Whinge of the day thread...

Interesting seeing your comment about Geelong Maccka, my 36 yo son and his wife just came back from there last week and his comment was “when did Geelong become a drug ghetto” He’s a big bloke and he felt unsafe on the foreshore on Sunday evening.
Sadly the proliferation of ice addicts in many rural towns and cities is becoming more prevalent, it’s no longer a big city addiction.

Manpa said:

Interesting seeing your comment about Geelong Maccka, my 36 yo son and his wife just came back from there last week and his comment was “when did Geelong become a drug ghetto” He’s a big bloke and he felt unsafe on the foreshore on Sunday evening.
Sadly the proliferation of ice addicts in many rural towns and cities is becoming more prevalent, it’s no longer a big city addiction.

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yes Pa it is very sad. It's everywhere. My mate in Geelong and his neighbours have all had to install security cameras because so many cars were being stolen and house break and enters. Something has to be done and building what I call, "Ghetto" suburbs is only enhancing the problem. My opinion only and no I don't have an alternative answer on how to help the situation except that the courts and judges have to start listening to the people and if they are constrained by the Laws, then set about to change them. Whinge and rant over , For now.

Mackka said:

yes Pa it is very sad. It's everywhere. My mate in Geelong and his neighbours have all had to install security cameras because so many cars were being stolen and house break and enters. Something has to be done and building what I call, "Ghetto" suburbs is only enhancing the problem. My opinion only and no I don't have an alternative answer on how to help the situation except that the courts and judges have to start listening to the people and if they are constrained by the Laws, then set about to change them. Whinge and rant over , For now.

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They can afford Olympic Games/Com games etc but can't afford low cost housing for the needy.

Jaros said:

They can afford Olympic Games/Com games etc but can't afford low cost housing for the needy.

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Exactly Jack, not to mention our health system!

It's a game for the "Big Girls and Boys "-then retire on our contributions to their Superannuation. Look what Anna Bligh is doing as CEO of Australian Banking. Just nodding with words.

We live in Geelong and whilst we are lucky to live in a good part we are concerned about how things are going elsewhere. Local councillors are crying for people to start coming back into the CBD but how can we do that with druggies and homeless everywhere. I know I will get criticised for including homeless in that comment but I know that the main reason most (not all) of them live on the streets is access to drugs.
Some good friends of ours were rammed by a drugged crim out on bail. They both spent months in hospital and it eventually contributed to his death about two years later. The crim was caught as his (stolen) car careered into a nearby house as a result of the smash. He was again given bail by a magistrate and caught about three weeks later in another accident in another stolen car.
The gang problem is yet to fully hit here as most of the problems are drug related.
It amazes me how we let off users as being victims and seek to arrest and punish (sometimes) dealers. Users have chosen to go down their addiction path either by "experimenting" or allowing themselves to be influenced by peers eg at pop concert raves. Dealers do not go out grabbing people and forcing them to take drugs, they are generally just satisfying a market created by consumers. The absolutely inescapable law of supply and demand.
I would like to see more resources put into "reminding" our young that going down the path of a user has consequences. When they start their addiction they are not hopeless and desperate, that happens after.
The weekly promotions on TV about the latest "Big Drug Bust" are just propaganda by governments and authorities doing nothing to stop the problem ie users.
Sorry about the rant but this has also been close to home with our family. Drug addiction is a selfish activity as it also has consequences on the people who would feel some responsibility and love for the people involved.

do we have a health system mackka,
my GP has just left and the surgery said that it will be november at the earliest (spoiler alert i was told more like march next year) before they get a new one and the other 2 doctors are run off their feet ,no appointments available
back to the hospital intern writing out scrip repeats

Hopefully the next State Election will change things mate, so sorry for your community.

Manpa said:

Interesting seeing your comment about Geelong Maccka, my 36 yo son and his wife just came back from there last week and his comment was “when did Geelong become a drug ghetto” He’s a big bloke and he felt unsafe on the foreshore on Sunday evening.
Sadly the proliferation of ice addicts in many rural towns and cities is becoming more prevalent, it’s no longer a big city addiction.

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I think it is still largely big places - Geelong is the second largest city in Victoria (i.e. after Melbourne), followed by Ballarat and Bendigo (which also have problems). The problem does exist in smaller rural towns but its impact on the general population seems small. We have moved from 22 years in Ballarat (only once had a problem in that time although one was aware of the drug problem - but dealing extended to school campuses). I worked a lot of time around Bendigo without problem. We now live just outside Geelong (15-20 minutes) and have no problem in this small place - but Geelong does seem to have a major problem (I would not wander around there at night).

I think one has to be careful re turning users into criminals (i.e. prosecuting) - there is a significant probability that it is your kid! Young people do risky things occassionally but most don't become addicts, thieves or commit serious assault, and only 10% of those who have tried opioids go on to continue using and becoming addicts. The experience is actually unpleasant for some first users (e.g. with heroine). The figures for illegal drug use by youngsters if one includes one-time users are very high, but most of these are not related to long-term addiction or crime. Excluding cannabis (25%) and ecstasy (11% , 13% of males) not particularly related to crime and violence on their own, the figures are 19% for non-legal use of prescription drugs including opiates, 18% for "sniffers", 11% cocaine (13% for males), and 5% have used hallucinogens in the last year alone. From a serious crime point of view there is probably a case for legalizing or on-the-spot fines only for cannabis, in that it reduces load on police so they can focus on the real problems, and reduces kids contact with dealers.. Unfortunately from a health point of view there is plenty of evidence for a relation to psychosis in a small percentage of long-term users, and ecstacy falls in this group to some degree because of risks while using (although not the choice for thugs). One thing I have noticed is that regular cannabis users who I know well seem to become de-motivated - great plans, little action (might just be the people I know). I was not perfect as a youngster. I work in the bush a lot and simply wave at the cannabis-growers as I pass them and their product each day - I take GPS coords of large crops so my crew don't get shot wandering into one (and I don't report - if I can see them so can the police, although they would have a full time job on cannabis alone if they focussed on that, and reporting would be dangerous). And guess which areas get the first fire breaks when there are bushfires around.



I don't think that first time use is likely to be related directly to crime or violence, so prosecuting the crime or violence rather than possession or use seems the best way - with it not being an excuse (we don't excuse drunks who rob and assault). Some addicts become dealers but it also cannot be used as an excuse. Again based solely on personal observation, if we could reduce child abuse and reduce destroying the self-image of some women by better behaviour by men , there would be a lot less addicts.

happens mackka, welcome to rural qld

Just reading a few items on ABC News re: Foreign owned companies in Australia and results from the Australia Institute study that showed 7 out of 10 gas exporters in Australia are overseas owned and 20 ASX listing are on average 80% foreign owned.
Telstra 51% despite a 35% cap
Qantas 62% despite a 49%cap
BHP 94%
Com Bank 81%
Australian Mining Industry 81 %
No wonder we are stuffed,
Chevron during the past 7 years has earned $138 Billion in revenue and paid not one cent in Corporate Income Tax according to the Institute.
Beats Me but I am sure Goldierocks can help me out.

Diginit said:

Yeah it's gone way over the top and IMHO is creating more issues than it solves. Lets just call people people, as after all it's as simple as that.

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Good evening all,

Thought I might ad my 2 cents for perspective. While the media likes to take credit for being culturally sensitive, featuring culturally diverse people is more about $$$$. Cross culture mass appeal makes commercial sense, anything else is just convenient justification to say that they actually care. Personally ads are an intrusion and morally bankrupt. If I’ve exhausted Netflicks and Disney plus, im heading to a local park or field for a night prospect.

Mackka said:

Just reading a few items on ABC News re: Foreign owned companies in Australia and results from the Australia Institute study that showed 7 out of 10 gas exporters in Australia are overseas owned and 20 ASX listing are on average 80% foreign owned.
Telstra 51% despite a 35% cap
Qantas 62% despite a 49%cap
BHP 94%
Com Bank 81%
Australian Mining Industry 81 %
No wonder we are stuffed,
Chevron during the past 7 years has earned $138 Billion in revenue and paid not one cent in Corporate Income Tax according to the Institute.
Beats Me but I am sure Goldierocks can help me out.

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Absolutely correct Mackka. How can our wealth as a nation increase when we are devoid of enjoying the profits of our own industries.
Our taxation laws are far too weak in dealing with foreign ownerships and their ability to assign business costs they incur to their Australian operations and claim large tax advantages. As a PAYE taxpayer all my working life, it just sticks in my craw that international companies can get away with so much tax fraud.
We also have weak entrepreneurial nationalism (with some exceptions) with the likes of Packer and Lowey eager to sell out for personal wealth and prestige reasons.

Hawkear said:

Absolutely correct Mackka. How can our wealth as a nation increase when we are devoid of enjoying the profits of our own industries.
Our taxation laws are far too weak in dealing with foreign ownerships and their ability to assign business costs they incur to their Australian operations and claim large tax advantages. As a PAYE taxpayer all my working life, it just sticks in my craw that international companies can get away with so much tax fraud.
We also have weak entrepreneurial nationalism (with some exceptions) with the likes of Packer and Lowey eager to sell out for personal wealth and prestige reasons.

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I couldn’t agree more with you Geoff, no argument here mate. Things have to change and we, have to start doing what is right for Australians First and foremost.
Again i read, that Nigeria in the years 2001-2021 lost 1.2 Million Hectares of tree cover which was equal to 587 Million Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Emissions. Now the tree cutters are complaining that they do’t have enough trees to cut down, GF. Our emissions are negligible compared to other countries. Rant over. Cheers.

GeorgeB said:

Good evening all,

Thought I might ad my 2 cents for perspective. While the media likes to take credit for being culturally sensitive, featuring culturally diverse people is more about $$$$. Cross culture mass appeal makes commercial sense, anything else is just convenient justification to say that they actually care. Personally ads are an intrusion and morally bankrupt. If I’ve exhausted Netflicks and Disney plus, im heading to a local park or field for a night prospect.

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I was keeping out of it, but the topic related to ads and retailers see many groups as a neglected potential market. And an advert that annoys many sticks in people's minds anyway - so increases the market size. Personally it is ads that annoy me, not who is in them - people as such don't annoy me, and minority groups are still tens of percent of our population (so could be represented by tens of percent of ads without being misrepresented (but were not represented in the past). They probably are a bit more than that at present. But I happily watch actual programmes full of minority groups (eg Mystery road) - beats the old Yakka and Pelaco shirt ads - remember an aborigine in bare legs with a white shirt saying "Mine tinkit dey fit"?. Pretty creepie in retrospect.

Hawkear said:

Absolutely correct Mackka. How can our wealth as a nation increase when we are devoid of enjoying the profits of our own industries.
Our taxation laws are far too weak in dealing with foreign ownerships and their ability to assign business costs they incur to their Australian operations and claim large tax advantages. As a PAYE taxpayer all my working life, it just sticks in my craw that international companies can get away with so much tax fraud.
We also have weak entrepreneurial nationalism (with some exceptions) with the likes of Packer and Lowey eager to sell out for personal wealth and prestige reasons.

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I am obliged to make an explanation to my own comment about ”tax fraud”. For those that know me personally it is no secret that after my retirement from Telstra I took an 18 month temp job in the ATO.
My comment about tax fraud was not as a result of any knowledge I gained working for the tax office as my job was not related to corporate taxation.
My comment about such matters is purely my opinion based on what I perceive as a private citizen, still firmly held.
Pensioners are subject to “deeming“ provisions in regard to capital assets they may own, so why can’t a company like Chevron which would have massive capital assets yet appear to have paid no tax for seven years be at least “deemed” to have a tax liability. They would have been out of business if they hadn’t made a profit for such a long time.

"Chevron has long been accused of dodging tax in Australia, and lost a Federal Court case in 2017 against the Australian Taxation Office over the interest rate it charged on inter-company loans. Last year it paid $US654 million to the ATO under a partial settlement of the dispute". "The Chevron case should be seen in context as the first big dollar transfer pricing case taken by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to the Federal Court. It is also the first test of the retrospective Subdivision 815-A laws introduced by the Australian Government in 2012, explicitly on the request by the ATO to shore up Australia’s transfer pricing regime after the loss by the ATO in the SNF Australia case in the Full Federal Court (which was argued under the old Division 13 regime). It also should be seen as part of the ATO’s wider messaging that it is willing to take multinationals to Court on transfer pricing",

It is complex but I doubt that there is one simple solution. One problem is a company that makes a major loss that would normally be an allowed tax deduction under subsequent years (a different scenario). If it then uses that against any profit each year to get back on top, I am not clear why it should be assumed to be making a profit. Although, seven years.....

Certainly something needs to be done where international transfers to dodge tax are involved.

goldierocks said:

"Chevron has long been accused of dodging tax in Australia, and lost a Federal Court case in 2017 against the Australian Taxation Office over the interest rate it charged on inter-company loans. Last year it paid $US654 million to the ATO under a partial settlement of the dispute". "The Chevron case should be seen in context as the first big dollar transfer pricing case taken by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to the Federal Court. It is also the first test of the retrospective Subdivision 815-A laws introduced by the Australian Government in 2012, explicitly on the request by the ATO to shore up Australia’s transfer pricing regime after the loss by the ATO in the SNF Australia case in the Full Federal Court (which was argued under the old Division 13 regime). It also should be seen as part of the ATO’s wider messaging that it is willing to take multinationals to Court on transfer pricing",

It is complex but I doubt that there is one simple solution. One problem is a company that makes a major loss that would normally be an allowed tax deduction under subsequent years (a different scenario). If it then uses that against any profit each year to get back on top, I am not clear why it should be assumed to be making a profit. Although, seven years.....

Certainly something needs to be done where international transfers to dodge tax are involved.

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Thanks Goldierocks i knew you would have the answer.cheers Mackka

Smoky bandit said:

Hope you are correct.
Guess we will see by Xmas.

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Guess we will be lucky to last till Xmas.

When at rock bottom the only ways are out or up