Well said Julia, and its all about buying a seat on the United Nations General Assembly for Ruddy, hence the reason our left wing Govna Gen went to several African nations in 2009 and at what cost?
I don't think anyone would disagree with this in principle. What you haven't commented on, however, is the readiness of governments to provide foreign aid.
Using your example, shouldn't Australian taxpayers equally expect that e.g. Indonesia should be prepared to pay for their own mosques, schools etc?
I appreciate that foreign aid is often provided as a means of enhancing the relationship between countries, oiling wheels as it were, but I don't suppose your average regional Queenslander whose house is under water is probably going to think too much about that.
It's a vexed question. The objective and rational response is as you and Knobby have suggested. But somehow human compassion surely has to have a role?
I don't think anyone would disagree with this in principle. What you haven't commented on, however, is the readiness of governments to provide foreign aid.
Using your example, shouldn't Australian taxpayers equally expect that e.g. Indonesia should be prepared to pay for their own mosques, schools etc?
As for compassion................were have the harden WR gone
What does this mean?:dunno:. Is it some sort of whale-lovers code?
Sounds reasonable, but wouldn't that further deter an already reluctant population from taking out appropriate insurance?There may be but I haven't heard of a "Natural Event Damage Fund" where funds are put aside by States for natural events affecting large numbers of people. Surely the coffers would swell in between large natural events such as fires, cyclones, extended droughts and floods.
I was wondering the same thing.What does this mean?:dunno:. Is it some sort of whale-lovers code?
Which essentially demonstrates that the right/left divide is overall pretty meaningless.LOL no just getting in a free kick re insurance, market forces, free handouts any time some thing goes wrong.
Bleeding hearts is suppose to be my-side of the fence
Not off topic at all, slipperz.And lets not fool ourselves the farming sector is cyclical in terms of production and generational in it's nature. Do farmers finance their activities on a long term cyclical nature or do they feast on their revenues in good times and put their hands out to the government in times of hardship?
I guess I'm wandering off topic a bit and might sound a bit callous as the scale of this disaster unfolds but in all honesty when the rural sector seem to take such pride in their tough commonsense approach to life and look down upon their urbanised counterparts why is it the urban population has to keep bailing them out all the time?
Dear Julia,The more I think about this, the more I revert to how I felt re the Victorian bushfires (perhaps shamefully no longer feeling threatened by the floods), and agree with Knobby and Smurf.
I heard a comment today on the radio that people who were not insured should not worry as relief funds, from government and other sources, will see them not disadvantaged.
That's just not right and is just encouraging dependence on the state.
I'm aware that I'm being ambivalent about all this.
Dear Julia,
Not so much ambivalent as panicky I think. You posts are usually so level-headed that it's hard to recognise you when you occasionally get irrational
Glad you and the pooch are both safe and well.
Ghoti
... why is it the urban population has to keep bailing them out all the time?
Yes well deduced Julia. I suppose the belief would be that the money is what was contributed in taxes anyway.Sounds reasonable, but wouldn't that further deter an already reluctant population from taking out appropriate insurance?
Because we (urban population) eat.
I guess I'm wandering off topic a bit and might sound a bit callous as the scale of this disaster unfolds but in all honesty when the rural sector seem to take such pride in their tough commonsense approach to life and look down upon their urbanised counterparts why is it the urban population has to keep bailing them out all the time?
I think it is time you got out and had a look at the real world. Remember "if you eat you ARE involved in agriculture".
I think it is time you got out and had a look at the real world. Remember "if you eat you ARE involved in agriculture".
Ain't that the blunt truth!
All the major agricultural countries subsidise their primary producers in some shape or form, often as subsidies or guaranteed minimum prices. The US pay farmers to grow crops and call it "farm income stabilization"... I think they paid something like $20 Billion last year.
Take the cheap subsidised European veges and dubious quality (health wise) Asian seafoods flushing our supermarkets some time ago. People complained about supporting heavily subsidised and or poor quality imports, arguing that the 'retailers' should support local producers more and keep more money in the local economy.
Talking about flood damage, veg prices are starting to go through the roof. Over Xmas I thought I was made buying a watermelon for $2.50 after paying up to $8.00 each leading up to Xmas. Yesterday it was hard to find one.
Around Bundaberg the flooding has started to receed but the impact of crop damage and inability to plant waterlogged ground has yet to be fully felt. Then there is Emerald which is usually a large supplier of fruit and veg getting the tail end of their season lost... and similarly for so much of the Fitzroy, Burnett and Mary river valleys and those northern NSW regions that follow on from our season.
My little crop of pumpkin is almost a write-off, but after seeing small stuff that you wouldn't normally bother picking selling for up to $3.00 each, I'll be finding every last one I can over the next few weeks to try and make up for the 6 to 8 tonnes at about $500 to $1,000 per tonne I was expecting out of the rotation crop.
Central and southern Qld mangoes have suffered more after a wet spring killing off a lot of fruit set and prices are topped only by consumer resistance to higher prices... not to mention so many other fruit and veg lines that are and will be the same story over the coming weeks and maybe months.
Then there are the cereal and cotton crop damage and yet to be tallied livestock losses.
It's as much about national (food) security as welfare to support the rural sector in such extreme circumstances.
All that being said, our mining sector has arguably a better deal than the rural sector, both as subsidies and grants and more importantly income tax laws.
Many on this forum would consider the share market to be the riskiest form of investment, but Agricultural Production (Farming) is actually the higher risk of investment. That is why so many countries value and look after their Farming sector so well.
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