Let's talk about the problems in Australia for a change!

[gmbteach]

My class has students from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Samoa, New Zealand, Laos, China, Tonga, Australia, Fiji, India, and I am a pom! Thirteen nationalities in 26 kids and 1 adult.

How are you still alive with all those dangerous foreigners in your classroom?

They are, for the most part, the sweetest class.

 

[Tigers!]

There was controversy when Australian pulled out of a nuclear sub deal with France in favor of USA/UK.

FIFY. Most people seem to ignore the UK in AUKUS. The UK stands for the United Kingdom.

There was earlier controversy when we pulled out of a diesel sub deal with Japan (Soryu class subs) to go with France (modified Baracutta class). Not many remember that occured as the Japs did not whinge and whine as much as the French later did.
It is ironic that if we had kept with the Jap's Soryu class contract we would have had very capable, long range diesel subs. The 1st one would have been delivered about 2023/4. The whole batch would have been delivered long before AUKUS and for a whole lot less $$$$.

AI summary
Australian Aborigines have legal equality and voting rights, as established by the 1967 referendum and subsequent anti-discrimination laws
. While they possess specific, recognized land rights and cultural protections, they often still face significant systemic disadvantages and lack dedicated, constitutionally enshrined political representation at the national level.

Any comkents?

AI sucks.
The Aboringines gained full voting rights, as opposed to some fanchise restrictions, by the 1962 Commonwealth Electoral Act, not the 1967 referendum.

BTW, my main source of information on Australian culture is from Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max.

 

[gmbteach]

My class has students from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Samoa, New Zealand, Laos, China, Tonga, Australia, Fiji, India, and I am a pom! Thirteen nationalities in 26 kids and 1 adult.

How are you still alive with all those dangerous foreigners in your classroom?

So it's a 13-13 tie, with you as tiebreaker? I say you let them bung on a blue and see who comes out on top.

Nor really. You see I have 3 from Pakistan, 3 from Afghanistan, three from Australia….

 

[Tigers!]

Australia’s big problem is not immigration, illegal or legal. Its birth rate is plummeting and is poised to reach a record low. Australia NEEDS immigrants.

Australia’s biggest problem is this.

Which is causing me to rethink my sketchy plan to move to Sydney. The city’s future does not look good.

Why/how would increasing immigration help with the problems noted in your link?

 

[Tigers!]

My class has students from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Samoa, New Zealand, Laos, China, Tonga, Australia, Fiji, India, and I am a pom! Thirteen nationalities in 26 kids and 1 adult.

How are you still alive with all those dangerous foreigners in your classroom?

So it's a 13-13 tie, with you as tiebreaker? I say you let them bung on a blue and see who comes out on top.

Nor really. You see I have 3 from Pakistan, 3 from Afghanistan, three from Australia….

Could play good cricket matches with your class.

 

[gmbteach]

Speaking of Australia.

After enduring a BRUTAL New York City winter, I have lately got the notion in my noggin to move to Sydney, Australia.

Why? I have never been there, but have studied it online, and I love the harbor and the opera house (opera fan) and I understand it has great beaches (I am a beach bum). Plus, the weather, unlike here, seems equable year-round. New York City is COLD six months of the year, and I am too old for cold.

I know there are several Australians posting here, so maybe they could advise me on what it would take to move to Sydney, what the cost of living is like, and whether an American would be welcome there, given that pretty much the whole world now hates America because of Trump.

Keep in mind that within 15 years or so, should I live so long, I will likely be a doddering and drooling old coot who yells at everyone and everything (actually, I kind of yell at everyone and everything already, though I am still physically spry and mentally acute).

I would avoid Sydney because it’s NSW and they suck! Brisbane is better!

Seriously, Brisbane is better. It’s a bit cheaper to live in, we have the beaches, the casinos, opera etc. We also have tropical rainforests within as couple of hours drive at Mt Tambourine (a great spot where a lot of people who work remotely live). There are also vineyards, at Mt Tambourine but also around 2 hours westward.

And our weather is serious better than Sydney. It’s mid-March and it’s still quite warm, but the beach is right there!

We have DreamWorld, MovieWorld, SeaWorld, Fleays, and, of course, Australia Zoo, all within a couple of hours drive!

Will now consider Brisbane.

The main boxes to check:

Good beach or beaches.

Opera.

NO BRUTAL WINTERS!

Hot and humid summers are perfectly OK, though I will probably take a little time to adapt to having summer occur in what is our winter.

Brisbane seems to check all these boxes, and nearby rainforests and vineyards are a big plus. Used to go the Napa vineyards when I lived in SF. Northwestern U.S. has at least one wonderful rainforest.

Consider the cons
1. The locals. Sydneyites are worse!
2. The Queenslanders great pub that one. and just down the road. Or there is the Queenslander style housing….
3. The bananabenders Coffs is in NSW not in qld. However we do have the big pineapple! And the ginger factory. Oh and Bundaberg Rum!
4. Too many Victorians yeah. Because we handled Covid well! And Victoria just plain sucks
5. Far too many NSW persons see comment number 4
6. The local beer, XXXX. I am reliably told it tastes like cat's piss better than VB or fosters! We do have great northern.
7. Rugby (it’s not union) your point being? Are you still sore because QLD won Original, NRL and AFL last year?
8. They all wear thongs because they are not clever enough to handle shoelaces shoes with laces are SOOOOOO practical at the beach!
View attachment 53802
9. For yanks driving on the other side of the road Can’t help that.
10. Everything in the water (oceans, rivers etc.) can kill you not EVERYTHING! The people won’t.

 

[Toni]

P

Australia's Immigration policy is nothing short of fucking obscene, and is the reason I stopped voting Labor years ago. Although I'd say the biggest threat to Australia's democracy is that it has no meaningful opposition party in Federal politics. The Coalition is barely functional and that's in spite of the overwhelming support they receive from AM radio, Murdoch and Channel 9. When Parliament thinks it's bullet proof that's when all the really bad ideas bubble to the surface.

Also, just refer to us as cunts instead of aussies. Trust me, it's a time saver.

Playing devils advocate.

Sol like our progressives anyone who shows up in a rowboat on Australian shores should be given food, education, shelter, a job, and medical care? Are there any limits and bounds?

Yep, all that and a bit of a hug and a warm blanky besides. People don't risk their lives on the sea because they enjoy it. They do it because they are living in an untenable situation, sometimes in fear of their lives.

I am very happy that our gov't is discouraging that sort of thing because the images of the bodies washing up in Europe will haunt me for the rest of my days. But we do have room for more. And certainly should be taking refugees by safer routes at a rate to at least replace the drop in natural population increase. These people are not a drag on the finances for long. They are the ones who DON'T sit around, who do something to improve their lives. They don't get a chance to find their feet, sitting for years in detention centres.

We do have a housing shortage. We probably have trained builders sitting in detention, doing nothing and becoming resentful. And depressed.

They make great citizens.

true fir the most part here in the US ( at least until 2025) as well. Now, I don’t think any sane person with a choice would come here.

There are some people who experience culture shock to the extent they can’t or don’t move past it and really start new lives rather than just existing. I think spending months to years in camps does not help at all and simply introduces additional trauma to all and sets kids back in terms of education and too often health as well.

 

[DBT]

Australia’s big problem is not immigration, illegal or legal. Its birth rate is plummeting and is poised to reach a record low. Australia NEEDS immigrants.

Australia’s biggest problem is this.

Which is causing me to rethink my sketchy plan to move to Sydney. The city’s future does not look good.

Many in Australia do indeed see mass immigration as a problem, protests on the streets, etc.

 

[DBT]

Australia as an arid land cannot support perpetual population growth.

There is no land, arid or otherwise, that can support perpetual population growth. No planet either. As regional or global limits are approached, life gets less and less pleasant for individuals. There’s nothing unique about Australia that way.

...and fortunately, there's no prospect of any such perpetual population growth, nor is it required for perpetual economic growth.

But that's enough of this DBT hobbyhorse derail - if he wants to talk about population growth, he can resurrect any of a number of earlier pointless threads on the subject.

It wasn't a derail. The topic of the thread is about problems in Australia. That is the title of the thread. And as it happens, excessive immigration is seen by many as one of the current problems in Australia. Is that supposed to be ignored?

Immigration and population growth are not the same topic, and you have freely admitted in this thread that your concern about that latter is not constrained to Austrslia, so yes, it is off topic; And yes, it is a hobbyhorse derail. Take it to one of the threads on that topic.

The Labor Government has a 'Big Australia Policy.' Their aim is to significantly increase the population of Australia. And that is, for the given reasons, social, environmental, ecological, a problem.

''Official data published today has confirmed that Labor brought in more than one million migrants in just over two years during a housing and rental crisis.

According to ABS population data published today, Australia’s Net Overseas Migration (NOM) reached 1.06 million people under Labor from mid-2022 through the September Quarter 2024.

This includes 90,000 net migrants brought in just in the latest quarter of data.

Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan said the ABS had confirmed Labor’s Big Australia policy.

“Labor’s Big Australia policy continues to put massive pressure on housing, infrastructure and services,” Mr Tehan said. “Labor always makes a mess out of immigration.''

 

[bilby]

The Labor Government has a 'Big Australia Policy.'

... according to the opposition.

 

[Patooka]

 

[WAB]

Is that a prawn or a shrimp?

 

[Politesse]

That's called an Acklay. Acklays are amphibious reptilian crustaceans, with six deadly claws and razor-sharp teeth. Originally native to the planet Vendaxa, a vigorous underground smuggling market has brought them to many planets throughout the outer rim for use in recreational arena fighting and public executions. The Republic half-heartedly tried to curb this market, but as Acklays were also highly prized by Galactic elites for their private menageries, there was always a financial incentive to look the other way on Vendaxa itself.

 

[WAB]

And I imagine one Acklay could feed up to fifty or so people?

 

[gmbteach]

Australia as an arid land cannot support perpetual population growth.

There is no land, arid or otherwise, that can support perpetual population growth. No planet either. As regional or global limits are approached, life gets less and less pleasant for individuals. There’s nothing unique about Australia that way.

...and fortunately, there's no prospect of any such perpetual population growth, nor is it required for perpetual economic growth.

But that's enough of this DBT hobbyhorse derail - if he wants to talk about population growth, he can resurrect any of a number of earlier pointless threads on the subject.

It wasn't a derail. The topic of the thread is about problems in Australia. That is the title of the thread. And as it happens, excessive immigration is seen by many as one of the current problems in Australia. Is that supposed to be ignored?

Immigration and population growth are not the same topic, and you have freely admitted in this thread that your concern about that latter is not constrained to Austrslia, so yes, it is off topic; And yes, it is a hobbyhorse derail. Take it to one of the threads on that topic.

The Labor Government has a 'Big Australia Policy.' Their aim is to significantly increase the population of Australia. And that is, for the given reasons, social, environmental, ecological, a problem.

''Official data published today has confirmed that Labor brought in more than one million migrants in just over two years during a housing and rental crisis.

According to ABS population data published today, Australia’s Net Overseas Migration (NOM) reached 1.06 million people under Labor from mid-2022 through the September Quarter 2024.

This includes 90,000 net migrants brought in just in the latest quarter of data.

Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan said the ABS had confirmed Labor’s Big Australia policy.

“Labor’s Big Australia policy continues to put massive pressure on housing, infrastructure and services,” Mr Tehan said. “Labor always makes a mess out of immigration.''

Australia used to have the WAP, White Australia Policy, and the policy stated that if you can write down what was said, and it could be in any language, you were eligible. This meant the asians could be given dictation tests in German and vice versa, depending upon their ethnicity.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Australia’s big problem is not immigration, illegal or legal. Its birth rate is plummeting and is poised to reach a record low. Australia NEEDS immigrants.

Australia’s biggest problem is this.

Which is causing me to rethink my sketchy plan to move to Sydney. The city’s future does not look good.

I forgot to mention one thing in my previous post about your potential move.

Many years ago the news carried an article about how the geological evidence suggests that Sydney gets a massive tsunami roughly every 200 years.

It's been about 250 years since white settlement.

I wish I had noticed if that report was on April 1. (You'd have to assume that massive harbour would insulate Syd. from any such threat, but jus' sayin;.)

ETA When you think about it, dynamiting the Heads would insulate the majority of Syd. from at least a few meters of sea level rise, so there's that.

 

[Tigers!]

The Labor Government has a 'Big Australia Policy.'

... according to the opposition.

I used to think that Labour had a Big Australia policy too. Now I realise that they have no policy at all. Just the latest thought bubble from cabinet.

 

[DBT]

The Labor Government has a 'Big Australia Policy.'

... according to the opposition.

I used to think that Labour had a Big Australia policy too. Now I realise that they have no policy at all. Just the latest thought bubble from cabinet.

They have a National Ponzi scheme, which has created quite a mess, made life more difficult for the average citizen, and it appears that they have - governing by the seat of their pants - no plans on how to deal with it.

 

[DBT]

The Labor Government has a 'Big Australia Policy.'

... according to the opposition.

According to their actions, what they are doing with their immigration policy...their annual intake of migrants. Whoever happens to point that out is incidental.

 

[Elixir]

P

That's called an Acklay. Acklays are amphibious reptilian crustaceans, with six deadly claws and razor-sharp teeth. Originally native to the planet Vendaxa, a vigorous underground smuggling market has brought them to many planets throughout the outer rim for use in recreational arena fighting and public executions. The Republic half-heartedly tried to curb this market, but as Acklays were also highly prized by Galactic elites for their private menageries, there was always a financial incentive to look the other way on Vendaxa itself.

Thank you. It must be terribly painful for you, to wake up every day knowing these facts. Is there a recipe for them?