $2.00 on that transaction.

The merchant gets paid his $35. But loses $2.00 just for the privilege of using AfterPay. The margin on the product sold may only be 20%.. meaning the merchant paid $28 to sell it at $35.. instead of making $7, the merchant made $5.

AfterPay has its initial $8.75 (25%) + $2.00 = $10.75 and then relies on some unreliable individuals to make their repayments. A few snapshots I saw were approx. 20% default or miss making their AfterPay repayments.

Do this often enough and sure, you make billions.

That's the revenue stream, then you factor in cost of doing business and all overheads and taxation..

You can understand why so many small businesses run on the " na sorry bro, cash only " model and get rich selling fish & chips.

Exactly why sandylea ‘s workplace doesn’t offer it, though will probably have cave in soon.

According to AFR.com, the average BNPL transaction value is $136.

That is scary, knowing there are individuals using this model, who can't afford a $136 cash payment.

That number being so low, indicates the majority of transactions are likely below the hundred dollar mark.

Understandably, there are battlers struggling to eat and BNPL allows credit where credit isn't normally available. But, surely this kind of model only exasperates people's lack of financial aptitude.

Mar 26, 2023 7:02:30 GMT NATH45 said:

According to AFR.com, the average BNPL transaction value is $136.

That is scary, knowing there are individuals using this model, who can't afford a $136 cash payment.

That number being so low, indicates the majority of transactions are likely below the hundred dollar mark.

Understandably, there are battlers struggling to eat and BNPL allows credit where credit isn't normally available. But, surely this kind of model only exasperates people's lack of financial aptitude.

They're going to get absolutely smashed with upcoming legislation, it's wrong that the normal laws covering credit don't apply to them.

Liberals are nearly wiped out of government now, they only have Tasmania. They are in a complete political blackhole appealing to a dwindling minority. It would be nice if Labor took advantage of this unequivocal mandate and took more significant action on the issues that people care about. NSW Labor was actually less progressive on a few issues ahead of this election like the cashless pokies trial.

I obviously have a bias but I keep seeing comments about people wanting pubs/clubs to remove their pokies (slot machines).

The FIFO workers who go to WA always complain about how overpriced the pubs and clubs are and it’s because they don’t have pokies.
So if people are happy to pay even more for food & drinks that are already getting pricey then that’s fine but I doubt many are.

Mar 26, 2023 23:10:04 GMT @admin said:

Liberals are nearly wiped out of government now, they only have Tasmania. They are in a complete political blackhole appealing to a dwindling minority. It would be nice if Labor took advantage of this unequivocal mandate and took more significant action on the issues that people care about. NSW Labor was actually less progressive on a few issues ahead of this election like the cashless pokies trial.

The only reason labor got elected is because they made out that there was very little difference with the other mob.
It was a very small target strategy, it wasn't an invitation to wheel out progressive policy they didn't take to the election.

Albo has been non stop releasing stuff he never took to the election.
Industry wide EBA
The Voice
Banning of live sheep exports
Superannuation reform

Not everyone in Australia sits on the left of politics... Or the right, most are in the middle.

All these people calling for "Meaningful action on climate change" are idiots and all of them should go live in an unpowered hippie commune somewhere, serious morons the lot of them.
First ones to complain about cost of living, but advocate driving our nation into the third world.

Liberal party once again proving how incredibly unelectable they are by achieving the impressive feat of losing a byelection as the opposition. If Dutton remains the leader of the party until the next election then they will end up winning fewer seats in Melbourne than the Greens.

Who would have thought parachuting in a candidate from Brunswick to a seat in the outer east just because she's married to a News Corp toad wouldn't work?!

Apr 2, 2023 23:14:42 GMT @admin said:

Liberal party once again proving how incredibly unelectable they are by achieving the impressive feat of losing a byelection as the opposition. If Dutton remains the leader of the party until the next election then they will end up winning fewer seats in Melbourne than the Greens.

Who would have thought parachuting in a candidate from Brunswick to a seat in the outer east just because she's married to a News Corp toad wouldn't work?!

You could have ran the love child of John Howard and Browyn Bishop and they still would have lost.
They need to get authentic about something.... anything...

I do think people are going to tire of Albo pretty quickly, he is an atrocious politician doing everything he can to keep Tanya Plibersek off the TV because she is 10 times more likeable and competent.

So the economy in the state where I live is rooted!
170 billion in debt greater than Qld, NSW and Tas combined.

Why? For pointless and draconian lockdowns.

It was only like $104b at the start of March, how much did that Grand Prix cost?

On the flipside, we are safe

Has anyone else noticed the ramp up of Covid Vaccine related commercials recently advising of another jab?

The Liberals used that Queensland, NSW and Tasmania line during the election campaign and no one cared. I'm sure there's some Financy Boy point of view about what a disaster this is but I don't think debt figures matter to most people. Numbers are arbitrary so until it starts to affect services (admittedly it sounds like there are going to be cuts to Workcover mental health services) it doesn't mean anything.

Apr 11, 2023 23:58:04 GMT @admin said:

The Liberals used that Queensland, NSW and Tasmania line during the election campaign and no one cared. I'm sure there's some Financy Boy point of view about what a disaster this is but I don't think debt figures matter to most people. Numbers are arbitrary so until it starts to affect services (admittedly it sounds like there are going to be cuts to Workcover mental health services) it doesn't mean anything.

The problem is the cost of debt, nobody cared about debt when interest rates were near zero, governments could get money essentially for free.

The government estimates Victoria's interest expenses will now grow to $7.318 billion by the 2025-26 financial year, with fears the figure could be even greater.
Source: www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-25/victoria-budget-interest-rates/102145022

By 2026 government forecasts have 8.6% of all budget spending to go to repaying debt, which is more than a slight hit on services.
This is the first big issue, the state is running at a deficit so we are borrowing money to make interest payments.

The second and more aggravating point is that IT WAS FOR NOTHING!

All of these idiots clapping for Andrews like retarded seals through repeated lockdowns where everyone sat on their asses.
Did people really think the money was coming from some magical place? It ALL has to be paid back.
The worst part is after the first lockdown every single lockdown was for NOTHING.
It achieved NOTHING, it saved NO LIVES.
The data is settled now, we bankrupted ourselves for NOTHING more than some sort of social experiment in authoritarianism.

I am not late to this point, I was screaming about it the whole way through.
We are now in serious trouble, we cannot afford services, that 8.6% is only for interest repayments... We have no plan to pay back the amount that is borrowed.
Guaranteed we end up with some sort of household debt levy as we did under Kennet.

Andrews is doubly screwed, because when they brough in the GST the federal government made it illegal for states to impose new taxes.

Another article about how rooted we are, as a country this time.

www.news.com.au/finance/economy/federal-budget/no-easy-options-dire-prognosis-for-australias-bottom-line/news-story/2a471b34e948d2d2ba1b5826c9ea4eaa

The NDIS has blown out so badly, I know if families making more money than some of my friends working full-time.
It is especially bad when you have someone with a mild disability and a family member designated a full time career.
The concept is great, but needs to be tightened up dramatically. The first question should be, can this person work in a certain field, before they are handed a meal ticket for life.

I have heard and not verified that over 100 people get added to the NDIS each week... It's just not sustainable.

Absolutely iNCY. We proved through lockdowns that remote work was possible, and if anything it normalised the concept of working from home.

Now, that's a massive contradiction to what I've been saying about the lack of social interaction and face-to-face support, but for those unable to leave the house without assistance and of moderate intelligence, surely there would be any number of possibilities.

Apr 2, 2023 23:14:42 GMT @admin said:

Liberal party once again proving how incredibly unelectable they are by achieving the impressive feat of losing a byelection as the opposition. If Dutton remains the leader of the party until the next election then they will end up winning fewer seats in Melbourne than the Greens.

Apr 17, 2023 1:37:26 GMT @admin said:

Apr 2, 2023 23:14:42 GMT @admin said:

Liberal party once again proving how incredibly unelectable they are by achieving the impressive feat of losing a byelection as the opposition. If Dutton remains the leader of the party until the next election then they will end up winning fewer seats in Melbourne than the Greens.

They don't deserve to win any seats, they have no plans and no policy.
Labor deserves it less, but that is the breaks.

By the way, have a look at the Labor primary, if it wasn't for the Green and minor party preference they'd be in the wilderness.
If the LNP goes further backwards it will hurt Labor more than the liberals as a lot of the seats with go from red to green.