karaddin Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 5 hours ago, brook said: This is the sort of obscene grift only the Catholic church could pull off. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-17/catholic-church-asks-priests-getting-jobkeeper-to-donate-back/12359600 Seeing this right after coming out of a call with one of our executives that had been candidly talking about how bad the situation is looking at the moment, and that situation being largely driven by government policy (which has led to China's government now attacking our university sector as well) has me actually filled with rage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 The High Court is having its #metoo moment, with Coalition favourite Heydon J alleged to have been a serial harasser. I’ll be interested to see what the (possible) police investigation shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 2 hours ago, Paxter said: The High Court is having its #metoo moment, with Coalition favourite Heydon J alleged to have been a serial harasser. I’ll be interested to see what the (possible) police investigation shows. Yes, this is a major story, and it all looks very bad. They're not just allegations - there was an internal investigation and there seems to be a pretty obvious pattern of behaviour. And I expect, sadly, that this is the tip of the iceberg...with the "omerta" code around this (it appears to have been an open secret) I'm sure he's not the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drunkard Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Shorten sinking the boot into Heydon must have been satisfying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 The NSW Government reverses its decision to relocate the Powerhouse! I don't have strong views on this either way but I do find these policy back-flips amusing. The NSW Libs can never seem to actually stick to a decision (greyhounds anyone?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Fast news weekend. Labor look to just win Eden-Monaro. Andrews imposing some fairly draconian measures to contain CV-19 in social housing. And Cormann announcing his retirement from politics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 3 hours ago, Paxter said: Fast news weekend. Labor look to just win Eden-Monaro. Andrews imposing some fairly draconian measures to contain CV-19 in social housing. And Cormann announcing his retirement from politics. The Victorian outbreak is definitely concerning, and shows that we're still quite vulnerable to COVID-19 no matter how good our track record has been so far. Cormann got fairly roasted by Turnbull in his autobiography. He's been a very long-serving Finance Minister but to be honest I'm not sure exactly how that job dovetails with the Treasury, so hard to know exactly how much influence he's had in various policies. I still think some tax reform is needed (increasing super contributions, broadening GST, having inheritance taxes, abolishing franking credits, abolishing negative gearing, and maybe cutting other taxes like stamp duty where possible) and don't know whether Cormann leaving is a plus or minus for that. Labor should have won Eden-Monaro, I don't think ScoMo would have realistically banked on getting it. But good for Albo nonetheless, who's not had much to crow about lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Yeah the Victorian situation is quite concerning. If it really gets out of control I can't see it being solely contained to the one state. Too much essential traffic coming across borders. Really hope they can get it under control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 I'm also really concerned by the increase in police state coming from a Labor premier, it's not like that's going to change direction if the liberals get in - just look at their last opposition leader. Yeah covid is scary and needs a strong response, but a police driven lock down of poorb public housing with no notice to stockpile necessities is disgusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Could really use more concrete details and clarity surrounding shutting the border between NSW and Vic, Gladys was contradicting her own statements within the same press conference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubby Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 I read a fb post asking if anyone could remember a single positive thing Cormann had done for Australia. Philip Adams replied with "Resigned". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 On 7/4/2020 at 9:30 PM, Jeor said: Cormann got fairly roasted by Turnbull in his autobiography. He's been a very long-serving Finance Minister but to be honest I'm not sure exactly how that job dovetails with the Treasury, so hard to know exactly how much influence he's had in various policies. I still think some tax reform is needed (increasing super contributions, broadening GST, having inheritance taxes, abolishing franking credits, abolishing negative gearing, and maybe cutting other taxes like stamp duty where possible) and don't know whether Cormann leaving is a plus or minus for that. The Treasurer really owns the main game when it comes to economic policy. The Finance Minister and his/her Department usually has a minor role in respect of tax reform and focuses on overseeing government expenditure (e.g. government accounting/financial reporting, developing rules for government procurement). I would say Cormann's main role was more as the Coalition's leader in the Senate, in addition to controlling a formidable voting bloc in the party room. He has had a mixed record in that regard, albeit in very difficult circumstances given the menagerie-like composition of our upper house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brook Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 20 hours ago, karaddin said: Could really use more concrete details and clarity surrounding shutting the border between NSW and Vic, Gladys was contradicting her own statements within the same press conference Gladys is now saying information will be available “hopefully today” Days ago Gladys was saying she would not shut the borders. Yesterday this was something she had been “considering for some time” - although apparently without considering the need to provide people with clear and honest information. It’s the start of the NSW school holidays which means my kids are now with their dad in melbourne (and as long as NSW was saying the borders would remain open I would have been legally obligated to send then aside from the fact that time with their dad is important for them emotionally) and the government has provided absolutely no information about how I can get them back. I understand the reasons for the closure and if they had been actually honest and provided clear information I’d be happy to work with whatever restrictions are in place but this is an absolute nightmare and one they should have foreseen. If they hadn’t explicitly ruled out closing the borders on Friday the kids would have still been with me because their father and I were still discussing the options right up until that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 1 hour ago, brook said: Gladys is now saying information will be available “hopefully today” Days ago Gladys was saying she would not shut the borders. Yesterday this was something she had been “considering for some time” - although apparently without considering the need to provide people with clear and honest information. It’s the start of the NSW school holidays which means my kids are now with their dad in melbourne (and as long as NSW was saying the borders would remain open I would have been legally obligated to send then aside from the fact that time with their dad is important for them emotionally) and the government has provided absolutely no information about how I can get them back. I understand the reasons for the closure and if they had been actually honest and provided clear information I’d be happy to work with whatever restrictions are in place but this is an absolute nightmare and one they should have foreseen. If they hadn’t explicitly ruled out closing the borders on Friday the kids would have still been with me because their father and I were still discussing the options right up until that point. I know that for the other states with border closures there were exemptions granted on compassionate grounds, including child custody. I'd be shocked if NSW didn't emulate that position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brook Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I am sure they will. It’s just the complete lack of info makes it impossible to plan and means I can’t bring them back earlier so they can start isolation now & avoid missing too much school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ants Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 On 7/5/2020 at 2:52 PM, karaddin said: I'm also really concerned by the increase in police state coming from a Labor premier, it's not like that's going to change direction if the liberals get in - just look at their last opposition leader. Yeah covid is scary and needs a strong response, but a police driven lock down of poorb public housing with no notice to stockpile necessities is disgusting. Seems pretty necessary to me. Sometimes you do need to be draconic for the good of society and individuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 This Melbourne lockdown is concerning. With 191 daily cases, lots of them community transmission, I can see why they had to do it but it's really going to set things back both economically and socially. Fingers crossed it stays in Melbourne and doesn't spread anywhere else. In the grand scheme of things, we're still doing much better than most other countries (especially the US where it's just exploding) but this is going to get very, very dicey if we're at perpetual risk of lockdowns at the drop of a hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I'm not convinced it had to be a six-week lockdown, but I guess the growth in daily cases was significant enough that Andrews reached for his biggest lever. From a distance, it seems that parts of Australia are caught between a "suppression" and "elimination" strategy. If they were going for the latter approach, the various states should have been slower to leave lockdown and increased testing even further. If going for the former, then I'm not sure Victoria needs a six-week "Stage 3" lockdown and border closures right now. For a point of comparison, my province is at around 150 cases a day (steady) and low single digit daily deaths. We have given up on elimination but many restrictions still exist and masks are now mandatory indoors (except private property). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 15 hours ago, ants said: Seems pretty necessary to me. Sometimes you do need to be draconic for the good of society and individuals. The lock down of the public housing was of questionable justification - it's not like it's the only place in Melb with covid cases - but the execution was unacceptable. It's scape goating a poor, mostly racial minorities, group for the problem of the entire city which is exactly why the entire city is going back into lockdown. I have 0 issues with the city wide lock down, it's what should have been done instead of the public housing on the weekend. If you were going to lock down just those towers then you do it in a way that works with the residents to ensure its properly planned, the residents have what they need and the towers are being properly sanitised to reduce risk of transmission within. The government's actual approach was closer to locking them in to all get sick and just ensuring they don't spread it to anyone else, which is fucked. Why would you ever expect the residents to be on board with being thrown under the bus like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ants Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 10 minutes ago, karaddin said: The lock down of the public housing was of questionable justification - it's not like it's the only place in Melb with covid cases - but the execution was unacceptable. It's scape goating a poor, mostly racial minorities, group for the problem of the entire city which is exactly why the entire city is going back into lockdown. I have 0 issues with the city wide lock down, it's what should have been done instead of the public housing on the weekend. If you were going to lock down just those towers then you do it in a way that works with the residents to ensure its properly planned, the residents have what they need and the towers are being properly sanitised to reduce risk of transmission within. The government's actual approach was closer to locking them in to all get sick and just ensuring they don't spread it to anyone else, which is fucked. Why would you ever expect the residents to be on board with being thrown under the bus like that. I don't think it has anything to do with scapegoating. I think it has to do with looking at other countries, such as Singapore, and cruise ships, and seeing how when you have a lot of people stuck together the disease can spread rapidly. People inside have been saying how they have 9 people living in 3 bedroom apartments - that creates a huge group who are at risk. The evidence so far is that family transmission is one of the largest sources of transmission. People living and eating together (at work, in restaurants, in the home) creates the biggest transmission risk. Andrews is not targeting all poor areas, or all housing blocks, he's targeting a specific set which already have COVID in them. Now, I don't necessarily disagree that a lot about the implementation couldn't have been improved. That said, they were acting very fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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