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well, ya know, i for one am just so stoked that Qld's politicians will get a fat pay rise over the nest year.
2% in September
another 2.25% in March
AND another 2% next SeptemberWell done them, they are doing such a great job. And definitely deserve that extra money
What's that Mariner? You can't remember the last time your pay increased? You're laying off staff and cutting hours in several business units? Ah well, sucks to not have a Government job i guess aye? Just make sure you keep paying your payroll tax, somethings got to fund Ana's lifestyle.
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I wish I understood defence spending and why it's necessary for the world to continually use enormous resources to continually compete with one another. Does Australia need a submarine fleet? I guess it just annoys me that the billions and billions spent on defence around the world could be used in far better ways.
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@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
I wish I understood defence spending and why it's necessary for the world to continually use enormous resources to continually compete with one another. Does Australia need a submarine fleet? I guess it just annoys me that the billions and billions spent on defence around the world could be used in far better ways.
Two reasons:
- We're an island, and
- Antipodean needs a job.
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@antipodean said in Aussie Politics:
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
I wish I understood defence spending and why it's necessary for the world to continually use enormous resources to continually compete with one another. Does Australia need a submarine fleet? I guess it just annoys me that the billions and billions spent on defence around the world could be used in far better ways.
Two reasons:
- We're an island, and
- Antipodean needs a job.
A grossly underpopulated island with huge resources!
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@hooroo said in Aussie Politics:
@antipodean said in Aussie Politics:
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
I wish I understood defence spending and why it's necessary for the world to continually use enormous resources to continually compete with one another. Does Australia need a submarine fleet? I guess it just annoys me that the billions and billions spent on defence around the world could be used in far better ways.
Two reasons:
- We're an island, and
- Antipodean needs a job.
A grossly underpopulated island with huge resources!
someone could invade the Northern Territory and honestly no one on the East Coast would know for 2 weeks. Not sure many would care
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@mariner4life yeah, grossly overpopulated due to immense size
I was saying this the other day, all the hot air about WA breaking away, if they did they would have to be one of the most physically isolated "countries" in the world, a huge desert on one side and a vast ocean on the other
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@kiwiwomble said in Aussie Politics:
@mariner4life yeah, grossly overpopulated due to immense size
I was saying this the other day, all the hot air about WA breaking away, if they did they would have to be one of the most physically isolated "countries" in the world, a huge desert on one side and a vast ocean on the other
Perth already is the most isolated major city in the world. It's why they are weird as fuck over there
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@mariner4life yeah, i guess i was just saying they'd really be hanging out there in the wind if not part of aus in regards to defence etc
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@antipodean said in Aussie Politics:
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
I wish I understood defence spending and why it's necessary for the world to continually use enormous resources to continually compete with one another. Does Australia need a submarine fleet? I guess it just annoys me that the billions and billions spent on defence around the world could be used in far better ways.
Two reasons:
- We're an island, and
- Antipodean needs a job.
Out of interest below is the military spending from some other island nations. I am surprised Japan which has a sordid history with China doesn't spend more. And nations like Ireland have drastically reduced their spend from around 1.7% of GDP down to 0.3%. I am kind of surprised NZ spends as much as they do. Perhaps we deem the threat higher so need to spend more. I just wonder if it really matters how much we spend in relation to the risk of being invaded by "The Enemy"
Per capita spend on Military ($USD)
Australia $1079
New Zealand $624
Japan $388
Ireland $231Share of GDP
Australia 2.1%
New Zealand 1.5%
Japan 1.0%
Ireland 0.3% -
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@antipodean said in Aussie Politics:
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
I wish I understood defence spending and why it's necessary for the world to continually use enormous resources to continually compete with one another. Does Australia need a submarine fleet? I guess it just annoys me that the billions and billions spent on defence around the world could be used in far better ways.
Two reasons:
- We're an island, and
- Antipodean needs a job.
Out of interest below is the military spending from some other island nations. I am surprised Japan which has a sordid history with China doesn't spend more. And nations like Ireland have drastically reduced their spend from around 1.7% of GDP down to 0.3%. I am kind of surprised NZ spends as much as they do. Perhaps we deem the threat higher so need to spend more. I just wonder if it really matters how much we spend in relation to the risk of being invaded by "The Enemy"
Per capita spend on Military ($USD)
Australia $1079
New Zealand $624
Japan $388
Ireland $231Share of GDP
Australia 2.1%
New Zealand 1.5%
Japan 1.0%
Ireland 0.3%We spend, not to just defend ourselves, but to also support our allies as well in the hope that if it turns to custard towards us they pitch in to help us.
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@hooroo I understand that, but the question is if "The Enemy" invaded Ireland would we all just do nothing because they clearly aren't spending much.
I guess it just annoys me that we spend so much on "Securing our future" when the likelihood of all-out war must be very slim. China seems to be taking over the world with their economy not their tanks.
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@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@hooroo I understand that, but the question is if "The Enemy" invaded Ireland would we all just do nothing because they clearly aren't spending much.
I guess it just annoys me that we spend so much on "Securing our future" when the likelihood of all-out war must be very slim. China seems to be taking over the world with their economy not their tanks.
But just like the scouts we need to be prepared. We can't just stop and hope
Only other way I can see is if God is proven and he makes an appearance and says y'all need to be getting rid of the guns and sheet
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@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@hooroo I understand that, but the question is if "The Enemy" invaded Ireland would we all just do nothing because they clearly aren't spending much.
No, because they're Irish.
I guess it just annoys me that we spend so much on "Securing our future" when the likelihood of all-out war must be very slim. China seems to be taking over the world with their economy not their tanks.
Australia spends so much because we have this fascination with local jobs. I.e. pork barrelling shit electorates like South Australia. As a result we pay a premium to get a worse product.
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@antipodean said in Aussie Politics:
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@hooroo I understand that, but the question is if "The Enemy" invaded Ireland would we all just do nothing because they clearly aren't spending much.
No, because they're Irish.
I guess it just annoys me that we spend so much on "Securing our future" when the likelihood of all-out war must be very slim. China seems to be taking over the world with their economy not their tanks.
Australia spends so much because we have this fascination with local jobs. I.e. pork barrelling shit electorates like South Australia. As a result we pay a premium to get a worse product.
oh fucking don't get me started on this particular topic...
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@hooroo Can we ever be prepared though, can we ever spend "enough", if China did invade Australia, I don't think it would matter if we spent 1% or 10% of GDP. I just wonder if we were like Ireland and reinvested 1.7% of our GDP into infrastructure, green energy, health, education etc it would benefit far more people.
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@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@hooroo Can we ever be prepared though, can we ever spend "enough", if China did invade Australia, I don't think it would matter if we spent 1% or 10% of GDP. I just wonder if we were like Ireland and reinvested 1.7% of our GDP into infrastructure, green energy, health, education etc it would benefit far more people.
Being prepared is being prepared enough to support our allies
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@hooroo said in Aussie Politics:
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@hooroo Can we ever be prepared though, can we ever spend "enough", if China did invade Australia, I don't think it would matter if we spent 1% or 10% of GDP. I just wonder if we were like Ireland and reinvested 1.7% of our GDP into infrastructure, green energy, health, education etc it would benefit far more people.
Being prepared is being prepared enough to support our allies
What does "prepared" mean though, sounds very ambiguous to me. 90 billion for submarines is something I just don't get.
I guess I am just sad at humanity that we can't as humans get along and instead need to build up these huge armies and posture with each other.
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@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@hooroo said in Aussie Politics:
@chimoaus said in Aussie Politics:
@hooroo Can we ever be prepared though, can we ever spend "enough", if China did invade Australia, I don't think it would matter if we spent 1% or 10% of GDP. I just wonder if we were like Ireland and reinvested 1.7% of our GDP into infrastructure, green energy, health, education etc it would benefit far more people.
Being prepared is being prepared enough to support our allies
What does "prepared" mean though, sounds very ambiguous to me. 90 billion for submarines is something I just don't get.
I guess I am just sad at humanity that we can't as humans get along and instead need to build up these huge armies and posture with each other.
I don't have the answer to that.
Aussie Politics