Australia Is Such an Overpriced Sh**hole - AAARGH

[Wand]

Originally Posted by steve ripples

I say, steady on chaps...

Quite right - starting gun goes off in the bay just under two hours hence...

[D&D]

Originally Posted by At sea

You fellas ought to get real

For the benefit of overseas observers being amused by all this -- Yes, David_Old_Jersey, "Australian Politics probably does not count"! -- let's indeed get real...

Originally Posted by At sea

a twice duly elected government

Like the majority of Australians, we voted against the previous conservative government, but not for their economic policies (which were excellent) but rather on issues of credit. Also like the majority of Australians, however, we did NOT vote to support the Duck. "Twice elected" perhaps, but with only one (now well-and-truly expired) majority...and in truth now being run by a very small minority between the independents and the faceless men behind the Duck.

Originally Posted by At sea

Australia's economy is among the strongest in the world, unemployment is virtually zero, and the national accounts are in exceptionally good order.

In truth, the Chinese Government can take vastly more credit for the healthy state of the Australian economy than ANY Australian Government. Australia's geographic proximity to the Chinese market and abundance of resources that the Chinese want are very clearly the forces behind Australia's macro-ecomonic health. In fact, Australia is now a split economy...and many sectors of the Australian domestic economy (notabaly those remote to the resources 'boom') are as recessed as their overseas parallels.

If, however, we are focussed on Australian Governments, then there is absolutely no escaping the fact that Australia's current relatively healthy position is hugely attributable to the previous, conservative Government that positioned the economy with substantial surpluses when the recession hit. Simply put, the current Government inherited a windfall.

With repsect (a persepctive that is clearly not shared here), it seems that some of us are indeed At sea...

[GeoPowers]

So on the downside you Aussies have expensive boats. But on the upside you have Australian girls. Sounds like a fair trade to me!!

Frank

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by GeoPowers

So on the downside you Aussies have expensive boats. But on the upside you have Australian girls. Sounds like a fair trade to me!!

Frank

PMSL..... soooo, expensive boats offset by cheap girls.... mmmm
LMAO.... I know you didn't mean it, bit you're in such deep water, buddy
You better start throwing flowers, and diggin'....

[T1 Terry]

Kinda put off by the "Sh**hole " comment but with the mining boom and the fact that anyone who wants a job has one prices here will remain at their true value. I see the prices of stuff in the US, then the price to try and get it here or find a US seller who will sell outside the US ..... tried a US shipping company Ship...... I won't actually name them, after being ripped off $ 500 I still don't have my gear, never again. It might be expensive to buy over here but at least you get the item and have someone to answer to any problems.
Do you honestly think stuff would be cheap in the US if people had the money to buy it? I look at the price of motorhomes in the US and it compares with luxury boats, cheap as chips at the moment, but I'm still happy with the motorhome I'm building, I know exactly what's under the shiny skin.
If stuff really is cheaper in the US and they want to sell the stuff, why are they so #@%* hard to get along with, why is freight so expensive yet free from China? Time for a big wake up call me things.

T1 Terry

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by At sea

I do stick to cruising - that's why I didn't respond to Joli's original ignorant comments but rather just to the para that was relevant to this thread.

But your comment in the first quoted sentence above is simply rabid nonsense - and evidently so. Australia's economy is among the strongest in the world, unemployment is virtually zero, and the national accounts are in exceptionally good order.

And yet you poor conservative types can't bring youselves to concede a skerrick of respect for atwice duly elected government that has delivered these outcomes while other nations endured recessions.

You fellas ought to get real.

I remember crewing in a little club race when I was a teenager. It was a totally insignificant race with anything that could float having a go, including a new member who'd just rolled up with a cat.
We all knew he'd win hands down, but nobody cared.

Well, he stuffed the start completely, but soon got to the head of the pack, only to lose it again when he couldn't round the bouy. He had no idea about backfilling his jib. He was all over the place and eventually gybed and nearly capsized. At another point he was in irons so badly he had no chance to catch the fleet, but he drifted across a sandbank that happened to put him in front of the fleet again, although missing 2 bouys.

He crossed the line in front, and there was no telling him he hadn't won the race fair and square. He had the fastest boat and was first over the line and that was all that counted in his mind.
I guess anyone who didn't know what was really going on might have thought he did too...

Don't mistake favourable winds and a good, forgiving boat for brains and skill...
Just sayin...

[GeoPowers]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

PMSL..... soooo, expensive boats offset by cheap girls.... mmmm
LMAO.... I know you didn't mean it, bit you're in such deep water, buddy
You better start throwing flowers, and diggin'....

Haha! No, I guess that didn't exactly come out right! And I think anything I say will only make it worse so I'll stop while I'm only knee-deep.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by T1 Terry

Kinda put off by the "Sh**hole " comment

Maybe you need to get out more.
Apart from arguably our beaches, everything here is sub par compared to most other parts of the world.

but with the mining boom and the fact that anyone who wants a job has one prices here will remain at their true value.

True Value for who?
Not everyone is earning $150k a year working the mines.
Apparently, many are struggling with the ever increasing prices bought on by the so called "mining boom"

[savoir]

Originally Posted by T1 Terry

Kinda put off by the "Sh**hole " comment but with the mining boom and the fact that anyone who wants a job has one prices here will remain at their true value. I see the prices of stuff in the US, then the price to try and get it here or find a US seller who will sell outside the US ..... tried a US shipping company Ship...... I won't actually name them, after being ripped off $ 500 I still don't have my gear, never again. It might be expensive to buy over here but at least you get the item and have someone to answer to any problems.
Do you honestly think stuff would be cheap in the US if people had the money to buy it? I look at the price of motorhomes in the US and it compares with luxury boats, cheap as chips at the moment, but I'm still happy with the motorhome I'm building, I know exactly what's under the shiny skin.
If stuff really is cheaper in the US and they want to sell the stuff, why are they so #@%* hard to get along with, why is freight so expensive yet free from China? Time for a big wake up call me things.

T1 Terry

I have been freighting boat gear USA - Australia regularly since 2006 and never had a problem. You are just dealing with the wrong people. I also buy CDs and books from Amazon. Post office gives the best rate on freight provided the stuff is below 10kg or so.

The only caution is to break up the shipments so they are below $1000 in value. Even above $1000 there is no drama, you just have to pay the tax man.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Maybe you need to get out more.
Apart from arguably our beaches, everything here is sub par compared to most other parts of the world.

Meant to say many things are subpar, not everything.
Thinking things like Transportation, communications, general living expenses for those on average wages or less.

Where are our high speed (300kph) trains linking outer suburbs and towns to inner city?
Where are our underground train systems and monorail when there?
Where is the high speed and invariably free internet available in the cities?
The extensive mobile phone reception without the vast gaping holes that we have?
The high quality roads?

For such a supposedly wealthy nation with almost unlimited resources why don't we have this when other so called 3rd world countries can?

[savoir]

Not enough taxpayers.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Meant to say many things are subpar, not everything.
Thinking things like Transportation, communications, general living expenses for those on average wages or less.

Where are our high speed (300kph) trains linking outer suburbs and towns to inner city?
Where are our underground train systems and monorail when there?

Low density living and small population precludes these as profitable.

Where is the high speed and invariably free internet available in the cities?

Currently using free (and fast) internet 20 K's outside of Perth CBD (but perhaps you don't enjoy so much coverage in your home state).
The extensive mobile phone reception without the vast gaping holes that we have?
Again I have rarely been without mobile coverage (using the "Big" service provider) and figures seem to quote coverage for 98% or 99% of the population.
The high quality roads?
The tyranny of distance and low population levels outside the coastal plains.

For such a supposedly wealthy nation with almost unlimited resources why don't we have this when other so called 3rd world countries can?

Hmm... you must have been visiting very different 3rd world countries than I have been. The ones I have seen in the last few decades didn't have portable water on tap everywhere, decent housing standards, marinas, beaches, fishing etc all available to the majority of the population rather than just the ruling elite. To say nothing of a somewhat reasonable justice system.

Now if only we could work out how to run this country without politicians (or government departments), we would be in paradise - oh wait, I forgot we had no surface water for 10 years out of every 20.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by savoir

Not enough taxpayers.

OK, you are more succinct than me

[D&D]

Originally Posted by Wotname

OK, you are more succinct than me

...and us...

This thread's putting on a bit of a show......must be all that Aussie sunshine soaking into our heads, making us rather fiesty little Forum feeders...

[matauwhi]

G'day, Cat man do. You mentioned motoring her out of OZ to finish it, but never mentioned going East. Pick this apart:

1. Fly to U.S. Buy all your gear, load a container, ship container to New Zealand clearly marked for "Vessel in Transit, Cat man do."
2. Fly back to Oz and motor the boat to N.Z.
3. Arrive N.Z., get temporary import for 6 months (if you work the system a little bit, I think you can still get it extended for up to another year). If not, you can always motor to Lord Howe and back for a bit of a holiday.
4. No visas issues for you, since we each can live and work in each other's countries for as long as we want
5. Finish the boat and motor North.

Cheers.