1000 apologies, I read this, then read about the Pauline Hanson discrimination act stuff, then came back and got them confused. The cancellation of visas is always an option for any reason for the minister, I kind of think a committee or something would be better. I still think it’s worth throwing the book at Nazis in every instance where they can’t be ignored.

I can’t comment on the legitimacy of the concerns about his actions impacting ecology or flood control - although I suspect they are overstated if not outright nonsense - but crikey that concrete LA river looks terrible, please anything to make it nicer.

Let’s deconstruct this.

This fellow was behaving in a way that is against our stated national values, is threatening to citizens and other residents of this country, and is against the law.

He is now facing the predictable legal consequences of breaking the law, ie had he consulted a lawyer or even looked into it himself beforehand he would’ve known that this would be the likely outcome.

You’re now inferring from this that legitimate political speech may be curtailed in the future despite there being no legal mechanism for this to happen.

Many on the far left like to claim that liberals will always defend the rights of fascists to be fascists, that’s sometimes unfair but this kind of nonsense is how liberals get that reputation. (‘Small l’ liberals of course)

Yeah, a lot of good cardiology and vascular work gets done at the mount hospital in Perth, it’s not that they’re literally useless all the time. Just most of the time.

It is absurd the Medicare doesn’t cover dental. I see a patient once or twice a month delaying dental care because of cost.

I kind of understand the government being cautious about controversial reforms but the libs had literally nothing to say about the recent GP bulk billing changes as it’s just popular. Medicare covering dental care and increasing school funding to meet Gonski targets are almost opposition proof.

Incidentally I am a doctor and I don’t have insurance. I don’t wear glasses, I don’t play sports that ruin my joints and I’m not getting pregnant. There is literally no benefit. On top of which, when I was a junior doctor it wasn’t uncommon for us to have a private patient transferred to the public system when the private physician realised they were actually sick and not just a pay day, the public system treats sick patients, the private system has nice carpet and nurses that smile. We need to remove Medicare payments to private providers and invest properly into public healthcare.

Sorry for the tangentially related rant.

I absolutely love this. I was at a volly firefighter training the other week and just about everyone gravitates to the big map on the wall. Walking on a ground map is an awesome idea.

Today’s West is trying to make out this is somehow a bad thing…

It seems like there is a push from within the party to make this happen which is a great sign.

🤞

Unfortunately it seems to have been taken down. Not sure what happened there. If it shows up again I’ll repost it

Yeah, the headline should’ve been “1/3 of Australians don’t understand what corruption is”

I wonder if this could convince right wingers that it’d be good to nationalise the mines?

And here I thought the the Labor Party didn’t really believe in anything, but they sure do believe in capitalism…

Fixed it for you.

Haha, yeah hybrid projects, not a hybrid product.

In other news, water is wet.

I’m not reading Nobodys Girl but I had a similar experience.

I read Lolita in my 20s and found it a beautifully written text. I reread it in my 30s and couldn’t get through it because of the subject matter. I guess I developed empathy.

I don’t think you’re dishonoring the author by giving up if its a bit too much

Thanks, I’ll check it out

Any ideology that proposes deliberately making peoples lives worse is not worth discussing.

If I’m playing devils avocado I guess rapid technological and economic growth gives us more value to appropriate in the name of the proletariat?

You could be, and probably are, right. I’m a bit disillusioned by the past 2 shires I’ve lived in and I think that if managed well some things like education and healthcare could have a great deal more input from local government.

I’m a decentralist by instinct but whether that degree of decentralisation is achievable or even desirable I’m not sure.

That said I love the way Albany in particular has changed over the past few decades and you’re right that local government is to thank for that. I’m less enchanted by how Busselton has changed over the past few decades and I think local government is to blame. I do wonder if there was compulsory local elections we might have seen less unchecked development.

As I say, I’m in the self education phase of forming opinions so thanks for your thoughts.

I agree that both

• teachers are underpaid
• pay is not remotely the main reason teachers leave

Higher pay would help attract more teachers and therefore could help reduce workload if public schools were given the funding to employ them. But low pay is not a major reason why people leave the profession.

Be wary of people applying Econ 101 concepts where they aren’t applicable.

Education is a public good and the market will never provide adequate supply. It requires public policy to provide it. You’re right that if public schools made teaching an attractive option there would be more teachers, but then that’s the point of the article.