Birdstrike posted:

Counterpoint: councils routinely fail to extract a proper return for the community (in the form of infrastructure or otherwise) from developers because they don't have the scale/resources to negotiate commercial terms.
You can count on one hand the councils that have these resources. Larger councils somewhat addresses this.

quote:

Abbott claim No 1
In the campaign launch Abbott said: “We’ll build a stronger economy so everyone can get ahead.” He added: “I want to lift everyone’s standard of living.”

The economy has continued to grow, but the average annual growth in GDP under the Coalition has been just 2.5%, which coincidentally is the same as under the previous Labor government which Abbott described as the “worst in Australia’s history”. Doing no better than the worst government ever is not a great start. The Reserve Bank has described the current rate of economic growth as “moderate” which prompted it to cut interest rates to a record low 1.75%.

The RBA also noted that net national disposable income per capita, which it refers to as a “broader indicator of living standards”, has declined in recent years. Indeed, the fall in net national disposable income has not only wiped out all the gains made under the previous Labor government, it has fallen back to 2007 levels. Since the 2013 election, net national disposable income has fallen 5% with no signs of bottoming out.

Abbott claim No 2
“We’ll get the budget back under control by ending Labor’s waste”. He added, “By the end of a Coalition government’s first term, the budget will be on-track to a believable surplus”.

Unfortunately for the Liberals, its third budget confirmed a three-fold increase in the budget deficit, a blowout in net government debt to the highest level in 60 years and government spending as a share of GDP above 25.2% in every year, to outpace the level of spending of just 24.1% in the last full year of the Labor government in 2012-13. In terms of the “believable surplus”, the forward estimates show budget deficits in every year and even these deficits rely on what look to be very optimistic forecasts for the iron ore price and wages growth. So much for a believable surplus.

Abbott claim No 3
“I want our workers to be the best paid in the world and for that to happen, we have to be amongst the most productive in the world”. He added, “I want to see wages and benefits rise in line with a growing economy.”

The bad news for the Coalition and the electorate is that annual wages growth has weakened to 2.2%, the lowest for 50 years. At the same time, overall productivity measured as real GDP per hour worked has fallen in the past year. Low wages growth and faltering productivity are among the most serious shortcomings of the last three years of Coalition economic management.

This none-to-impressive track record begs the question why the electorate considers the Liberal party a better manager of the economy than Labor. Against its own modest promises at the 2013 election it has failed and as I showed in a previous Guardian column, Coalition governments fall short of Labor on the key economic issues of GDP and employment growth.

Perceptions count and facts are not so important, or so it seems.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

ewe2 posted:

As much as I enjoy the idiocy of the Hun's Stop The Duncans campaign (immigration control for the poor), I must remember they're running interference for the government who doesn't want to be asked any difficult questions over the election they wanted to have.

The Kouk details the problem:

Cartoon posted:

if there are problems with government of any kind it should be abolished.

Cartoon posted:

Haven't seen one of these linked in an age:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-12/clarke-and-dawe:-secondary-issues-facing-australia/7408718

Jobs and Growth!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-12/headspace-funding-cut-to-impact-psychosis-care/7408476


"It's all in their head" - Sussan Ley.

Ler posted:

This loving country.
https://twitter.com/damonheraldsun/status/730717838634180608

Snod. posted:

1 week in and the bottom of the barrel has appeared

Halo14 posted:

bambus posted:

Humans of Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Mosman

https://www.facebook.com/michaelravamcgrath/photos/a.1676082165945399.1073741828.1676014565952159/1742975675922714/?type=3&theater

Cartoon posted:

OK can the people who are for nuclear able to tell me why these people haven't already been nuked?

quote:

http://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/stayingsafe/vehiclesafety/seatbeltsrestraints/
The safest place for the unborn child is in the firmly restrained pouch of the womb.

Zenithe posted:

Oh adorable, you think this is as bad as it will get.

Halo14 posted:

MysticalMachineGun posted:

Man, Pyne's seat must really be in trouble

Recoome posted:

https://www.facebook.com/1148554768497283/videos/1187627331256693/

quote:

"People are angry." Uber driver Dan Manchester set up the Ride Share Drivers' Association of Australia to push for better working conditions in the 'gig' economy.

Uber drivers are banding together to fight for what they believe are fair working conditions from the company that has become the symbol of the 'gig' economy.

In just over a month, the Ride Share Drivers' Association of Australia has signed up 60 paid members across the country and its organisers say they are adding more by the day.

It's a tactic that workers have used for centuries, and now it's heralding a big shake-up of the sharing economy.

"People have started to see what's really happening and they're not happy about it," Dan Manchester, the organisation's founder says.

"There are a lot of people saying to us we need to have a strike, we need to have industrial action. People are angry."

Despite being considered a 'marketplace' for people to sell their 'digital labour', Uber is facing a backlash over what drivers say is a business model that can be controlling and deliberately exploitative of their status as contractors.

Under fare changes introduced by Uber in recent months, Mr Manchester says many drivers are now struggling to earn a minimum wage, and have become frustrated over what it says is a regulatory 'black hole' governing Uber.

"Uber are completely circumventing the rules and regulations and the morals that we hold dear in Australia," he says.

"We want to force the company to bring their policies into line with what is considered fair work practices here."

Uber, the Silicon Valley giant now worth around $80 billion, classifies its drivers as 'driver partners' and considers them contractors under employment law.

But the company is facing challenges to that model, with a $130 million class action settlement in the United States last month quashing moves by drivers to be classified as employees.

Legal experts in Australia say drivers could mount a similar argument here based on Australian workplace laws that use multi-factor tests to determine the real nature of an employment arrangement.

Mr Manchester says the organisation's aim is to engage with the legislative process and push for regulation that favours drivers over Uber. While he says the group is seeking to represent and unite drivers, it is not aligning itself with any union.

"We are part-union, part-small business peak body," he says.

Sarah Kaine, associate professor in industrial relations at the University of Technology Sydney, says the coming together of drivers was a significant moment for the 'gig' economy.

"The reality is, people need to work for a decent amount of money to have a decent life," she says.

"It was a progression that was always going to happen, particularly as companies like Uber began pursuing very traditional business models."

She says the newly incorporated group, although not technically a union, could be considered part of a new grass-roots movement.

"It doesn't take groups of workers long to figure out where their power lies."

Labor has committed to addressing workplace conditions in the share economy with a set of principles it plans to roll out if it wins the election. Workplace spokesman Andrew Leigh said he was keen to engage with the issues raised by the new association.

"There's no reason workers in the sharing economy shouldn't be able to aspire to same thing as workers in mainstream," he says.

"Any government that is serious about innovation should engage to make sure the rules are right."

The Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash declined to comment on whether sharing economy services such as Uber needed better worker protections.

Thai Nguyen, an Uber driver in Melbourne, says he welcomes the chance to belong to an organisation standing up for drivers.

He says drivers feel vulnerable because they have no control over how much they charge passengers and can be kicked off the platform without any notice.

"We have zero voice at the moment," he says.

An Uber spokesperson said the company was unavailable for comment.

boom boom boom posted:

I just learned from the Naur thread that you guys are apparently running a literal concentration camp? Like right now, Australia is shipping people off to a hell island prison to die?

boom boom boom posted:

I just learned from the Naur thread that you guys are apparently running a literal concentration camp? Like right now, Australia is shipping people off to a hell island prison to die?

boom boom boom posted:

I just learned from the Naur thread that you guys are apparently running a literal concentration camp? Like right now, Australia is shipping people off to a hell island prison to die?

Mithranderp posted:

Somewhat, but it can also mean that larger councils get the 'I can do whatever the gently caress I want' attitude like BCC did, and run roughshod over smaller businesses. Not to mention that, for example, BCC seems rife with opportunistic corruption, so they don't tend to stand up to big developers as much as you might expect.

boom boom boom posted:

I just learned from the Naur thread that you guys are apparently running a literal concentration camp? Like right now, Australia is shipping people off to a hell island prison to die?

boom boom boom posted:

I just learned from the Naur thread that you guys are apparently running a literal concentration camp? Like right now, Australia is shipping people off to a hell island prison to die?

Snod. posted:

1 week in and the bottom of the barrel has appeared

asio posted:

We're disrupting the people smugglers model

quote:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-13/mandatory-interlock-laws-introduced-in-victoria/7412020
All Victorian drink-drivers caught over the legal limit will be forced to install alcohol interlocks to their cars for at least six months, under tough new laws designed to drive down the road toll.

The Andrews Government will also consider lowering the legal blood-alcohol limit from .05 to .02 if evidence shows it will reduce the number of people killed on the state's roads.

Under the current system, most people caught with a blood-alcohol reading between .05 and .07 are fined and lose 10 demerit points.

But the legislation will mean anyone who is over the limit will also have to install an interlock for six months or more.

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the device would serve as a daily reminder to drink-drivers of their bad behaviour.

"Too many drivers pay the fine and forget about the potential consequences of drink-driving," he said.

"Fines and demerit points alone aren't working, more is needed to help reduce the number of Victorians who lose their lives or are seriously injured on our roads every year because of drink-driving."

Mr Donnellan said the Government would examine the evidence for reducing the drink-driving threshold.

"If the figures indicate that would improve behaviour we'd look at it, absolutely," he said.

"I'm sure some would think it's appropriate and some wouldn't think it's appropriate. We make no apologies for wanting to drive the death toll down."

Mr Donnellan said people caught between .05 and .07 would not automatically lose their licence at this stage, but a magistrate could still strip them of their licence in court.

Interlocks are installed at the drivers' expense and stop them starting the car without passing a breath test.

Drivers will be charged $170 to have the device installed, $150 per month to use them, and $100 to have them removed.

Assistant Police Commissioner Doug Fryer said the change would make Victoria's roads safer.

"If you have more than .05 in your system you double the chance of crashing on the road, at .07 it's four times, it just goes up and up," he said.

Mr Fryer said the blood-alcohol limit might need to be lowered for people aged between 21 and 25, because they were over-represented in drink-driving statistics.

Police statistics show about 13,000 drink-drivers are caught in roadside testing every year, with 2,500 in the .05 to .07 range.

About 20 per cent of drink-drivers are repeat offenders.

Mr Donnellan said the Government would introduce the legislation to Parliament soon.