MisterFrog

@MisterFrog@aussie.zone

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Right faction stages walkout at Labor conference over CFMEU motion⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  (not a Labor member, much further left) Sorry, but at least Labor has some semblance of party democracy. Hearing about the Greens from past members, it’s a bloody top-down dictatorship where membership don’t get to vote on policy at all (well, they can “recommend” but that’s about it)

  I’d strongly argue that the reason many Labor Left members aren’t members of the Greens is because the Greens are a feel good org that doesn’t actually listen to the membership.

  Disappointingly, many Labor Left members seem open to the idea that capitalism is actively hostile to our well-being, but continue to support the party, even if it’s pro-capitalism, and pro-neoliberalism (it is these days, anyway).

  I’ll still preference the Greens over Labor for jow, but they are not a serious alternative.

  Any party that isn’t internally democratic is not a serious alternative.

  Coincidentally: victoriansocialists.org.au/node/238

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'Carspreading’ is on the rise - not everyone is happy⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  The visibility argument is also dumb because in general these cars have much, much worse visibility

  Maybe you can see over the top of other cars roofs, but that’s about it

  m.youtube.com/watch?v=jN7mSXMruEo

  (Most of this video is about American style utes, but the same applies to SUVs and larger cars in general)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'Dirty, disgusting money': The heiress giving away her entire fortune⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I love this, because she’s covered all possible vectors of attack the corporate media might level against her.

  Wealth inequality has always been bad, but it’s getting absurd.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Right faction stages walkout at Labor conference over CFMEU motion⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Labor Right is the biggest misnomer in Australian politics.

  It’s also why Labor being referred to as “left wing” is a joke

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨As of December 10th, You need to be sixteen to use Aussie.Zone⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I suspect if this comes to a head you can just change instances to one offshore .

  If they start blocking tiny websites “not complying” then shit has really hit the fan.

  My pet conspiracy theory is that corporations pushed for this so they can collect your ID and even more personal information you should never share with anyone on the internet.

  Fuck this law is so dumb

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are “rusted-on” Labor voters thinking ?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I started writing out a massive rebuttal but realised I should source it to back myself up, and then writing it became a task I didn’t have time for 😅

  I haven’t forgotten about this, just shot myself in the foot.

  I’d have to look further into this particular sources but this seems pretty subjective.

  Which, I grant the phrase “life is pretty good” which I took issue with, also is.

  I just posit that there is a lot wrong in Australia that is getting worse, and there are a number of areas where Labor is tinkering, and not making large changes like they once did decades ago, and still could.

  As for a longer sourced comment, shall have to wait until I have time. Working overtime like crazy this week :/

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are “rusted-on” Labor voters thinking ?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Tell me your age group without telling me your age group lol.

  Younger people who are themselves doing well, at least would recognise how much the ladder has been pulled up behind the older generations.

  Housing is an absolute joke in this country, and for some reason no one really wants to fix it. (The reason is greed/entire life savings in the unproductive asset they live in)

  “Labor” has been a misnomer for a long time. Hopefully a true left-wing party can gain some traction (not the greens, who are champaign socialists who don’t even democratically form policy within their party, their membership gets no say in anything)

  Life is not pretty good right now.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Whitlam Dismissal - 11 November 1975 | Constitutional Clarion [50 year anniversary]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  The crown, who was complicit, including our current king. The LNP who’ve never apologised?

  There’s plenty to rage at about this.

  Conservatives, when presented with a choice between upholding democracy and seizing power, choose the latter every time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨WA Labor senator opposed to proposed reduction of speed limits on unsigned roads⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  we have much safer cars [for occupants] than when our standard speed limits are set

  FTFY

  This is a rant, which is not specifically directed at you:

  I don’t really have an opinion on rural speed limits, but it’s just good urban design for us to take back our streets from car-centric planning.

  Cars have a place: renting a van, emergency services, disabled people, delivery for businesses, but we accept WAY more deaths, noise and pollution that much better designed cities overseas. Not every trip should be by car, but we’ve planned our cities that for many it has to be.

  Speed limits are in general too high in our urban areas (not talking about freeways, I’m talking 60 km/hr through shopping strips and 50 km/hr on side streets), that’s too high.

  But people get up in arms at that thought of driving slower, because apparently we just have to accept a certain number of deaths (which have stopped dropping since these US-style emotional support vehicles have come on the scene).

  For your viewing pleasure: m.youtube.com/watch?v=jN7mSXMruEo

  Anyway, Speed Kills. That ad campaign wasn’t making it up.

  You’re not wrong that people should drive to the conditions, but speed limits still must be followed, because they’re set based on design guidelines, and most often, people aren’t as good at driving as they think they are.

  Don’t speed, I don’t care how good at driving anyone thinks they are.

  Cheers for letting me accost you ;)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨TOOT TOOT CHUGGA CHUGGA MOTHERFUCKA⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I dunno about everyone else, but these middle fingers seem extremely well humoured and friendly.

  Is this just an Australian thing?

  Middle finger is a cheeky way to have fun with your friends.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨CSIRO to cut up to 350 research jobs in major overhaul⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Our country is going to shit.

  Meanwhile, we spend billions on bloody consultants doing the work government employees used to do, for less money, might I add.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Liberal Party formally abandons net zero by 2050 climate target⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Voting on party policy only within your parliamentary party is really dumb, for this reason.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Rental prices have risen almost 44 per cent in five years, Cotality review finds⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Hey folks, when in the world are we going to do something about this?

  And I really do mean all of us.

  We are all partially vindicated by the fact we’re in the capitalist game, and as individuals, all we can do is play the game.

  But Christ, this is gonna break.

  Please next time you meet someone who’s talking about their house price going up. Please say, we really can’t keep going on like this.

  It’s gonna break eventually. People are paying stupid percentages of their income on rent or mortgage.

  Eventually we’ll simply not be able to afford to live.

  Housing is a stupid, non-productive (past the base value of providing somewhere to live) asset that we could be investing practically anywhere else in our society.

  We’re sitting on piles of gold (metaphorically).

  At least you can make electronics with gold.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Julia Gillard endorses Donald Trump⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  (it’s satire)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A deserved defeat for Albanese on freedom of information⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Wow, this is welcome news. I 100% expected the Libs to go along with it

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Victorian Pill Testing Service opens in Fitzroy⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Quite funnily, it also acts as a consumer protection. If word gets out that a dealer’s product is bad, people will stop buying from them haha

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'No doubt the media are going to make fun of that': Bruce Lehrmann finds new ways to suffer in court⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Lol, his barrister is brutal haha

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨More AZ issues 19/8/25⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Dang, perhaps time to start singapore.zone? (I jest, it’s unfortunate that a few bad actors ruin it for everyone)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Australia picks Japan to build $10b frigates after fierce contest⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Indeed.

  Rare point of agreement between us on Lemmy lol (if I’m not confusing you for someone else)

  I’m very anti-war, and a pacifist, but given the world we live in, we need to have our own independent military capability. Independent of the US, UK, or anyone.

  We have everything we need to manufacture all our own weapons and vehicles here, it’ll just require actual government investment, instead of paying private, overseas companies.

  And apparently “big gvmnt bad”, despite us at least getting to vote on it, unlike private companies, or public companies for which you need to be a shareholder.

  Just my 2¢

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Australia picks Japan to build $10b frigates after fierce contest⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  What gets me is that if we’re gonna have a military, you’d really think it would be strategically necessary for us to have our own ship building capabilities.

  Else, what, a war breaks out and we just twiddle our thumbs if we then need to repair them? What is the point of a military if we can’t provide our own weapons?

  May as well just save the money and spend it on something that improves the material lives of people

  Why are we not employing our own people to build these? Makes no sense, to me at least

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨FBI opens first office in New Zealand ‘to counter China and cybercrime’⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You’d think you could do that from practically any where, unless they’re actually bolstering local server security, which I doubt.

  I really wonder when we (Australia and New Zealand) will wake up to the massive geopolitical risk it is to be tied to any one super power.

  As middling powers (well, us, not New Zealand), we really ought to not attach ourselves to the US.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Police escort neo-Nazis in early morning march through Melbourne’s CBD⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Powerless my arse, that should surely qualify under EPA noise laws. They were extremely loud, at 12:40AM

  How could they not be moved on for that?

  I just assumed it was some football hooligans or something benign like that

  Fuckwits

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Negative gearing reform is back, but young voters now hold the power⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Again, this is what we call investment risk. Investments that don’t up beyond inflation are a bad investment. Which is the risk you take in order to see a potential profit.

  That’s not our collective problem.

  Giving people a discount to subsidise their profits is not a worthwhile way to spend our tax dollars.

  People still invested before this discount was granted, so I’m not really convinced it would break anything by getting rid of it

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Negative gearing reform is back, but young voters now hold the power⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I feel like there would be a much more elegant solution to this than just waiving 50% of your taxable income from investments. Especially since asset prices typically go up during periods of inflation, above inflation.

  Running with your example, I’ll pretend I bought $1,000,000 in assets 1 year ago, inflation was 10%, and my assets returned a 10% capital gain (I’ll pretend there are no dividends), and I sell for a 10% profit.

  Under the current system I made $100,000 as income, and let’s say I sell exactly one year after, so I’m eligible for the capital gains discount.

  If I don’t work, this means I only pay tax on $50,000, which is a tax bill of $5,788 (2024-25 tax brackets). Meaning your profit would be ($100,000-5,788)/$1,000,000 = 9.4212%.

  If it were the full $100,00 it would be $20,788. So 7.9212% profit, in nominal terms.

  You may look at this and go, SEE, you’re actually making a loss so it’s not fair to tax it at the full rate! But this all entirely ignores the fact that periods of inflation have almost always resulted in asset price inflation.

  If they wanna make it that you pay tax only on real gains, then I’m gonna argue they ought to do the same for income from actually working. But this would be a disaster for the budget.

  We’re being jibbed by people who make money by not working. The argument that the asset has gone down in real terms is the investors problem. As investing involves risk which you wear in order to make a potential profit.

  Stop socialising losses in the form of real value loss. That is the investors problem. I don’t see how it’s fair for a worker earning $100,000 to pay $20,788 in tax, but an investor to only pay $5788.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'We've had enough': Warlpiri elder issues plea to prime minister⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  “Tough on crime” has always been political theatre. There’s been so many studies on this it’s not even funny.

  You don’t solve crime by jailing a bunch of people.

  Just look at the USA, crime rate through the roof compared to Australia, yet they are the 5th most incarcerated people on the planet by capita and largest by total amount.

  Tough on crime doesn’t work, it’s only to dupe people into re-electing politicians with no better policies.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨NSW government kills debate on protesters paying for police presence after exceeding cap⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Want to exercise your democratic rights? Please pay at the next window

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨NSW government kills debate on protesters paying for police presence after exceeding cap⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Pay to protest would have been farcical.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Negative gearing reform is back, but young voters now hold the power⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Absolutely, why we let you halve your taxable income for investments is beyond me.

  Work for your money? All of that is taxable. Let your money work for you? Ooooooh poor baby, let’s half that taxable income shall we? Ooooh you didn’t work at all, let me refund you 30% of your dividends back to you, oh dear, oh dear gorgeous.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨When can I take advantage of the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s stated in my contract, but also this is the appropriate award for enginners: www.fairwork.gov.au/…/ma000065-summary#who-the-pr…

  Unfortunately as it currently stands, I’m not entitled to overtime because of clause (section? I dunno the terminology) 18.6 of the award awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000065.html#_Toc20132350…

  I’m hoping that this legislation ties the hands of the fair work commission so that I don’t have to work 2 “extra reasonable hours of overtime” each week.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Greens and Coalition bristle against Labor’s changes to the standing orders [to allow kicking out MPs for longer and to avoid recording the names of MPs who on some motions]⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This is extremely unreasonable. It should be on record how an individual MP voted on every single bill. How else are we supposed to hold them to account?