Australia doen’t need economic migrants, they can get all the labour they need by legal means, or are you suggesting that Australia should let economic migrants jump the queue?
There are probably billions of people living in appalling third world places- are you suggesting they should all be allowed to emmigrate to the west?
I went overseas to work because my wage wouldn’t buy much more than a couple of packets of crisps, but I had a skill obtained with hard work and much abuse over 12 years that was in demand, and I did it the legal way.
Life for most of the world’s population is pretty shitty. I’m sure the charities looking after them will be grateful for all the money you can send them.
I apologise if my words about your car offended. I just despise all those horrid plastic laded motorised shopping trolleys, but I realise that most people don’t have much choice.
I think that the Holden Charger was the most beautiful car ever built, followed by the large Toranas, so you can get an idea of what I’m talking about. They couldn’t even consider building such fantastic machines now!
BTW, my vaccy has a bag.
I don’t give a raspberry about fibre vs copper as long as it works, and copper served me just fine for 10 years in the UK, where they use the telephone for BB internet. How fast does it have to be for a home user anyway?
I’m not disputing that right now fiber is a better technology, but is it worth the extra cost? Of course the techs will be pushing for the best- the cost isn’t coming exclusively out of their pocket. I’d like a Masserati, but I’ll settle for a Commodore so long as there is a speed limit.
I would be concerned if I were an aussie taxpayer, and that alone would have me voting for Abbott.
Truce? I didn’t realise we were at war in the first place.
No they had one in the Reps, and it is in the Reps that you need to command a majority to be able to ask to lead the government. And the answer to your question is “no more than Gillard”. The Greens had nowhere to go, whether they got their legislation passed or not.
Well I don’t own a vac, I think my cleaner’s is a bag less one?
I own a 308 Torana.
OH and the fibre thing, mate you are so wrong. Fibre is the bomb, there is nothing that comes close to it for speed and cost to maintain. Really do your research and come back to me. I have strong views about fibre and work in the field. Sorry if that is a problem but it seems most of the experts tend to work in their fields of expertise, who would have thunk?
I have nothing against fibre, but as I said, if I was paying tax I’d be against using it. Fine if someone wants to pay for a fibre connection between the end of the government fibre and their house, but if anyone hadn’t noticed, Oz has a debt problem, and copper does actually work well enough for household use.
…that leaders name was Lange, not Longey. And the “witch”'s name is Helen Clark, and she wasn’t a witch and she didn’t destroy NZ. She was an excellent politician, a hard worker, and a fantastic Prime Minister for our country. And when you do things like she has done it isn’t surprising she gets appointed to a significant role with the UN.
No, I’m suggesting there should be an option for them to get in the queue to legally migrate here in the first place. Currently, “Living in Sandistan earning a few cents a week as a sand farmer in a shitty, miserable existence” doesn’t qualify anyone for a working visa in (as far as I’m aware) any other civilised country.
Not all (or even most) of them - but some, yes. I’d be happy with requiring them to live & work in remote or regional areas for a reasonable period of time after their arrival, though.
The thing is, Western countries tend to have lots of educational opportunities (and therefore job skills) not available in third world places, so it’s not really the same thing.
I don’t understand your premise. If they are “sand farmers” etc, they don’t have any qualifications or skills that Oz needs, so why should they be allowed to legally immigrate- to go straight onto the dole perhaps- Oz has enough unemployed already.
So, what are they going to do in a remote area, considering they probably don’t speak English or have any understanding of Oz culture?
Apologies about the spelling- it has been a lot of years since, but he was the best PM I’ve known.
You obviously didn’t read Absolute Power: The Helen Clark Years (2008), book by Ian Wishart.
No one I know agrees with you.
BTW since being employed by the UN she has had absolutely ZERO recognition by the overseas media- might as well have disappeared into limbo. So much for “significant” role.
…Ian Wishart is a conspiracy theorist. And just throwing out book names does not prove that Clark destroyed New Zealand or that she is a “witch.” New Zealand has obviously not been destroyed. And why would anyone care about the opinions of “people you know?” “No one I know” agrees with you. What exactly does that prove?
As for your last point: there are millions of people in the word doing significant work that don’t get any media attention. Besides, I just did a quick google news search and here is Helen Clark, getting recognition by international media.
So she certainly seems to be more significant than, lets say you.
…it wasn’t a personal insult. Helen Clark is a significant international figure. I am not a significant international figure. Neither is the poster I was responding to. Thats all I said. So consider personal insults skipped.
We don’t need no taxi drivers or office cleaners or market garden pickers: we love to do those jobs ourselves. That’s what I said to Davo after we went for a surf this morning, on our way to sign on before heading to the pub in the Torana.
On the issue of tax, this is silly as the government is expecting a return on the investment. So are you against the government making money of investing in infrastructure?
Debt is not really a problem, it is how modern economies operate.
The argument to this is that we are in danger of creating a second class of citizens much like the US has with Mexicans.
Historically most first generation immigrants here work like hell to get themselves on their feet, often in work that is below what their intelligence and/or education would otherwise fit them for. They push their children into good education etc and their children end up being middle class or better. It’s happened with the Greeks, and the Vietnamese and a half dozen others.
There is a very real issue in rural Australia where there’s just not enough people to work on farms, pick fruit, or even run the local shops sometimes.
A lot of people (understandably) don’t want to live in the ass-end of nowhere, getting up at sparrow-fart to do hard, physical labour (even if it does pay fairly well).
So why not make the opportunity available to our Sandistanian sand farmer and his family, if they want it? It’s going to be a hell of a lot better than their life in Sandistan and if the Australian farmer can prove they’ve made an honest effort to hire Australians for the job, then I really don’t see where the problem is.
