It's not funny, and I'm not drunk.

Those nappies don't look like they will hold to many ball bearings........

 

the "quality" of people that the Labor party serves up as state ministers never ceases to amaze me. These are people you wouldn't hire for any position of commercial responsibility, yet they control budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money. Australia is wildly over-governed and the talent pool for ministers is very shallow indeed - then we wonder at the dysfunction and incompetence that follows.

Lisa Neville, VIC police minister and previously "Manager of the SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre"

Mark Bailey, QLD Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports and Minister for Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply and previously a "high school teacher in history and drama".
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I watch in amazement on election nights when the political commentators describe the backgrounds of the candidates - union officials, teachers, councillors are plentiful.
The one that I remember being most surprised (and disappointed) by was a labour candidate whose profession was described as a shearer.
I have no doubt that he could have been a hard worker but what qualities would that job give him that make him a suitable politician ?


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Dunno but our bloke Shane,who's been elected/re-elelected 4 times since 2004,was a railway worker and is so in tune with his electorate that he appears to have become a shoe in.

The only form of platform the idiot LNP candiate had was to pile guano on the FEDERAL KAP leader,that's one way to win a state election.....not!
Labor has no chance here.

Shane's a great bloke who will have a chat/coffee any time of day,his office is always open for consultation.

 

Actually I think the last state election was very encouraging in that it seemed to me a lot more members were elected on the basis of their community engagement than what party they belonged to; and that trend has always been stronger in country areas. I think people are starting to wake up to the 'professional' politicians and look for people who are actually more engaged. unfortunately how many of them resist getting drawn into the trough is another thing...

Until the recent boundary changes, my local member was someone who inherited her seat from her National Party father... it didn't bode well, but she turned out to be a very hardworking member who has earned the respect of her constituents, whatever their party preferences.

 

Tip for the day:

When your Mercedes breaks down, don’t park it on top of dry grass...

This afternoon not far from my brother’s place.
More than 300ha burnt so far.


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Must have been the cats.......We had an accident on the property a couple of years back and where the highway patrol cars parked on our lawn they left massive scorch marks on the grass from their hot CATS.......

 

Almost certainly the case.

Of course, if it was a 458....

 

VK commodore HWP cars parked on grass median strips at prangs used to scorch the grass too. We were always waiting for 1 to fry but alas no luck.

 

If you ever see this happen Kenny, take a pic, I need an enjoyable screensaver

 

I don't drive Tow Trucks anymore John,so I'd probably get told to F off.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/ron-tandberg-dies-a-legend-has-drawn-his-last-cartoon-20180108-h0f6kd.html


Poor bugger, would not have been an “easy” death. Enjoyed his cartoons over the years.


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https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/jeremy-sammut-migrants-must-integrate-thats-a-fact/news-story/c63539b63ddcb5a020e188e6b0576371

MELBOURNE is seemingly only now finding out what Sydney has long known: politically correct multiculturalism hinders integration and leads to social problems.

Melbourne’s African gang crisis shows how lucky we are that Australia has never practised the kind of mushy-headed multiculturalism long preached by many inner-city elites. The politically correct argument is that newcomers should retain and practice the customs and habits of their homeland, and Australian society should adapt to accommodate this in the name of tolerance.

But when forced to confront real cultural “diversity” — marauding gangs of Sudanese youths whose behaviour suggests warring tribesmen in violent clan struggles — proponents of multiculturalism have engaged in mass denial.
This has been exemplified by tweets from an ABC journalist and a prominent left-wing judge, downplaying the crisis and claiming that no one they know or who lives in their suburbs is fearful of gangs.

This might actually be true: high property prices in well-off locations allow many elites to buy their way out of direct exposure to the problem. The irony is that many of the same people, so complacent about gang violence, took to the streets in protest when journalist Jill Meagher was raped and murdered in the fashionable suburb of Brunswick by serial offender Adrian Bayley.

But when the citizens of outer-metropolitan areas complain regarding gang violence and about essentially the same problem — lax administration of law and order — they are condemned as racist “deplorables”. The reality of immigration is that culture matters and will determine how easily (or otherwise) migrant and refugees can fit in.

Fortunately, our immigration policies have been based on the common- sense principle that newcomers should be expected to adapt to Australian culture — not the other way around. Due to factors such as the skills-based nature of the immigration program, most migrants have easily conformed to core Australian values such as the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, and the “fair go” for all.

The successful integration of migrants from around the world has made Australia perhaps the most harmonious multiracial nation in the world. This has been aided by migrants being self-selecting.

Those who choose to start a new life are generally likely to have the will and ability to fit in and make a go of the opportunities afforded by their new homeland. Refugees, however, are a special case. They have not come by choice, but have been forced to leave their countries because of war or political turmoil, and may therefore lack the skills and knowledge needed to cope with life in a very different society.

This is borne out by the unemployment statistics recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. One in three recent immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, who are mainly refugees, are unemployed. The unemployment rate for this group is six times higher than the national average, and much higher than for newcomers from Asian and southern and eastern European countries — most of whom arrive as immigrants, not refugees.

Refugees need far more intensive support and government-funded services to make the transition to living here. The extra expense to taxpayers is why we need to cap the number of refugees accepted each year — and is also why we need strong border protection policies to enforce those caps.

This is also why we need to be hard-headed about immigration policy and reject unrealistic policies, such as the 50,000 annual refugee intake proposed by the Australian Greens. The kind of debate about immigration that has been sparked by the recent events in Melbourne is commonplace in many European countries, where Middle Eastern and North African newcomers’ failure to integrate has frayed the social fabric.

Australia, thankfully, does not face anything like the same challenges France, Germany and Sweden do. Sydneysiders are, however, more familiar with these kinds of problems than those in other states. This is due to the well-known unemployment, crime and other social problems that exist in parts of Western Sydney centred around Lakemba.

The sad fact is that some Lebanese Muslim Australians, mostly from refugee backgrounds and families, have failed to repeat the successful path of education, work, and integration that is the norm for most immigrant groups — including the wave of Christian Lebanese who preceded them.

Community concerns about immigration have also been reinforced by recent instances of homegrown Islamic terrorism that have usually involved offenders from Middle Eastern backgrounds.

In response, politicians are increasingly rejecting fluffy multicultural sentiment. And it isn’t only Coalition hardliners such as Peter Dutton who are preaching the need for all Australians to be held to the same cultural standards.

Labor MPs have also acknowledged the need for a robust commitment to Australian values.

Hence, even Labor opposition education minister Tanya Plibersek recently said a future Labor government would encourage all schoolchildren to learn and recite Australia’s citizenship pledge — to promote commitment to our democratic beliefs, laws, and liberties.

Jeremy Sammut is a senior research fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies

 

It's not just the outer suburbs that suffer from the African gang problems, although some of those areas are well and truly under siege. The gangs use public transport to travel to more affluent inner suburbs in search of luxury cars to steal. There was an attempted bashing and car jacking 3 blocks from my place a few weeks back and there have been multiple home invasions on the suburb where they have been trying to get keys to cars parked in the driveways. Going to a large Shopping Centre is also a risky activity with gangs roaming around looking for potential victims.
Melbourne is a nightmare thanks to these gangs and we are heading towards a South African situation at a rapid pace. Left wing wankers have a lot to answer for and I hope some of them experience the issues first hand.

 

My wife and daughter were in a 7/11 in South Yarra and witnessed a gang of about a dozen African youths enter the store, ransack the shelves and walk out laughing. Truly terrifying

 

They should be deported back to their 3rd world sh#t holes no questions asked. It's amazing you give some people a second chance at life and it gets thrown back in your face. Those lefty wankers should be made to deal with them.......Good luck with that....

 

Nothing an old school interview wouldn't fix.....you have to blame their families as well....Just put them all on a boat and send them back cattle class when this happens....Problem fixed.....

 

I've had exactly that situation happen more than once in my own business unfortunately. It could be worse though as I've also assisted police with surveillance footage of 2 armed robberies on surrounding businesses to mine. The Bad Lands of outer western Melbourne are a war zone.

 

I feel sorry for the 99% of Africans who are law abiding citizens and do their best to make a positive contribution to society. I even employ an African lady whom I would have to say is one of my better employees. The problem is most definitely with the African youth for whatever reason and to be honest I don't care what those reasons may be. I would love to see anybody over the age of 16 years given 3 strikes and then you're back to the hell hole from whence you came.

 

Totally agree. We have loads of African people around here (in fact my suburb is a veritable mini-UN) and they are fabulous members of the community. It must drive them nuts to hear about the young idiots ruining it for everyone.

What is it about the generation after migration that they seem to go so off the rails?

 

Read "The Bell Curve" by Charles Murray and you will understand why specific ethnic groups are over-represented in incarceration and low life outcomes around the globe, whilst others do consistently better, e.g. immigrants from Asia.

This is the book that Obama infamously called racist, then in the next breath he had to admit that he hadn't read it.

 

Good on Trump, saying it like it is

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-12/donald-trump-hits-out-at-certain-countries-protection-immigrants/9323050

 

Can he be our PM when he's sick of being POTUS?

 

great article on the road toll, from the motoring section of The Australian

There are three real answers to the road toll. Stop calling crashes accidents, stop blaming it all on drivers and treat distracted driving as an emergency, like we treated the need for seat belts and drink-driving laws.

Peter Norton, associate professor at the University of Virginia’s department of engineering, says the word accident was introduced into manufacturing in the 1900s, when companies wanted to get out of the costs of looking after the 30,000 workers killed and hundreds of thousands injured every year on the job.

Using accident in terms of road crashes means no one is to blame, something that can’t be controlled, certainly not the fault of governments or automakers.

When you drive you are part of a system that includes things like the condition of the road, the safety of the car, your attitude and that of the people around you, and police enforcement.

Importantly, it also includes the choices you have. In many of our big cities the poorer you are the less choices you have in terms of transport. Even residents in new middle class suburbs have to drive because there is no alternative. Governments love building roads because tarmac doesn’t scream. Voters do scream when trains, trams and buses are overcrowded or don’t run on time.

We have too many trucks on the road and too many unsafe ones because of the strong truck lobby, and many self-employed drivers are screwed by customers.

Of course, some drivers are to blame. But often the killed and injured are the victims of another driver and often other factors play a big part.

Cars were inherently unsafe before the 1970s. In 1970, mandatory seat belts started the drop in the road toll, as did child restraints, improved brakes, tyres, lights, indicators and glazing, head restraints and impact resistance. In 1976, random breath testing was bad news for pubs and clubs, good news for the road toll.

Peter Norton says that, just like drink driving was an emergency, the current emergency is distracted driving: “There’s a reason the road toll is starting to go up again.”

He believes attacking distracted driving like we attacked drink driving will make a big difference.

Lauchlan McIntosh is president of the Australasian College of Road Safety. He says “we don’t need any more road safety inquires, what we need is a politician to tell us why they couldn’t implement the many recommendations of past inquiries”.

He asks: “Why do the telcos and car companies encourage driver distraction, resulting in death and injury to their own customers? Why do the car, truck, bus, and motorbike manufacturers supply vehicles with lower specifications for some markets? Are their customers worth less in those different markets?

“Let’s set some road safety standards for all the billions spent on roads …. let’s have four-star roads for 80 per cent of the trafficked roads by 2030. The Infrastructure Australia CEO told me that road safety wasn’t on his agenda!”

As News motoring editor Richard Blackburn wrote last week: Talk to the police, “and they’ll tell you that incremental speed message is a furphy. They say most speeding-related fatalities involve very high speeds, and serial offenders, many of whom don’t even own a licence. Some estimate that the numbers of unauthorised drivers involved in fatal accidents could be as high as 50 per cent … despite this highway patrol police aren’t given access to a database of disqualified drivers.”

 

Oh FFS,why can't they just keep hugging trees..

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/01/15/12/26/australia-day-2018-debate-barnaby-joyce-the-greens-change-the-date