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Opinion AUSTRALIAN Politics: Adelaide Board Discussion Part 6

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This is absolute bullshit and once again a disgraceful waste of taxpayers money by this imbecilic leftist Government.

This will further divide the country not unite it just like dullard Albanese's "The Voice".


University wins $1.5m in taxpayer funds to research ‘divisive’ Australia Day debate​

The Australian Research Council has approved almost $1.5m in taxpayer funds for academics to develop ‘education resources’ and policy recommendations on changing Australia Day’s date.
Taxpayers are forking out almost $1.5 million for a team of academics to conduct a four-year research project into changing the date of Australia Day and the failed Voice to Parliament, with the aim of “advancing reconciliation” and “promoting truth-telling”.
The Australian National University-led project – Change The Date? Australia Day, Reconciliation and the Politics of Division – was handed a $1.48m taxpayer-funded grant by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

The decision was published on the federal government’s Grant Connect website last week.

An outline of the project on the ARC’s website says it will produce “education resources for schools”, as well as “podcasts and policy recommendations”.

A Resolve Strategic poll published in January 2025 found just 24 per cent of voters supported changing the date of Australia Day, down from 39 per cent in January 2023.

Jonno Duniam, the Coalition’s acting education spokesman, said the ARC’s funding of the project was “a deeply political grant based on a highly contestable premise”.

“Why are we paying $1.5m in taxpayers’ money to develop the core components of the activist’s toolkit – podcasts, educational resources for classrooms, and policy recommendations?” Mr Duniam asked.

“Research funding is intended to advance our national research agenda, not develop partisan playbooks.

“Australians will make up their own minds as to whether this grant passes that test.”

In November 2023, Education Minister Jason Clare made changes to the ARC’s decision-making process, handing responsibility for the approval of most research grants to its board.

Last week, the ARC confirmed it had lifted a suspension on a $870,000 research grant awarded to controversial pro-Palestine academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, who called for the “end of Israel”.

Mr Clare was approached for comment.
 

Kylie Lang: Albo had the chance to claw back some respect but all we got instead were hollow words​

Anthony Albanese had an opportunity to claw back a shred of respect by announcing he was taking hatred seriously, but instead we got hollow words, writes Kylie Lang.

Wouldn’t it be grand to believe 2026 will be a brighter year for this nation of ours, without the need for rose coloured glasses?
But the reality is the people charged with running our country are motivated by protecting their hides.

Anthony Albanese had an opportunity this week to claw back a shred of respect by using his New Year’s address to announce he was taking hatred seriously.

He should have told us he would reverse his unpopular decision not to hold a Royal Commission into the December 14 terrorist attack on Bondi Beach.

Instead, we got hollow words.

“In 2026, we will write the next chapter,” he said.

How exactly? By trying to shield his government from due scrutiny and denying the Bondi victims – and indeed all of us – the findings of a federal Royal Commission?

Albanese also said: “Whether we’re here by birth or by choice, we are all proudly Australian, united by our generosity, our resilience and our abiding sense of fairness.”

“We take pride in the fact our country is enriched, both by the world’s oldest continuous culture and people of every background and tradition.”

Wake up and smell the rot, Albo.
Albanese seems to think his independent review, headed by former Defence Department secretary Dennis Richardson, will suffice but its scope is unacceptably narrow.

And it should not be at the expense of a wider-reaching Royal Commission. We can, and should, have both.

Under its terms of reference, the Richardson Review, due to be tabled in April, will probe federal agencies such as ASIO and the AFP.

But there is no mention of the role of the federal government – to whom these agencies report and are dependent on for funding.

The word anti-Semitism is also absent – an omission that is a slap in the face to Australia’s Jewish community and shows up this government’s apathy and questionable allegiances. The word anti-Semitism is also absent – an omission that is a slap in the face to Australia’s Jewish community and shows up this government’s apathy and questionable allegiances.
Albanese wants us to trust him that 2026 will be better because he says so and we’re “united” – but trust is earned through transparency and accountability.

And on these two markers alone, he and his lot score an F.

Anti-Semitism didn’t creep on them – its ugly head reared after the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, with Australian-Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses and homes routinely targeted.
 
kirky said:
Now something the governments should contemplate is all homeowners pay a land tax on any residential dwelling/vacant land yearly and remove stamp duty. You could work out how much stamp duty they get each year and then work out what the average rate would be per dwelling.

Its just an idea - after all, I’ve been a homeowner for the past 35 years, never moved house and the stamp duty I paid at the time was not significant.
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My son and I have this debate quite often. It’s all in the details though, would the Dr in Burnside pay the same land tax as the struggling family in Hackham is one of my questions to him. (Just one of my many questions)
My lovely and I are getting close to that empty nester stage of life.
I would be more than happy to downsize and release my current house for a family but we get fisted with stamp duty on the way through which means I end up losing money/equity in the process.

I know many “older” couples in a similar situation that don’t want to go backwards in the process.

And yep, I want to keep my money/equity in place to cover me/us if we lose our marbles, don’t want the kids to have to deal with it (money wise)
 

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WaynesWorld19 said:
Can't a sensible person, with a bit of research, see the same outcome requirements a Royal Commission determines

Have we ever been shocked by a Royal Commission outcome ....or have the findings generally been what we expected
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The Royal Commission into institutional child abuse was shocking & needed to be made public.

Royal Commissions are needed when the public deserve transparency on major issues so we can determine how to best deal with them.

Not surprising that both ASIO & AFP are against a RC, given they appear to have failed in their duties...
 
kirky said:
Now something the governments should contemplate is all homeowners pay a land tax on any residential dwelling/vacant land yearly and remove stamp duty. You could work out how much stamp duty they get each year and then work out what the average rate would be per dwelling.

Its just an idea - after all, I’ve been a homeowner for the past 35 years, never moved house and the stamp duty I paid at the time was not significant.
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Or how about we properly reform the tax system, rather than playing with bits of it.

Most big corporations pay no or little tax!
 
cm_perfect said:
My son and I have this debate quite often. It’s all in the details though, would the Dr in Burnside pay the same land tax as the struggling family in Hackham is one of my questions to him. (Just one of my many questions)
My lovely and I are getting close to that empty nester stage of life.
I would be more than happy to downsize and release my current house for a family but we get fisted with stamp duty on the way through which means I end up losing money/equity in the process.

I know many “older” couples in a similar situation that don’t want to go backwards in the process.

And yep, I want to keep my money/equity in place to cover me/us if we lose our marbles, don’t want the kids to have to deal with it (money wise)
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Well first off I probably say if you bought a house in the last 5 years, you don’t pay the land tax until the 5th year since original settlement date ie if you purchased 4 years ago, you only get exemption for one year, if you bought in last year, then 4 years of exemption.

Yes, I’ve chosen an arbitrary 5 years but you have to draw a line somewhere and 5 years means you probably are in front with house price increasing even allowing for stamp duty.

I would make it a % of the value of the house so the more the house is worth the more you pay.

Let me just say, no system has its flaws and whilst we are at it -

1) make the GST 15% and eliminate any exemptions - it applies to everything and you can subsidise those on welfare with inc cost of the essentials.
2) eliminate the 50% discount on CGT - it is one of the reasons the housing markets have spiked in the last 25 years. Investment housing became an asset class with discount CGT and negative gearing. If you own more than two investment properties (either in your name, your spouse or your family trust) you don’t get to offset its costs
3) tax AirBNB as a commercial enterprise
4) eliminate the tax treatment on family trusts - tax them like a company

Any rate, could go about franking credits as well.

I’ve seen the rorting people have used when reviewing the financial statements of individuals, trust, commercial enterprises. All within the current laws but I didn’t agree with.
 
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George CantStandYa said:
4 Teal Independents calling for a Royal Commission.

Greens silent.
Labor No.

Yep, which side is playing politics?
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Bicks is going to be terribly conflicted.

How long is Albanese going to dig a bigger a hole...
 

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I wonder if those people calling for a royal commission are willing to increase their taxes to cover the $600 million dollar cost for a RC?

$600 million is a fair amount of money.

BTW…I’m not for or against one, but they do cost a lot of money.
 
Peter Doherty said:
Isis? Global caliphate/fufill prophecy.
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Why do you think these 2 awful human beings targeted Jews?

What is going on in this world that would motivate such a horrible attack on innocent Australian Jews?
 
Kane McGoodwin said:
Why do you think these 2 awful human beings targeted Jews?

What is going on in this world that would motivate such a horrible attack on innocent Australian Jews?
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Why target Jews? It's in prophecy

They haven't released the details of the video they filmed prior to the attack, so we can't say for sure.

Generally speaking Isis are motivated by bringing about the end of the world.
 
Peter Doherty said:
Why target Jews? It's in prophecy

They haven't released the details of the video they filmed prior to the attack, so we can't say for sure.

Generally speaking Isis are motivated by bringing about the end of the world.
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Ok, you prefer to completely ignore the likely motivation then.

Good for you.

Hate breeds hate!
 

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Peter Doherty said:
Read up on Isis.
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I already know enough.

I also read up on lots of crime, including what motivates people to commit crimes.

It's pretty obvious what the likely motivation was in this instance.... Benji obliterating Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks has increased anti-Semitism across the world.

Hate breeds hate.
 
Kane McGoodwin said:
I already know enough.

I also read up on lots of crime, including what motivates people to commit crimes.

It's pretty obvious what the likely motivation was in this instance.... Benji obliterating Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks has increased anti-Semitism across the world.

Hate breeds hate.
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No doubt Isis have used the Israel war for recruiting, I'm not sure they really care what is going on there though.

They have their own motivations.
 
MrKK said:
We received NDIS funding when our son had some speech development issues and frankly we didn't need it. It wasn't remotely close to what I would consider a disability and we could afford private speech therapy if we wanted to.

At the time I thought that if NDIS funding is used for our situation then no wonder the spending is out of control.
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Yeah speech path got rorted
 
Peter Doherty said:
No doubt Isis have used the Israel war for recruiting, I'm not sure they really care what is going on there though.

They have their own motivations.
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History tells you they most likely do. The fact is Israel is a UN made country to house displaced Jews after the war. They stole land of Palestine by manipulating other middle eastern countries to support the move. I cant imagine its overly fair to expect other middle eastern countries just to be happy about it.
 
Daniel6 said:
I wonder if those people calling for a royal commission are willing to increase their taxes to cover the $600 million dollar cost for a RC?

$600 million is a fair amount of money.

BTW…I’m not for or against one, but they do cost a lot of money.
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They cost a lot money and almost always lead to nothing. They're a bit of a joke.

I have no problem with them not conducting one, so long as they also stop with other useless ones. I reckon he'll end up bowing to pressure. Israel has a lot of influence.
 

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Opinion AUSTRALIAN Politics: Adelaide Board Discussion Part 6

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