The Serious News Thread

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B&GBlood

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I did say the two states may take more but others have also taken on incoming flights without the breakdown in protocols - although we did have one gentlemen “sneaking” out to visit his girlfriend - he ended up in jail
And luckily he was not infected with covid19, if he had been things would probably have been different. He was also out and about when most people were taking every warning seriously, so if he had infected the girlfriend she might have been responsible enough to isolate.

As soon as restriction were eased too many people were lax with social distancing and hygiene.
From all accounts much of this breakdown has stemmed from a shared cigarette lighter. A lax protical here, a lax protical there and off it runs.
There is an element of luck involved with all this, people are flawed and if they don't do the right thing there is nothing the government can do; save lock eveyone up. If enough people do the wrong thing there are just more chances to be unlucky.

There are many mounting their high horses right now in criticsm of Victoria (not necessarily you Couchy). I hope it doesn't happen but there is every likelihood that there will be other outbreaks in other states. All it take is arrogant and or stupid people. I have given account of people completely ignoring social distancing all over the shop in other posts.

I am just as guilty, I hugged a friend who had recently escaped death, smiling and touching elbows just did not seem enough to convey my love and relief that she was going to be ok.
 

B&GBlood

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If you ignore everything contrary to your opinion, it is easy to make any claim. You claim the differences are due to competence but actually you ignore the causal chain of events that led to the current volume. If a person who has been instructed to isolate then goes and attends a family event with over 30 people, in what way is this caused be the handling of the government?
Briss remember Tige is a religious man. He does not need facts to believe anything he wants to believe. Don’t waste your time. I am surprised he isn’t a flat earther tbh
 
When was the last time the federal gov won a seat from another party in a by-election?

ALP slightly ahead on counting at the moment

Libs now in front with the bookies...

 

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Hawk Dork

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Who says they have handled anything better?

a ******* from Victoria who came to Queensland already infected came I to close contact with over 250 people before getting tested. By some sort of miracle no one got infected. That was just luck. Had he infected a couple of people along the way we could have a much different situation and Queensland could look like Victoria now.

if you go through the Victorian cases one by one, mostly it was one person breaking a protocol and ignoring advice to isolate and then going on to infect others. Several instances of people turning up to work sick and then passing it on to others. We are talking about about ten people triggering as many hotspots and it going from there. Slight shift in the probability of the first person in each hot spot giving it to others and Victoria looks like everywhere else. Your broad statements don’t really match the details of each case.
It was amazing the guy got on a plane and crossed into a closed border of Qld saying he was going to pick fruit which was the "secret password".
He then hangs out with family and friends in Brizzy and picks strawberries in Bundy and no one got it off him.
From memory 50 got tested in Bundy
Imagine the connections and potentials for cross contamination. planes, buses, shops, dorm rooms, etc.

Pure luck
 
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When was the last time the federal gov won a seat from another party in a by-election?

ALP slightly ahead on counting at the moment

Libs now in front with the bookies...

A national/global crisis usually favours the government in polling and elections. 9/11 gave Howard a big boost from memory.
 
A national/global crisis usually favours the government in polling and elections. 9/11 gave Howard a big boost from memory.
Looks like the ALP are going to hold onto it now but it's very close

Still think any government that is seen to handle the Virus well will get re elected
 

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Looks like the ALP are going to hold onto it now but it's very close

Still think any government that is seen to handle the Virus well will get re elected
Who handles the rebuild well will be re elected
Its easy handing out free money while the population has a staycation,its when the dust settles when the hard bits have to be done
 
Who handles the rebuild well will be re elected
Its easy handing out free money while the population has a staycation,its when the dust settles when the hard bits have to be done
The whole thing is hard

NZ are ridiculously lucky - their optional stay hotel quarantine policy was worse than ours

However Ardern has no fallout from it because no outbreak occurred

Dan does get fallout because of the outbreak - whether or not it's his fault doesn't matter - there'll be a swing against him if they don't get on top of the outbreak quickly
 
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Looks like the ALP are going to hold onto it now but it's very close

Still think any government that is seen to handle the Virus well will get re elected
It would certainly give them an advantage but I don’t think it is insurmountable. There will be a lot of economic pain out there and it will be up to the governments sell a message of hope against the current crisis.
 

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CliffMcTainshaw

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It would certainly give them an advantage but I don’t think it is insurmountable. There will be a lot of economic pain out there and it will be up to the governments sell a message of hope against the current crisis.
While on his morning walk, Prime Minister ScoMo falls over, has a heart attack and dies because of the
accident and the emergency ward at his nearest hospital is too understaffed to treat him in time.
So his soul arrives in Heaven and he is met by Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.
"Welcome to Heaven," says Saint Peter, "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a Liberal around these parts, so we're not sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in; I'm a good Christian; I'm a believer," says the PM.
"I'd like to just let you in, but I have orders from God Himself.
He says that since the implementation of his new HEAVENCHOICES policy, you have to spend one day in Hell and one day in Heaven.
Then you must choose where you'll live for eternity."
"But I've already made up my mind. I want to be in Heaven," replies ScoMo.
"I'm sorry ... but we have our rules," St Peter interjects.
And, with that, St. Peter escorts him to an elevator and he goes down, down, down ... all the way to Hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a lush golf course.
The sun is shining in a cloudless sky. The temperature is a perfect 22C degrees. In the distance is a beautiful
club-house.
Standing in front of it is Bob Menzies and thousands of other Liberal luminaries and Party icons who had helped him out over the years or been a influence on his political career ---Harold Holt, John Gorton, Billy McMahon, Malcolm Fraser, etc. The whole of the Liberal Party leaders were there ... everyone laughing, happy, and casually but expensively dressed.
They run to greet him, to hug him and to reminisce about the good times they had getting rich at the expense of 'suckers and peasants.'
They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar.
The Devil himself comes up to ScoMo with a frosty drink, "Have a tequila and relax, Scott!"
"Uh, I can't drink anymore, I took a pledge," says ScoMo, dejectedly.
"This is Hell, son. You can drink and eat all you want and not worry and it just gets better from there!"
ScoMo takes the drink and finds himself liking the Devil, who he thinks is a really very friendly bloke who
tells funny jokes like himself and pulls hilarious nasty pranks, kind of like the ones the Liberals pulled with the GST, the Free Trade Agreement, Children Overboard, the Grant Affair and Malcolm Fraser and his pickled onions.
They are having such a great time that, before he realises it, it's time to go.
Everyone gives him a big hug and waves as ScoMo steps on the elevator and heads upward.
When the elevator door reopens, he is in Heaven again and Saint Peter is waiting for him. "Now it's time to
visit Heaven," the old man says, opening the gate.
So for 24 hours ScoMo is made to hang out with a bunch of honest, good-natured people who enjoy each other's company, talk about things other than money and treat each other decently. Not a nasty prank , marketing joke or religious joke among them.
No fancy country clubs here and, while the food tastes great, it's not caviar or lobster. And these people are
all poor. He doesn't see anybody he knows and he isn't even treated like someone special!
"Whoa," he says uncomfortably to himself. "John Howard and Tony Abbott never prepared me for this!"
The day done, Saint Peter returns and says, "Well, you've spent a day in Hell and a day in Heaven. Now choose
where you want to live for eternity."
With the 'Deal or No Deal' theme playing softly in the background, ScoMo reflects for a minute ... then answers:
"Well, I would never have thought I'd say this -- I mean, Heaven has been delightful and all -- but I really think I belong in Hell with my friends."
So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down, all the way to Hell.
The doors of the elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren scorched earth covered with garbage and toxic industrial wasteland, kind of like the eroded, rabbit and fox affected Australian outback.
He is horrified to see all of his friends, dressed in rags and chained together, picking up the roadside rubbish and putting it into black plastic bags. They are groaning and moaning in pain, faces and hands black with grime.
The Devil comes over to ScoMo and puts an arm around his shoulder.
"I don't understand," stammers a shocked ScoMo, "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a club-house and we ate lobster and caviar and drank tequila. We lazed around and had a great time.
Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and everybody looks miserable!"
The Devil looks at him, smiles slyly and purrs, "Scott, yesterday we were campaigning; today you voted for us!"
 
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Bruno Oresar

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How do you permanently disfigure someone to the point they lose a finger and only get six months?
Outrageously lenient sentence. Imagine the outrage if the victim was an indigenous woman and the perpetrator a non indigenous ex AFL player. Maybe race shouldn’t come into it all but then again black lives matter. Should we only see race when indigenous people are victims? Or when they are perpetrators as well?
 
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Outrageously lenient sentence. Imagine the outrage if the victim was an indigenous woman and the perpetrator a non indigenous ex AFL player. Maybe race shouldn’t come into it all but then again black lives matter. Should we only see race when indigenous people are victims? Or when they are perpetrators as well?
I don’t think it is racial. Indigenous people get longer sentences on average. I’d suggest it is another example of the legal system not protecting women from domestic violence from an intimate partner.
 
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Outrageously lenient sentence. Imagine the outrage if the victim was an indigenous woman and the perpetrator a non indigenous ex AFL player. Maybe race shouldn’t come into it all but then again black lives matter. Should we only see race when indigenous people are victims? Or when they are perpetrators as well?
I can’t see the point of having the comment about race here.
 

Hawk Dork

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So getting rid of the mining tax wasnt a bright idea ???

Former federal Treasury boss and bank chairman Ken Henry says Australia's "stupidity" and economically "illiterate" failure to tax the mining boom properly has cost the country dearly and prevented a badly needed cut to the 30 per cent company rate to boost investment and worker wages.

Reviving the mining tax debate a decade after Labor's Kevin Rudd lost the prime ministership, in part over the hotly disputed 40 per cent resource super profits tax (RSPT) Dr Henry recommended, he said Australia was missing out on attracting foreign equity capital in other industries because of its uncompetitive corporate tax system.


 
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So getting rid of the mining tax wasnt a bright idea ???

Former federal Treasury boss and bank chairman Ken Henry says Australia's "stupidity" and economically "illiterate" failure to tax the mining boom properly has cost the country dearly and prevented a badly needed cut to the 30 per cent company rate to boost investment and worker wages.

Reviving the mining tax debate a decade after Labor's Kevin Rudd lost the prime ministership, in part over the hotly disputed 40 per cent resource super profits tax (RSPT) Dr Henry recommended, he said Australia was missing out on attracting foreign equity capital in other industries because of its uncompetitive corporate tax system.


Economists: 'You deed to tax pro-cyclical and spend counter-cyclical.This will help manage the budget and encourage investment and wage growth.'

Libs: 'Tax! Spend! Deficit! BOOOOOOOO!!'

COVID: 'Ahem...'

Libs:'...ok I see the problem...lets subsidise non-viable gas projects and attack worker wages and conditions. Yep, that will do it.'

Economists: 'You really have to spend some money here. It is the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression.'

Libs:
 
Economists: 'You deed to tax pro-cyclical and spend counter-cyclical.This will help manage the budget and encourage investment and wage growth.'

Libs: 'Tax! Spend! Deficit! BOOOOOOOO!!'

COVID: 'Ahem...'

Libs:'...ok I see the problem...lets subsidise non-viable gas projects and attack worker wages and conditions. Yep, that will do it.'

Economists: 'You really have to spend some money here. It is the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression.'

Libs:

Economics as religion.

They've spent so long an that ideological hill that they can't walk down off it when they need to.

I'm surprised we got as much off them as we did in March. I'm glad we did get it, btw, very glad. If someone like Dutton had been PM I don't think we would and we'd be in a much worse state now so I have to give Morrison credit for doing that, but party room ideologies are not how we get the country out of this current mess
 
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Economics as religion.

They've spent so long an that ideological hill that they can't walk down off it when they need to.

I'm surprised we got as much off them as we did in March. I'm glad we did get it, btw, very glad. If someone like Dutton had been PM I don't think we would and we'd be in a much worse state now so I have to give Morrison credit for doing that, but party room ideologies are not how we get the country out of this current mess
They don't teach their brand of 'economics' at university. I can promise you that much.
 
They don't teach their brand of 'economics' at university. I can promise you that much.
I've seen one or two economists on the Conversation articles when they ask 20 about the road to recovery etc that seem to be reading straight out of that playbook, but they are in the minority it seems.

Amazing how our policy decisions don't mirror what the majority of economists say would be the way to go
 

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