Politics Super Thread - keep it all in here

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

I think that we have to virtually stop migration to prevent house price blow out and to save the environment. I don't mind socialist style housing where housing becomes a non issue. It is sort of a birthright that does not put financial pressure on young marriages causing them to break. Also people will concentrate on developing themselves rather then their houses. Generations going back to World War days did not expect to have monster houses that cost a financial and environmental fortune.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I think that we have to virtually stop migration to prevent house price blow out and to save the environment. I don't mind socialist style housing where housing becomes a non issue. It is sort of a birthright that does not put financial pressure on young marriages causing them to break. Also people will concentrate on developing themselves rather then their houses. Generations going back to World War days did not expect to have monster houses that cost a financial and environmental fortune.

Wealthy foreigners are buying the properties and having them sit dormant to accrue value. Migration is not, if at all, the major problem here.

Houses are more environmentally friendly than they have ever been. BASIX compliance in NSW sets a minimum performance standard for homes.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Strangely I've never heard any real debate or explanation about the tax cuts. It seems a little odd given the noise about projected increasing costs of healthcare, ageing population etc.

But when you scratch beneath the surface, it gets weird.

From 2025, the tax cuts are massively skewed to benefit those on high incomes. I did these calculations showing annual wage, tax cut and the tax cut as a % of income:

$25,000 $200 saving 0.8% of income
$50,000 $540 saving 1.08% of income
$100,000 $1125 saving 1.13% income
$150,000 $3375 saving 2.25% income
$200,000 $7225 saving 3.61% income

Seems really unfair. A 3.61% saving to someone on a lower income would make a big difference whereas Mr/Ms $200k will probably use it to further rort the tax system through negative gearing a useless unproductive asset (i.e an investment property).

Some of the politicians who claim they supported the legislation to help working class families are nothing short of disgraceful.

Negative gearing needs to change now. It should be grandfathered though, the housing market will implode if you abolish it altogether.

Yeah agreed, particularly as many of those that are set to gain the most out of these tax cuts are already utilising this opening, along with generous superannuation concessions to minimise their liabilities. Governments should be about communities, not about assisting those in the Tooraks or Double Bays of our land, which is where the most benefit of these latest tax cuts will fall, rather than the residents of rural areas and outer suburbs that need the break.

I am not against people earning a decent income for their endeavour and labour, nor using the rules to obtain the best outcome for themselves, but those that are on the higher incomes are generally the ones making the decisions and rules that are framing the increasing disparity between the haves and have nots. The income gap between corporates and service employees has become obscene over the last three and a bit decades, whilst their tax liabilities have also fallen dramatically.

Oh look I agree. The problem with a housing market implosion is that it just doesn't affect the investors, sole home owners (many of whom are struggling,) will have the value of their properties wiped as well.

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

I have done a few reno jobs under BASIX and it is virtually meaningless. It should be the rule that all new aircons purchased must be solar electricity supplied. That is only starters but will never be adopted. That all new houses be limited to a certain number of vehicles that the roads can currently hold and will assist in eventually limiting vehicles emissions. Again will never be adopted. If a few simple and very effective measures are not taken then they may as well drop all other environmental concerns as they will be useless. There should on how many wall surfaces can be glass as is also terrible for the environment - heating up in winter and cooling down in summer.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I have done a few reno jobs under BASIX and it is virtually meaningless. It should be the rule that all new aircons purchased must be solar electricity supplied. That is only starters but will never be adopted. That all new houses be limited to a certain number of vehicles that the roads can currently hold and will assist in eventually limiting vehicles emissions. Again will never be adopted. If a few simple and very effective measures are not taken then they may as well drop all other environmental concerns as they will be useless. There should on how many wall surfaces can be glass as is also terrible for the environment - heating up in winter and cooling down in summer.

Unless you have 20kW solar systems with battery walls you'll be hard up getting that across the line Byron.

 

[Russell]

I have done a few reno jobs under BASIX and it is virtually meaningless. It should be the rule that all new aircons purchased must be solar electricity supplied. That is only starters but will never be adopted. That all new houses be limited to a certain number of vehicles that the roads can currently hold and will assist in eventually limiting vehicles emissions. Again will never be adopted. If a few simple and very effective measures are not taken then they may as well drop all other environmental concerns as they will be useless. There should on how many wall surfaces can be glass as is also terrible for the environment - heating up in winter and cooling down in summer.

What happened to democracy???

 

[Silentio]

Strangely I've never heard any real debate or explanation about the tax cuts. It seems a little odd given the noise about projected increasing costs of healthcare, ageing population etc.

But when you scratch beneath the surface, it gets weird.

From 2025, the tax cuts are massively skewed to benefit those on high incomes. I did these calculations showing annual wage, tax cut and the tax cut as a % of income:

$25,000 $200 saving 0.8% of income
$50,000 $540 saving 1.08% of income
$100,000 $1125 saving 1.13% income
$150,000 $3375 saving 2.25% income
$200,000 $7225 saving 3.61% income

Seems really unfair. A 3.61% saving to someone on a lower income would make a big difference whereas Mr/Ms $200k will probably use it to further rort the tax system through negative gearing a useless unproductive asset (i.e an investment property).

Some of the politicians who claim they supported the legislation to help working class families are nothing short of disgraceful.

Negative gearing needs to change now. It should be grandfathered though, the housing market will implode if you abolish it altogether.

Yeah agreed, particularly as many of those that are set to gain the most out of these tax cuts are already utilising this opening, along with generous superannuation concessions to minimise their liabilities. Governments should be about communities, not about assisting those in the Tooraks or Double Bays of our land, which is where the most benefit of these latest tax cuts will fall, rather than the residents of rural areas and outer suburbs that need the break.

I am not against people earning a decent income for their endeavour and labour, nor using the rules to obtain the best outcome for themselves, but those that are on the higher incomes are generally the ones making the decisions and rules that are framing the increasing disparity between the haves and have nots. The income gap between corporates and service employees has become obscene over the last three and a bit decades, whilst their tax liabilities have also fallen dramatically.

Oh look I agree. The problem with a housing market implosion is that it just doesn't affect the investors, sole home owners (many of whom are struggling,) will have the value of their properties wiped as well.

There is unlikely to be a major Government led shakeup in housing because of the big banks. They are just too influential. They make the mining industry's lobbying look like a Rotary Club bbq.

A drop in prices would hit their balance sheets hard given that they have nearly $2 trillion of mortgages.

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

I have done a few reno jobs under BASIX and it is virtually meaningless. It should be the rule that all new aircons purchased must be solar electricity supplied. That is only starters but will never be adopted. That all new houses be limited to a certain number of vehicles that the roads can currently hold and will assist in eventually limiting vehicles emissions. Again will never be adopted. If a few simple and very effective measures are not taken then they may as well drop all other environmental concerns as they will be useless. There should on how many wall surfaces can be glass as is also terrible for the environment - heating up in winter and cooling down in summer.

What happened to democracy???

Democracy hailed in Donald Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon - the greatest environmental vandal since Attila the Hun. Survival of the species is more important than democracy. The big let down has been leadership on the conservative side of politics, which when you consider if they are true conservatives they should be trying to save species (which includes environment). Amazingly Margaret Thatcher's intro speech into Parliament was on greenhouse effect or something similar. China that does not have democracy is probably doing much more OZ in cleaning up their polluting industries - because they can see what happens if it goes too bad.

 

[Snake]

I have done a few reno jobs under BASIX and it is virtually meaningless. It should be the rule that all new aircons purchased must be solar electricity supplied. That is only starters but will never be adopted. That all new houses be limited to a certain number of vehicles that the roads can currently hold and will assist in eventually limiting vehicles emissions. Again will never be adopted. If a few simple and very effective measures are not taken then they may as well drop all other environmental concerns as they will be useless. There should on how many wall surfaces can be glass as is also terrible for the environment - heating up in winter and cooling down in summer.

What happened to democracy???

Democracy hailed in Donald Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon - the greatest environmental vandal since Attila the Hun. Survival of the species is more important than democracy. The big let down has been leadership on the conservative side of politics, which when you consider if they are true conservatives they should be trying to save species (which includes environment). Amazingly Margaret Thatcher's intro speech into Parliament was on greenhouse effect or something similar. China that does not have democracy is probably doing much more OZ in cleaning up their polluting industries - because they can see what happens if it goes too bad.

Oh dear China has built over 100 coal fired power stations in the last 10 years ..please get your facts right they with India are the true environmental vandals of the world … take those RED sunglasses off .

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

I have done a few reno jobs under BASIX and it is virtually meaningless. It should be the rule that all new aircons purchased must be solar electricity supplied. That is only starters but will never be adopted. That all new houses be limited to a certain number of vehicles that the roads can currently hold and will assist in eventually limiting vehicles emissions. Again will never be adopted. If a few simple and very effective measures are not taken then they may as well drop all other environmental concerns as they will be useless. There should on how many wall surfaces can be glass as is also terrible for the environment - heating up in winter and cooling down in summer.

What happened to democracy???

Democracy hailed in Donald Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon - the greatest environmental vandal since Attila the Hun. Survival of the species is more important than democracy. The big let down has been leadership on the conservative side of politics, which when you consider if they are true conservatives they should be trying to save species (which includes environment). Amazingly Margaret Thatcher's intro speech into Parliament was on greenhouse effect or something similar. China that does not have democracy is probably doing much more OZ in cleaning up their polluting industries - because they can see what happens if it goes too bad.

Oh dear China has built over 100 coal fired power stations in the last 10 years ..please get your facts right they with India are the true environmental vandals of the world … take those RED sunglasses off .

No sunglasses I was just not aware of it. I am aware that they constructing whole football fields of solar panels. It is also the fault of rich and modern countries that we accept goods that are manufactured in polluting countries/circumstances. I was referring to the heavily-polluted Beijing and Shanghai where I believe they are trying drastically to reduce air pollution.

We could be complicit with China as we are probably supplying the coal to fire those stations.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I have done a few reno jobs under BASIX and it is virtually meaningless. It should be the rule that all new aircons purchased must be solar electricity supplied. That is only starters but will never be adopted. That all new houses be limited to a certain number of vehicles that the roads can currently hold and will assist in eventually limiting vehicles emissions. Again will never be adopted. If a few simple and very effective measures are not taken then they may as well drop all other environmental concerns as they will be useless. There should on how many wall surfaces can be glass as is also terrible for the environment - heating up in winter and cooling down in summer.

What happened to democracy???

Democracy hailed in Donald Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon - the greatest environmental vandal since Attila the Hun. Survival of the species is more important than democracy. The big let down has been leadership on the conservative side of politics, which when you consider if they are true conservatives they should be trying to save species (which includes environment). Amazingly Margaret Thatcher's intro speech into Parliament was on greenhouse effect or something similar. China that does not have democracy is probably doing much more OZ in cleaning up their polluting industries - because they can see what happens if it goes too bad.

Oh dear China has built over 100 coal fired power stations in the last 10 years ..please get your facts right they with India are the true environmental vandals of the world … take those RED sunglasses off .

To Byron's credit, China have implemented significant strategy to improve their carbon footprint even in lieu of building new coal fired plants. They have planted a ridiculous amount of trees and improved forest coverage. They also have increased renewables and introduced an emissions trading scheme.

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

I visited China about 40 years ago, about ten years after Whitlam had donated them millions of seeds of gum trees. So in Yuunan province within that ten years millions of gum tree had sprouted up to about 5 yards high. I touched them and said Hello Australia. I read here they have planted 1.6 billion gum trees that go back way before Whitlam's time
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC772E/ac772e04.htm

 

[magpiecol]

I visited China about 40 years ago, about ten years after Whitlam had donated them millions of seeds of gum trees. So in Yuunan province within that ten years millions of gum tree had sprouted up to about 5 yards high. I touched them and said Hello Australia. I read here they have planted 1.6 billion gum trees that go back way before Whitlam's time
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC772E/ac772e04.htm

What the hell are you on.?

Fake news from go to whoa.

:deadhorse: :deadhorse:

 

[happy_tiger]

What happened to democracy???

Democracy hailed in Donald Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon - the greatest environmental vandal since Attila the Hun. Survival of the species is more important than democracy. The big let down has been leadership on the conservative side of politics, which when you consider if they are true conservatives they should be trying to save species (which includes environment). Amazingly Margaret Thatcher's intro speech into Parliament was on greenhouse effect or something similar. China that does not have democracy is probably doing much more OZ in cleaning up their polluting industries - because they can see what happens if it goes too bad.

Oh dear China has built over 100 coal fired power stations in the last 10 years ..please get your facts right they with India are the true environmental vandals of the world … take those RED sunglasses off .

To Byron's credit, China have implemented significant strategy to improve their carbon footprint even in lieu of building new coal fired plants. They have planted a ridiculous amount of trees and improved forest coverage. They also have increased renewables and introduced an emissions trading scheme.

China build about the same about of electric buses every month that is in the entire London fleet (around 9000 )

They use around 500 000 in China alone

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

Since China has let the private car become widespread I sort of refuse to go over there. Their system has become totally corrupt with all those business people coming out here and paying millions for houses. Same goes for Russia, that is what happens to one-party rule, whether right or left wing.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I visited China about 40 years ago, about ten years after Whitlam had donated them millions of seeds of gum trees. So in Yuunan province within that ten years millions of gum tree had sprouted up to about 5 yards high. I touched them and said Hello Australia. I read here they have planted 1.6 billion gum trees that go back way before Whitlam's time
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC772E/ac772e04.htm

What the hell are you on.?

Fake news from go to whoa.

:deadhorse: :deadhorse:

What’s happening with the wall Col?

 

[happy_tiger]

Since China has let the private car become widespread I sort of refuse to go over there. Their system has become totally corrupt with all those business people coming out here and paying millions for houses. Same goes for Russia, that is what happens to one-party rule, whether right or left wing.

Don't blame the Chinese , blame the idiot federal politicians that create policies that allow this to happen

And whether they are from China or Chile should it be an issue

 

[magpiecol]

I visited China about 40 years ago, about ten years after Whitlam had donated them millions of seeds of gum trees. So in Yuunan province within that ten years millions of gum tree had sprouted up to about 5 yards high. I touched them and said Hello Australia. I read here they have planted 1.6 billion gum trees that go back way befor :laughing: e Whitlam's time
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC772E/ac772e04.htm

What the hell are you on.?

Fake news from go to whoa.

:deadhorse: :deadhorse:

What’s happening with the wall Col?

I'm sure it will be built before climate change kills us all.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I visited China about 40 years ago, about ten years after Whitlam had donated them millions of seeds of gum trees. So in Yuunan province within that ten years millions of gum tree had sprouted up to about 5 yards high. I touched them and said Hello Australia. I read here they have planted 1.6 billion gum trees that go back way befor :laughing: e Whitlam's time
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC772E/ac772e04.htm

What the hell are you on.?

Fake news from go to whoa.

:deadhorse: :deadhorse:

What’s happening with the wall Col?

I'm sure it will be built before climate change kills us all.

Hmm almost the mid terms. Construction was meant to start like 2 months into his term ?

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

Since China has let the private car become widespread I sort of refuse to go over there. Their system has become totally corrupt with all those business people coming out here and paying millions for houses. Same goes for Russia, that is what happens to one-party rule, whether right or left wing.

Don't blame the Chinese , blame the idiot federal politicians that create policies that allow this to happen

And whether they are from China or Chile should it be an issue

Now that you mention Chile I loved it when General Augusto Pinochet was held in UK for his crimes - I was hoping they would do the same to a few more brutal dictators. But those Chinese I picked on are directly being enriched due to corruption, nepotism etc. otherwise they would not have tens of millions of dollars to throw around. I picked on the Chinese businessmen not the whole race.