open24hours posted:

Not very balanced are they? Shame, ABC, shame.

quote:

“We don’t know who he is, but we know he’s not acting like an American,” McGraw added. “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.”

Graic Gabtar posted:

Most Australians see him just as a reality show boss. Many Americans just see those TV shows as a small window into an amazing success story.

quote:

They just want to run poo poo judging Trump by our standards which the average US punter would regard as poo poo anyway.

quote:

The only thing people in the US want to know about Australia is how we managed to secure our borders so well.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

They should look on a map.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

"Son of incredibly rich guy is incredibly rich" isn't an amazing success story. He's an average businessman with a natural gift for showmanship.

open24hours posted:

quote:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/11/zero-hour-contracts-banned-in-new-zealand
Zero-hour contracts have been outlawed in New Zealand after parliament unanimously passed a bill to ban the controversial practice.

Political parties across the board supported the ban, which is being hailed as a major victory for minimum wage workers, particularly in the fast-food industry.

Mike Treen, leader of the Unite union, who led the charge, said the move was being closely followed by fast-food workers worldwide, many of whom banded behind the New Zealand workers campaign last year.

“It was like we had God sitting on our shoulder helping us out – it just went wild,” said Treen.

“This is an incredible victory and I am still shocked by it to be honest – the fact that the ban was unanimously supported in parliament is pretty unbelievable.”

Treen estimates there are “hundreds of thousands of workers” employed on zero-hour contracts in New Zealand, which means employers do not have to guarantee minimum hours of work per week, and often expect employees to be available 24/7.

Zero-hour contracts are used by fast-food chains, as well as by cinema groups, security firms and cleaning companies, said Treen.

The bill, which will take effect on 1 April, stipulates that employers must guarantee a minimum number of hours work each week, and workers can refuse extra hours without repercussions.

“The passing of this Bill delivers on the government’s commitment to improve New Zealand’s employment law framework to encourage fair and productive workplaces without imposing unnecessary compliance costs on employers in general,” said Michael Woodhouse, the workplace relations and safety minister.

“The bill eliminates zero-hour contracts by getting rid of unfair employment practices where employers do not commit any hours of work, but expect employees to be available when required without compensation.”

Hannah Shelton-Agar, 23, is employed on a zero-hour contract at Hoyts cinema in Auckland.

She usually works between 10-25 hours a week, and said she is “ecstatic” about the ban.

“This is going to change people’s lives. It is such a relief for so many people to know they will no longer risk having zero dollars at the end of the week. It also means workers feel more included in the workplace, and valued for their contribution.”

The move to ban zero-hour contracts gained huge momentum around New Zealand last year when it was picked up by TV3’s Campbell Live current affairs show, which has since been axed.

Campaigners said the exposure and interest of Campbell Live galvanised opposition to zero-hour contracts nationwide.

“Campbell was a pivotal, campaigning force for us,” said Treen. “I said in the negotiations, you might beat the union but you can’t beat the union and Campbell Live.”

open24hours posted:

Was good when I lived there in 2010, no idea about now. The pay is a fair bit lower though.

Bifauxnen posted:

I just assumed it was sarcasm.

Kat Delacour posted:

John Howard confirms he advised Tony Abbott to sack Peta Credlin

Bronwyn Bishop endorses account that Abbott office overruled 'Choppergate' apology

I am filled with so much glee that everyone is coming out to railroad Abbott.

quote:

Campbell Newman declares he will not run for federal seat

The former Queensland premier says his wife ‘wouldn’t cop it’ and he has too many other business commitments

The former Queensland premier, Campbell Newman, and his wife, Lisa, who ‘wouldn’t cop’ him re-entering politics.

The former Queensland premier, Campbell Newman, has ruled out a shock political comeback which would not have washed with his wife, Lisa.

Newman has admitted his spouse “wouldn’t cop” a return to politics after a day of intense speculation when it was revealed he was considering a federal tilt.

The former premier and Brisbane lord mayor had been touted as a prime candidate for the Liberal National party in this year’s election after Brisbane MP Teresa Gambaro’s stood down.

But he has told News Corp he has too many other business commitments.

“I am ruling it out. It is a definite no,” he told the Australian.

“I can’t just walk away from a range of other commitments and obligations I have with various businesses.”

He had spoken to his wife who had been pleased to see him free from politics 13 months ago, and she “wouldn’t cop it”.

Newman instead endorsed the National Retail Association’s chief executive, Trevor Evans.

A former LNP MP, Gavin King, who wrote Newman’s biography, revealed on Thursday morning his old boss was “weighing up” contesting this year’s federal election.


It is understood that Newman had also been seeking advice from his inner circle over whether he should run, but attempts to contact him on Thursday were unsuccessful.

A first-term premier who lost his own seat of Ashgrove in last year’s election loss to Labor, he would have started as an outsider to win the tight seat of Brisbane.
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The short-lived speculation gave former adversaries the chance to remind Newman, who lost a 72-seat majority from when he was elected in 2012, of his unpopularity with voters.

Queensland’s environment minister, Steven Miles, was the most scathing, insisting he was “under the delusion” people no longer despised him.

“They haven’t forgotten how much they hate you,” Miles said before mentioning the Newman government’s controversial mass sacking of public servants.

“After all, you’ve sacked nearly half of them.”

The education minister, Kate Jones, who deposed Newman in Ashgrove, continued in the same vein, saying Brisbane voters “deserve a local member of parliament that is there to serve them, not themselves”.

tithin posted:

Can do?

Cant.

(apostrophe deliberately excluded )

EvilElmo posted:

Ding ding ding.


Howard coming out against Abbott will hurt him more than anyone else. He is the love child of Howard and Bishop remember, them both walking away from him will cut deep.

ASIC v Danny Bro posted:

I bet Howard is now regretting letting Abbott act with such impunity during his years. Abbott would've benefited from Howard ringing his loving neck from time to time.

open24hours posted:

Casual employment seems a lot more controversial in other countries than it does here.

quote:

I HAVE a confession to make: I’m a homeowner. And in some corners of the country that’s not something you want to say too loudly.

I was in my early 30s and buying on my own when I got my inner Sydney apartment. My deposit was less than 20 per cent, I was on a very average salary and had no family-funded cash injection.

While it may have been only seven years ago, the real estate scene looks pretty different now.

Signing on the dotted line in a mid-GFC market meant I had a helping hand in the shape of government handouts. Back then, both federal and state camps were dolling out grants and tax exemptions like Halloween lollies to help first timers get a leg up on the ladder.

Unfortunately though, those days of government incentives are gone and prices have jumped in a lot of cities, (in Sydney alone, house price medians are up 47.1 per cent in just five years; 39.8 per cent for units).

Now, I have survivor’s guilt. I got in when others didn’t, or couldn’t.

People still ask me “But how did you do it?” while others actually ask “Why did you do it?”

And then there were the gems like “Oh, so you got a one-bedroom in the city, have you decided to stay single then, aren’t you going to have a family?”

I was even asked why I didn’t want to wait for a man to help pay for it.

But these days I mostly get the backhanded compliment. “Well it’s OK for you, you got in. You’re so lucky!”
Getting on to the ladder where others have failed can lead to resentment.

Getting on to the ladder where others have failed can lead to resentment.Source:News Corp Australia

But it wasn’t luck. I didn’t wake up one morning with a set of keys in one hand and a council rates notice in the other.

I had no a car or credit card and rode a bicycle everywhere (despite the shameless mocking of friends and colleagues). I coveted people’s Facebook posts of glamorous overseas holidays, and envied those buying new gadgets and designer shoes while I shared apartments with strangers I didn’t even like to save on rent — at times it was awful.

I never kept up with the Kardashians because I had no Foxtel and rarely went to the cinema. My pop culture conversation around the water cooler would have been lamentable.

During my first few years of a mortgage, 60 per cent of my income went straight to the bank while I ate two-minute noodles and drank cask wine — there’s nothing classy about the first few years of home ownership.

Then there was the reality of giving up on the dream of living in the neighbourhood I really wanted to call home. So I did something really drastic — I bought where I could afford, and what I could afford.

Today I still live in that shoebox and when I say it’s small, I mean I’ve had to become an Olympic champion of Tetris-inspired storage. But now it’s not just my tiny unit, it’s also home to my partner, an obese cat and, soon, a baby.

This is not a cry for sympathy, or a request for a collective pat on the back. I’m a real estate writer so I understand (maybe more than the next person) just how hard it is for first timers to buy property, especially in Sydney and Melbourne.
Becoming a homeowner takes far more than just luck.

Becoming a homeowner takes far more than just luck.Source:Supplied

Four decades ago, a typical home in a capital city was five times the average annual earnings — today it’s up to 10 times that. There’a a titbit for your grandparents when they try to tell you how hard it was in their day.

But don’t give up on the dream. Start saving, get financially savvy and find a way to make it work. Maybe you’ll have to be one of the growing number of Aussies who become a landlord before they buy their dream home. There’s no shame or financial disadvantage in renting if you’re parking your pennies in a growing asset like property.

But I’ll be honest — it’s not going to be fun and life is going to look pretty different.

Start by saving on the extras. According to a (particularly conservative, in my opinion) ASIC study of spending habits, young single Australians (under 35) spend an average of $1248 on alcohol alone each year while young couples are spending about $2132 on grog.

The same groups spent almost $2000 and $2700 respectively on clothing each year as well as $5500 and $9500 respectively on a mysterious category called “recreation” (double or quadruple those figures if you’re in a city — bespoke cocktails, pilates and stand up paddle boarding classes don’t come cheap).

That adds up to $8748 (singles) and $14,332 (couples) spent on things each year that a lot of us could probably do without.

OK, that kind of money might still be far from the huge deposits needed to get on the ladder in a place like Sydney, but after a couple of years you could have enough for a down payment on an investment property in a regional town where price growth looks promising.

According to property experts, they’re predicting only very modest price growth across most capital cities in the near future anyway, so why not park the cash where it will work for you?

Then in a few years (post the two-minute noodles phase) the dream of a forever home, or burgeoning property empire just might be a little closer.

quote:

OK, that kind of money might still be far from the huge deposits needed to get on the ladder in a place like Sydney, but after a couple of years you could have enough for a down payment on an investment property in a regional town where price growth looks promising.

freebooter posted:

You can smell the panic in the real estate market, I guess it must be terrifying when the generation you were counting on to prop up the ponzi scheme has second thoughts:

http://www.realestate.com.au/news/confessions-of-a-firsthome-owner/news-story/dca447f3bbdfd779b2e56b14aa219ad1