The Albanese government

And as if by magic, the penny is dropping.

Well @orr you might be blind to the obvious, but @Smurf1976 and myself have been mentioning this issue for a while.

We have said the worker is getting angry, now no less than the John Curtin Research Centre agrees with us.

From today's left leaning SMH:

The Labor Party risks being deserted by disillusioned young voters, a left-leaning Australian think tank has warned as it tracks a surge of support for far-right parties across the world by people under 30.

A new paper from the John Curtin Research Centre argues that Labor’s near record low primary vote could be further depleted if it fails to win the trust of a lost generation of younger Australians unable to afford homes

The party’s youth wing must radically change from a culturally homogenous group of privileged university students to one that embraces TAFE students and battlers, the Labor-aligned think tank urges.
“Over the past few generations, the children and grandchildren of working-class Australians
smashed by Paul Keating’s ‘recession we had to have’ of the early 1990s and who were buffeted by the [global financial crisis] and then COVID have given the finger to the ALP,” writes the think-tank’s director, Labor historian Nick Dyrenfurth.

“They too are angry at and alienated from the economic system which they feel is gamed against them, and progressive cultural obsessions which they feel ignore their primary needs, stuck in a loop of poorer educational outcomes, fewer training and job opportunities, unemployment or precarious employment and with no hope of becoming homeowners or renting on fair terms.”
Dyrenfurth said that “contrary to right-wing spin”, the shift was not being driven by so-called woke issues and the culture wars.
“It’s the economy, stupid! And if we in Labor continue to think these young voters are the problem – implicitly stupid – they will deservedly punish us,” he wrote.
The paper cites examples from Europe and South America that show a rise in support for right-wing parties among young voters.

sptrawler said:

And as if by magic, the penny is dropping.

Well @orr you might be blind to the obvious, but @Smurf1976 and myself have been mentioning this issue for a while.

We have said the worker is getting angry, now no less than the John Curtin Research Centre agrees with us.

From today's left leaning SMH:

Young and restless: Youth support for far right a threat to Albanese

A global phenomenon of disillusioned young voters backing far-right populists poses a new threat to Labor, a new paper by a left-leaning think tank warns.

www.smh.com.au

The Labor Party risks being deserted by disillusioned young voters, a left-leaning Australian think tank has warned as it tracks a surge of support for far-right parties across the world by people under 30.

A new paper from the John Curtin Research Centre argues that Labor’s near record low primary vote could be further depleted if it fails to win the trust of a lost generation of younger Australians unable to afford homes

The party’s youth wing must radically change from a culturally homogenous group of privileged university students to one that embraces TAFE students and battlers, the Labor-aligned think tank urges.
“Over the past few generations, the children and grandchildren of working-class Australians
smashed by Paul Keating’s ‘recession we had to have’ of the early 1990s and who were buffeted by the [global financial crisis] and then COVID have given the finger to the ALP,” writes the think-tank’s director, Labor historian Nick Dyrenfurth.

“They too are angry at and alienated from the economic system which they feel is gamed against them, and progressive cultural obsessions which they feel ignore their primary needs, stuck in a loop of poorer educational outcomes, fewer training and job opportunities, unemployment or precarious employment and with no hope of becoming homeowners or renting on fair terms.”
Dyrenfurth said that “contrary to right-wing spin”, the shift was not being driven by so-called woke issues and the culture wars.
“It’s the economy, stupid! And if we in Labor continue to think these young voters are the problem – implicitly stupid – they will deservedly punish us,” he wrote.
The paper cites examples from Europe and South America that show a rise in support for right-wing parties among young voters.

Click to expand...

One can only hope that those that are in power and resting very comfortably in their well cushioned leather armchairs plus having the priviledge of a very high income with all the perks and lurks will come to realise that those lower down the food chain who are struggling to meet their daily needs also will be casting a vote, and now that number is growing.
People living in tents and in the bush is not what our forebears gave up in WWI and WWII.
The banana state is with us well and truely, so sad to say.

sptrawler said:

The party’s youth wing must radically change from a culturally homogenous group of privileged university students to one that embraces TAFE students and battlers, the Labor-aligned think tank urges.
“Over the past few generations, the children and grandchildren of working-class Australians
smashed by Paul Keating’s ‘recession we had to have’ of the early 1990s and who were buffeted by the [global financial crisis] and then COVID have given the finger to the ALP,” writes the think-tank’s director, Labor historian Nick Dyrenfurth.

Click to expand...

Nailed it.

Over a prolonged period the political class, the so-called "elites", have derided and in many cases outright destroyed most of what symbolised or is aspired to by the working class.

Public utilities, public education, manufacturing, TAFE, stable employment, their own house in the suburbs, a car for every adult, cultural traditions and the right to speak their mind. The symbols and aspirations of the working class are the very things the political class has sought to destroy.

That Labor cops more criticism than the Coalition is for the same reason a 5 star hotel will be criticised in circumstances where nobody would complain about the same thing at a caravan park. Because standing up for the working class was Labor's actual job, they were the ones who promised 5 star accommodation but failed to deliver it.

So it's about the economy but it's more than just incomes and no amount of welfare payments and so on will of themselves fix it. It's more than just the money, it's about rebuilding our institutions and it's about giving the working class back its dreams and aspirations.

Related to that is it's not just those within that group but there's also more than a few who, truth be told, are somewhat closer to the "elites" objectively but who vehemently oppose the elitist mindset and politics. Just because they've improved their own circumstances financially and perhaps academically doesn't mean they've adopted an elitist mindset to go with it, indeed that the path they followed has been cut off and is no longer available to others tends to sit extremely uncomfortably. Add that group to the actual current working class and all up it's a very substantial portion of society.

The comments from this think tank will be the first of many I expect. The referendum has set the ball rolling.....

Spot on smurf, it has taken a long time for them to realise why union membership and with it Labor Party loyalty has been in constant decline since the Hawke/Keating years.
I've said it on this forum for a long time but the left laugh it off, "the working class vote Liberal, because at least then they know who the enemy is".
The Elites have hijacked the Labor Party, filled it with intellectuals and made it purely a social reform part, much like the Greens.
So that only leaves the coalition for the worker to vote for, at least they know who they are fighting and the Elite media doesn't like them either so they become defacto allies for the worker.
It ain't rocket science, workers go to work to try and make life as safe and comfortable as they can for their family, but the Governments use them as a slush fund to try and right all the Worlds wrong's, the worker has his and her own $hit to deal with but no one seems to give a crap about that.
All the worker sees is their lifestyle going down the toilet and their dreams being pushed further and further away, while the Elite's smuggly dream up more brain farts that the worker has to fund.

As I said Labor can get stuff done, the NDIS needed sorting and Bill is the boy to do it.


Changes will be made to strengthen the laws governing the NDIS so the scheme's commissioner can ban providers and take greater action on compliance.

Under the changes, fines will be introduced and service providers will be required to keep financial records.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and the National Disability Insurance Agency will form a multi-agency $6.7 million taskforce to stop participants being over-charged.

"All of a sudden, 630,000 people are going to go from being treated as human ATMs to sheriffs, making sure that the robbers can't take their money, and we will be backing them up 110 per cent."

The government is confident it will receive bipartisan support to toughen the rules.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the opposition was prepared to work constructively with the government.

sptrawler said:

As I said Labor can get stuff done, the NDIS needed sorting and Bill is the boy to do it.

MSN

www.msn.com

Changes will be made to strengthen the laws governing the NDIS so the scheme's commissioner can ban providers and take greater action on compliance.

Under the changes, fines will be introduced and service providers will be required to keep financial records.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and the National Disability Insurance Agency will form a multi-agency $6.7 million taskforce to stop participants being over-charged.

"All of a sudden, 630,000 people are going to go from being treated as human ATMs to sheriffs, making sure that the robbers can't take their money, and we will be backing them up 110 per cent."

The government is confident it will receive bipartisan support to toughen the rules.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the opposition was prepared to work constructively with the government.

Click to expand...

NDIS suppliers would appear to be at the top of the tree when it comes to rorting the system.

farmerge said:

NDIS suppliers would appear to be at the top of the tree when it comes to rorting the system.

Click to expand...

It always was going to be, when it was introduced, I mentioned on here it would end up a bigger cost than the pension, I just didn't realise it would happen so quickly.
The populations health is failing at an ever increasing rate, due to changing lifestyles in our society, we eat more, drink more, we work less, exercise less and live a more sedentary lifestyle.
So health related obesity and general health issues are going to increase exponentially, supplying everyone with aids for most ailments, was never going to be easy to regulate and very easy to rort.
Let's be honest medicare has been around for a long time and it still gets rorted, just another well intended initiative, with unintended consequences as usual.

Airbus not committing a boat to this Yemen thing looks either like; 1. the RAN are in real trouble or 2. the far Left and Muslim vote is absolutely crucial in getting a second term.

Sean K said:

Airbus not committing a boat to this Yemen thing looks either like; 1. the RAN are in real trouble or 2. the far Left and Muslim vote is absolutely crucial in getting a second term.

Click to expand...

According to Greg Sheridan in The evil Murdoch press , the problem is that none of the navy fleet has the capability of doing anti drone protection.

Not for decades have we been so radically unprepared militarily, and incapable, as we are now.
There is one overriding reason we can’t send a ship. None of the 10 operational surface fleet vessels we allegedly have available (seven Anzac frigates currently operational and three air warfare destroyers) has any counter-drone defence capabilities.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen are firing drones at ships. We could shoot these drones down with our fabulously expensive anti-ship missiles, each of them vastly more expensive than drones, but very soon, say in a day and a half, an Anzac frigate would run out of such missiles and have to sail all the way back to Australia to replenish. The Houthis have armed drones. The Australian Defence Force does not have in its entire order of battle one single armed drone.

Click to expand...

The latest worfare has shown once again how ill prepared the ponderous Military machine is in OZ.

The Ukrainians have sunk Russian capital warships with drones. The ADF, operating on its rolling 10-year masterful inactivity plan, still has no armed drone of its own, nor are its ships equipped with counter-drone systems. We won’t get a serious government response to the surface fleet review, which was the only naval consequence of the Defence Strategic Review, probably until the budget next May, two years after the Albanese government was elected.

Click to expand...

Mick

The wheels are falling off.

Sean K said:

Airbus not committing a boat to this Yemen thing looks either like; 1. the RAN are in real trouble or 2. the far Left and Muslim vote is absolutely crucial in getting a second term.

Click to expand...

Worrying, either way.

Sean K said:

The wheels are falling off.

View attachment 167571

Click to expand...

Or the tyre is only flat on the bottom.I would would take her on as a TA for some of my contracting work. Easy on the eye.

farmerge said:

Or the tyre is only flat on the bottom.I would would take her on as a TA for some of my contracting work. Easy on the eye.

Click to expand...

Just tape her mouth shut.

Smurf1976 said:

Nailed it.

Over a prolonged period the political class, the so-called "elites", have derided and in many cases outright destroyed most of what symbolised or is aspired to by the working class.

Public utilities, public education, manufacturing, TAFE, stable employment, their own house in the suburbs, a car for every adult, cultural traditions and the right to speak their mind. The symbols and aspirations of the working class are the very things the political class has sought to destroy.

That Labor cops more criticism than the Coalition is for the same reason a 5 star hotel will be criticised in circumstances where nobody would complain about the same thing at a caravan park. Because standing up for the working class was Labor's actual job, they were the ones who promised 5 star accommodation but failed to deliver it.

So it's about the economy but it's more than just incomes and no amount of welfare payments and so on will of themselves fix it. It's more than just the money, it's about rebuilding our institutions and it's about giving the working class back its dreams and aspirations.

Related to that is it's not just those within that group but there's also more than a few who, truth be told, are somewhat closer to the "elites" objectively but who vehemently oppose the elitist mindset and politics. Just because they've improved their own circumstances financially and perhaps academically doesn't mean they've adopted an elitist mindset to go with it, indeed that the path they followed has been cut off and is no longer available to others tends to sit extremely uncomfortably. Add that group to the actual current working class and all up it's a very substantial portion of society.

The comments from this think tank will be the first of many I expect. The referendum has set the ball rolling.....

Click to expand...

Another article in the same vein, discontent abounds.


My grandpa would end up benefiting from that home-building program, when a war service loan helped him to secure a home in 1954, years after he'd been discharged from the army.

The house he bought was the one my dad grew up in.

In last week's piece, I explained how that home-building program eventually led to the rate of home ownership in Australia increasing from 53 per cent to over 71 per cent, two decades after the war, which supported the rise of this country's middle class in the second half of the 20th century.

After my dad moved out of that house, he and mum bought a house a few suburbs up the road for three times their annual income, and that's where I grew up.

But a couple of weeks ago, I googled that childhood suburb of mine to see what property prices had done recently. The latest sale was a house for $2.6 million, which last sold in 2006 for $555,000.

The 20 per cent deposit required to buy that house would have been $520,000, about as much as the entire house was worth 17 years ago.

I couldn't move back to that suburb if I wanted to.

That pace of asset price inflation, which has been common around the country, was not part of the Curtin government's plans when it imagined a country built for peace time, where "housing for all" would provide the bedrock for social cohesion.

And worryingly, researchers have warned recently that social cohesion in Australia has fallen to its lowest level in 16 years, which is the lowest since their survey began.


From the left leaning ANU:

Financial and cost-of-living pressures are among the top issues impacting Australians' sense of belonging, pride and social cohesion in 2023, according to a major study from The Australian National University (ANU) and the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute.

Economic and social issues, compounded with growing concern about inequality, has seen social cohesion in Australia plummet to its lowest level in 16 years.

The 2023 Mapping Social Cohesion study of more than 7,500 people found almost half of participants, 48 per cent, believe economic issues are the most important set of problems facing Australia today, followed by housing affordability and shortages (14 per cent).

"This is comfortably the largest share of the population citing these problems since the question was first asked in 2011," lead researcher Dr James O'Donnell, from ANU, said.

I certainly hope this ends well and it doesn't end up an own goal, by shooting from the lip as often happens.

What's the old saying about lips and ships, this may well big the biggest test of Albo leadership yet, time will tell.
I think everyone knows we went to war on information supplied by the U.S and to support our closest allies, hmmmm interesting investigation, I wonder who from the U.S will be asked to front up.
It certainly is an entertain term of Government.

From the article:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the former Morrison government should have handed over cabinet documents related to the Iraq War to be released to the public, as an inquiry into why the records were kept secret begins.

Mr Albanese said people deserved to know what was behind the former Howard government's decision to go to war.

"Australians have a right to know the basis upon which Australia went to war in Iraq," Mr Albanese said.

"Australians lost their lives during that conflict and we know that some of the stated reason for going to war was not correct, in terms of the weapons of mass destruction.
"My government believes this mistake must be corrected."

Key points:​

• The prime minister says Australians have a right to know why the Howard government chose to go to war in Iraq
• Cabinet documents related to the decision were not handed over to be made public by the former Morrison government
• A rapid review will establish whether they were kept secret in error or intentionally

sptrawler said:

I certainly hope this ends well and it doesn't end up an own goal, by shooting from the lip as often happens.

What's the old saying about lips and ships, this may well big the biggest test of Albo leadership yet, time will tell.
I think everyone knows we went to war on information supplied by the U.S and to support our closest allies, hmmmm interesting investigation, I wonder who from the U.S will be asked to front up.
It certainly is an entertain term of Government.

'Australians have a right to know': PM announces inquiry into why Morrison govt withheld Iraq War documents

Anthony Albanese says missing cabinet documents from 2003 related to the Iraq War should have been handed over by the former Morrison government, as an inquiry into why the records were kept secret begins.

www.abc.net.au

From the article:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the former Morrison government should have handed over cabinet documents related to the Iraq War to be released to the public, as an inquiry into why the records were kept secret begins.

Mr Albanese said people deserved to know what was behind the former Howard government's decision to go to war.

"Australians have a right to know the basis upon which Australia went to war in Iraq," Mr Albanese said.

"Australians lost their lives during that conflict and we know that some of the stated reason for going to war was not correct, in terms of the weapons of mass destruction.
"My government believes this mistake must be corrected."

Key points:​

• The prime minister says Australians have a right to know why the Howard government chose to go to war in Iraq
• Cabinet documents related to the decision were not handed over to be made public by the former Morrison government
• A rapid review will establish whether they were kept secret in error or intentionally

Click to expand...

Well, for mine not having a particular love affair with any side of politics, I would hazard an uneducated guess documents kept in the dark more than likely was intentionally. The Deputy Sheriff and his side kicks can't be shown to be the mugs they really are.

farmerge said:

Well, for mine not having a particular love affair with any side of politics, I would hazard an uneducated guess documents kept in the dark more than likely was intentionally. The Deputy Sheriff and his side kicks can't be shown to be the mugs they really are.

Click to expand...

Absolutely, but we have already been through the weapons of mass destruction scam once, how it will be seen when it is regurgitated again is an unknown.
What are the possible outcomes?
Australia knew that the U.S intelligence was suss, so shouldn't have agreed to go, even though the U.K and some EU countries did.
Or Australia thought the U.S intelligence was legit, but shouldn't have gone, to stand alongside its allies.

Like I say, it's interesting political play, I just can't see much upside for Albo at the moment, when he is trying to strengthen ties with the U.S and the U.K.
So where is the upside for Albo? other than trying to have a go at an old retired politician, by embarrassing your major ally?

I may be reading it completely wrong but IMO it could be another 'voice' debacle and I would think it will be Albo's last, if I'm proven right.
Time will tell.
Maybe you can give a different perspective @farmerge:

sptrawler said:

Absolutely, but we have already been through the weapons of mass destruction scam once, how it will be seen when it is regurgitated again is an unknown.
What are the possible outcomes?
Australia knew that the U.S intelligence was suss, so shouldn't have agreed to go, even though the U.K and some EU countries did.
Or Australia thought the U.S intelligence was legit, but shouldn't have gone, to stand alongside its allies.

Like I say, it's interesting play, I just can't see much upside for Albo at the moment, when he is trying to strengthen ties with the U.S and the U.K.
So where is the upside for Albo, other than trying to have a go at an old retired politician, by embarrassing your major ally?

I may be reading it completely wrong but it could be another 'voice' debacle and I would think it will be Albo's last if I'm proven right.
Time will tell.

Click to expand...

Mr sp I think that Airbus is trying to show up what a lying mob of squibs the Libs were back then and perhaps trying prove he is much better.

farmerge said:

Mr sp I think that Airbus is trying to show up what a lying mob of squibs the Libs were back then and perhaps trying prove he is much better.

Click to expand...

Well best of luck with that, as I said I think even back then the general belief was that the WMD was suss, so I hope he lands it well.
It is going to be as uncomfortable for him, as it is going to be for the U.S, the U.K and most people involved.

As Sir Humphrey Appleby would say, "That's a very courageous decision Prime Minister".

sptrawler said:

Well best of luck with that, as I said I think even back then the general belief was that the WMD was suss, so I hope he land it well. It is going to be as uncomfortable for him, as it is going to be for the U.S, the U.K and most people involved.

Click to expand...

I'm no lover of the past or present pollies all dead do-dos I reckon. Professional bum polishers looking after this 3 year stint and the hip pocket nerve.