Auspol February: The NRL Really Screwed The Pooch

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol February: The NRL Really Screwed The Pooch

birdstrike: Oct 30, 2008; i;m gay

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Forgive my tardiness on this topic but where does this thread stand RE: chaining Paul Sheehan to a railway sleeper and dropping him into a dam

should've been done years ago

note: the dam has to be filled with magic water

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:14

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# ? May 29, 2024 00:51

hooman: Oct 11, 2007; This guy seems legit.; Fun Shoe

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Forgive my tardiness on this topic but where does this thread stand RE: chaining Paul Sheehan to a railway sleeper and dropping him into a dam

He is a poo poo journalist but his mea culpa seems fairly sincere?

Maybe into a Tasmanian dam, that way he won't drown but will be publicly humiliated.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:19

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Forgive my tardiness on this topic but where does this thread stand RE: chaining Paul Sheehan to a railway sleeper and dropping him into a dam

Get with the times grandpa! It's all about shooting things into the sun these days. I actually want him to continue in his current role until he is so thoroughly discredited they give him a job at 2GB.

-/-

Long suffering AusPol readers might recall my investigative journalism where I attempted to get a job picking fruit including at the establishment run by a local vocal critic of 'job snobs'. I was unable to secure employment at any wage. One manager was candid enough to suggest they only employed backpackers "because of the burn-out factor, lol." Basically they have a few locals that they 'trust' and put on every year and the main workforce is backpackers so you don't have to care about their welfare. Yay!

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:20

lilbeefer: Oct 4, 2004

hooman posted:

It's almost like you need some kind of, I don't know, price raising mechanism on foreign imports in order for local businesses to remain competitive. No, that can't be, clearly more free trade will fix this instead. *signs tpp*

What exactly is the argument against this / who votes against this anyway?

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:20

hooman: Oct 11, 2007; This guy seems legit.; Fun Shoe

open24hours posted:

There's more money to be made selling Australian grain and beef and dairy etc overseas than there is in protecting fruit growers. Australia is a competitive and efficient agricultural producer compared to most countries, just not in picking fruit by hand.

Thanks for this, so why does our hand picking fruit industry still exist?

I mean our car making and fruit canning ones died.. why is this still blighting the poor?

EDIT: Not that our car making or fruit canning ones were blighting the poor, just why is this one still existing and blighting the poor.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:20

hooman: Oct 11, 2007; This guy seems legit.; Fun Shoe

Cartoon posted:

Get with the times grandpa! It's all about shooting things into the sun these days. I actually want him to continue in his current role until he is so thoroughly discredited they give him a job at 2GB.

-/-

Long suffering AusPol readers might recall my investigative journalism where I attempted to get a job picking fruit including at the establishment run by a local vocal critic of 'job snobs'. I was unable to secure employment at any wage. One manager was candid enough to suggest they only employed backpackers "because of the burn-out factor, lol." Basically they have a few locals that they 'trust' and put on every year and the main workforce is backpackers so you don't have to care about their welfare. Yay!

Cartoon, have you ever actually considered journalism, or getting published?

EDIT: you could write for Buzzfed Oz and I don't mean that in an insulting way.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:22

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

^^^

I thought being an AusPol superstar was the pinnacle of Australian journalism. :australia:

Lilbeefer posted:

What exactly is the argument against this / who votes against this anyway?

Tariffs and protectionist policies were rife until the eighties. They are against Liberal policy because they distort the free market and increase the cost of living. It is additionally argued that local industry is only uncompetitive because of inefficiency, low productivity and a crippling industrial relations landscape. Tariffs were also considered a tax on consumption and therefore inherently bad :irony:

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:24

open24hours: Jan 7, 2001

Lilbeefer posted:

What exactly is the argument against this / who votes against this anyway?

There are a number of good reasons not to protect Australian agriculture, and the main one is that it doesn't need to be protected. Australia has a lot of structural and natural advantages that make our farmers competitive without protection, and all it would really be doing is subsidising people who are either not very good at farming or have an unviable business model.

It's also in our interests to lead by example. For the past 30 years Australia and other efficient agricultural producers in the Cairns group ( http://cairnsgroup.org/ ) have been trying to convince the rest of the world to stop protecting their inefficient farmers and unilaterally removing tariffs is seen as a way to help with this.

hooman posted:

Thanks for this, so why does our hand picking fruit industry still exist?

I mean our car making and fruit canning ones died.. why is this still blighting the poor?

EDIT: Not that our car making or fruit canning ones were blighting the poor, just why is this one still existing and blighting the poor.

It's just that these things take time. You can hold on for a long time before you go completely broke, especially if your land is increasing in value. Sooner or later it'll all be either automated or growing extremely high-value niche fruits.

open24hours fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Feb 26, 2016

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:29

lilbeefer: Oct 4, 2004

So the fruitpickers on slave labour wages are being hired by inefficient farmers, or the business is not viable? If it is innefficiency then it seems a pretty rampant problem. I live in between Ararat and Stawell and there are a lot of wineries around, and I think they all employ backpackers it seems. To be fair this probably has more to do with highly seasonal work then anything else.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 03:53

open24hours: Jan 7, 2001

The fruit pickers on slave wages are working in an industry that is barely viable in a good year. If they had to pay fair wages the fruit would just rot on the vine.

Wine is hosed at the moment.

http://www.wfa.org.au/assets/vintage-reports/WFA-Vintage-Report-2015-visual.pdf

[edit: I should say that this varies a lot from farm to farm and area to area, and there are some highly profitable fruit growers out there.]

open24hours fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Feb 26, 2016

# ? Feb 26, 2016 04:05

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

https://twitter.com/SenatorLazarus/status/702968478261575680

Huge if true

# ? Feb 26, 2016 04:40

Amoeba102: Jan 22, 2010

I thought he was boycotting the dinner. Flip flopping again.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 04:44

hooman: Oct 11, 2007; This guy seems legit.; Fun Shoe

Jumpingmanjim posted:

https://twitter.com/SenatorLazarus/status/702968478261575680

Huge if true

Imagine being the greasy 15 year old serving Glenn Lazarus maccas.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 04:45

Tokamak: Dec 22, 2004

hooman posted:

Why do we even still have a fruit picking industry if it relies on slave wages in order to survive? gently caress why do most industries exist in this country except for service when we can be relentlessly undercut by offshore workers.

It is an open secret that hand picking produce is performed by vulnerable workers who are taken advantage of. This happens all across the western world, and not only in Australia. The food that we do import is essentially picked in the same or worse conditions. So it isn't just a matter of economic competitiveness, but a fundamental abuse of poor, undereducated labour.

Tokamak fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Feb 26, 2016

# ? Feb 26, 2016 04:49

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

hooman posted:

Thanks for this, so why does our hand picking fruit industry still exist?

I mean our car making and fruit canning ones died.. why is this still blighting the poor?

EDIT: Not that our car making or fruit canning ones were blighting the poor, just why is this one still existing and blighting the poor.

A lot of stuff can't be machine harvested with current technology, the machines damage the fruit too much and people won't buy bruised apples and pears.

I suspect the main problem is the supermarkets putting growers under enormous pressure to reduce prices, which then forces them to squeeze the workers in order to make a living.

open24hours posted:

The fruit pickers on slave wages are working in an industry that is barely viable in a good year. If they had to pay fair wages the fruit would just rot on the vine.

Wine is hosed at the moment.

http://www.wfa.org.au/assets/vintage-reports/WFA-Vintage-Report-2015-visual.pdf

[edit: I should say that this varies a lot from farm to farm and area to area, and there are some highly profitable fruit growers out there.]

Wine is a bit different because there are a lot of hobby vineyards out there that run at a loss so the actual businesses struggle to compete. There's a bunch of the usual factors as well, like overseas competitors making better cheap wine than in the past, China (which was for years touted as the saviour of the wine industry) loving up, Europe and the US economies never truly recovering from the GFC, (until recently) the high $AU, and people deciding to branch out and try imported wines. All this started taking effect a year or so after I graduated with a winemaking degree lol needless to say I'm back at uni studying something different.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 04:52

starkebn: May 18, 2004; "Oooh, got a little too serious. You okay there, little buddy?"

I can go to YouTube and watch videos all day of harvesting machines for every type of product. Bullshit that they damage fruit. If that was the case then the Europeans wouldn't be using them either. Idiot farmers just don't want to co-op to time share a loving machine.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 05:06

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

starkebn posted:

I can go to YouTube and watch videos all day of harvesting machines for every type of product. Bullshit that they damage fruit. If that was the case then the Europeans wouldn't be using them either. Idiot farmers just don't want to co-op to time share a loving machine.

What's the destination for that fruit though? You can machine harvest anything if it's for juicing, but anything soft or easily bruised destined for the fresh fruit market most likely gets hand picked even in Europe.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 05:10

hooman: Oct 11, 2007; This guy seems legit.; Fun Shoe

Tokamak posted:

It is an open secret that hand picking produce is performed by vulnerable workers who are taken advantage of. This happens all across the western world, and not only in Australia. The food that we do import is essentially picked in the same or worse conditions. So it isn't just a matter of economic competitiveness, but a fundamental abuse of poor, undereducated labour.

So why don't we have large tariffs on foreign fruit to make non abusive labor practiced performed by higher cost Australian producers more competitive?

Same question I guess goes with garment manufacturing and shoe making.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 05:26

Amethyst: Mar 28, 2004; I CANNOT HELP BUT MAKE THE DCSS THREAD A FETID SWAMP OF UNFUN POSTING
plz notice me trunk-senpai

hooman posted:

So why don't we have large tariffs on foreign fruit to make non abusive labor practiced performed by higher cost Australian producers more competitive?

Same question I guess goes with garment manufacturing and shoe making.

Because that kind of policy would isolate us in the world economy and cause long term stagnation.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 05:30

Amethyst: Mar 28, 2004; I CANNOT HELP BUT MAKE THE DCSS THREAD A FETID SWAMP OF UNFUN POSTING
plz notice me trunk-senpai

I know a lot of posters in this thread don't see a problem with economic stagnation and think it's super duper win, but that's the reason

# ? Feb 26, 2016 05:31

lilbeefer: Oct 4, 2004

And where does destroying car manufacturing fit into the whole economy stagnation thing?

How much of Australias wine is exported?

# ? Feb 26, 2016 05:50

Amethyst: Mar 28, 2004; I CANNOT HELP BUT MAKE THE DCSS THREAD A FETID SWAMP OF UNFUN POSTING
plz notice me trunk-senpai

Lilbeefer posted:

And where does destroying car manufacturing fit into the whole economy stagnation thing?

How much of Australias wine is exported?

Australia's car import tariffs are the lowest in the world. Cur subsidies were set to make the industry competitive with the global market. This worked (for a while) because cars aren't manufactured in third world countries. Obviously this doesn't apply to fruit.

Australia's wine issue isn't competition, it's just straight up over-production, as someone already said.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 05:58

Megillah Gorilla: Sep 22, 2003; If only all of life's problems could be solved by smoking a professor of ancient evil texts.; Bread Liar

gay picnic defence posted:

What's the destination for that fruit though? You can machine harvest anything if it's for juicing, but anything soft or easily bruised destined for the fresh fruit market most likely gets hand picked even in Europe.

Why pay half a million dollars for robotic fruit pickers* when you can pay someone wages that would make Gina Rinehart blush?

* beyond how drat cool robots picking fruit is.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:09

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

Lilbeefer posted:

How much of Australias wine is exported?

About 60%

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:09

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

http://www.theage.com.au/national/m...226-gn4aji.html

I didn't realise these guys were Australian, pity they got charged because terrorism needs to be taken less seriously, not more.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:23

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

gay picnic defence posted:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/m...226-gn4aji.html

I didn't realise these guys were Australian, pity they got charged because terrorism needs to be taken less seriously, not more.

They are dumb idiots exploiting stereotypes for clickbait.

quote:

charged with public nuisance, possessing a prohibited weapon and behaving in an offensive manner in a public place.

Sounds fair enough.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:28

Synthbuttrange: May 6, 2007

Nauru concentration camp guards issued with knives to cut refugees.

...down from ropes if they try hang themselves.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-po...225-gn44c0.html

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:55

starkebn: May 18, 2004; "Oooh, got a little too serious. You okay there, little buddy?"

gay picnic defence posted:

What's the destination for that fruit though? You can machine harvest anything if it's for juicing, but anything soft or easily bruised destined for the fresh fruit market most likely gets hand picked even in Europe.

Mangoes are notoriously easy to wreck, and there are machines that can do it. People would rather have slaves to pick their ~~cotton~~ fruit than move into the current millennium

starkebn fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Feb 26, 2016

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:55

Flannelette: Jan 17, 2010

Cartoon posted:

Anyway I interrupt our fascination with Counter Terrorism policy to bring you:

WE ARE SO VERY VERY hosed

I so very much want the source images of this to turn out to be from fascist or soviet posters.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:57

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

SynthOrange posted:

Nauru concentration camp guards issued with knives to cut refugees.

...down from ropes if they try hang themselves.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-po...225-gn44c0.html

Am I wrong, or had we already been told this? I'm sure I've heard of that ages ago.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:59

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

Flannelette posted:

I so very much want the source images of this to turn out to be from fascist or soviet posters.

Well the Tank is soviet.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 06:59

WhiskeyWhiskers: Oct 14, 2013; "هذا ليس عادلاً."
"هذا ليس عادلاً على الإطلاق."
"كان هناك وقت الآن."
(السياق الخفي: للقراءة)

Zenithe posted:

Am I wrong, or had we already been told this? I'm sure I've heard of that ages ago.

Maybe that was the camp in PNG? I definitely remember the story too.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 07:09

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Maybe that was the camp in PNG? I definitely remember the story too.

You are correct. Written almost two years ago in the Australian about conditions in Manus.

quote:

Guards are ordered to carry hooked knives, used to cut ropes when asylum-seekers try to hang themselves.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 07:12

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

starkebn posted:

Mangoes are notoriously easy to wreck, and there are machines that can do it. People would rather have slaves to pick their ~~cotton~~ fruit than move into the current millennium

Are there? The only machines I've heard of are the ones that drive alongside the pickers for them to dump the fruit into and it sorts them and boxes them in the field.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 07:16

WhiskeyWhiskers: Oct 14, 2013; "هذا ليس عادلاً."
"هذا ليس عادلاً على الإطلاق."
"كان هناك وقت الآن."
(السياق الخفي: للقراءة)

Zenithe posted:

You are correct. Written almost two years ago in the Australian about conditions in Manus.

I suppose the new news then is that Wilson security guards are trying to get worker's comp for psychological trauma. Which while I hope they win, is pretty hosed up when you think of the disparity in how much we care about the mental health for guards versus asylum seekers.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 07:18

Solemn Sloth: Jul 11, 2015; Baby you can shout at me,
But you can't need my eyes.

hooman posted:

He is a poo poo journalist but his mea culpa seems fairly sincere?

Maybe into a Tasmanian dam, that way he won't drown but will be publicly humiliated.

Except he keeps on doing this poo poo again and again.

# ? Feb 26, 2016 07:34

Pickled Tink: Apr 28, 2012; Have you heard about First Dog? It's a very good comic I just love.

Also, wear your bike helmets kids. I copped several blows to the head but my helmet left me totally unscathed.

Finally you should check out First Dog as it's a good comic I like it very much.; Fun Shoe