Elections

[Mav]

That’s tame from The Australian. Surely, Rupert could come up with a better scare campaign than that …

Funny how the Murdoch press argues that all of the Budget moves will be passed on 100% to the poor consumer but when they want to go for a 2nd bite of the cherry they focus on those impacts forming tax deductions coming out of the federal budget. Sure, it’s rank hypocrisy but would we expect information or disinformation from Rupert? He spins better than Warnie.

And how terrible that the changes may reverse the Liberals’ wet dream of stripping the government school system of students and resources. What a laugh that the Budget changes will hurt government schools by interfering with the private schools’ heroic and altruistic attempts to take the pressure off them  ^-^

[ElwoodBlues1]

That’s tame from The Australian. Surely, Rupert could come up with a better scare campaign than that …

Funny how the Murdoch press argues that all of the Budget moves will be passed on 100% to the poor consumer but when they want to go for a 2nd bite of the cherry they focus on those impacts forming tax deductions coming out of the federal budget. Sure, it’s rank hypocrisy but would we expect information or disinformation from Rupert? He spins better than Warnie.

And how terrible that the changes may reverse the Liberals’ wet dream of stripping the government school system of students and resources. What a laugh that the Budget changes will hurt government schools by interfering with the private schools’ heroic and altruistic attempts to take the pressure off them  ^-^

Its like the Private Health system and Private Insurance....if it isnt there then all those patients end up overwhelming the public system. Im not in favour of over funding the Private school system and my kids and myself went to local public schools but the reality is Private Schools are an evil you have to have and the public system doesnt need any overflow of students from parents unable to afford Private anymore. That only drags the public system down and drains resources from families and kids who need extra support and care. My son teaches grade 5/6 and has 30 in his class this year, he has a couple of special needs kids who need teachers aides but there isnt any money for it......why make that situation worse?

[Mav]

Change the funding system to reverse the flow of money into private schooling that the Liberals engineered and make sure the students returning to government schools bring the funding back with them and you’ll have a far better education system. Gonski recommended needs-based funding but the Liberals were happy to listen to lobbying from private schools of various religious affiliations. The end of the payroll tax exemption is finally a small but virtually insignificant step in the right direction.

[madbluboy]

Like Terry McCrann said we are broke.

[LP]

Interesting the Commonwealth Games announcement.

I suspected at the time the costs / bidding was all a bit dubious. because coming out of COVID I was hearing from mates in construction and event business that costs were skyrocketing and the announced budget was basically the same as a pre-COVID 2018 games. Some materials have gone up twofold or threefold in cost, also not directly but because resources are being redirected the decision to cut forestry in Vic has made things even worse. All this feeds back.

I wonder how much of the estimated budget overrun is really increased material costs, versus contractors trying to recover their loss of income over COVID?

You'd have to be pretty nervous working on big projects at the moment, but on the bright side there might be a fresh material for a new episode of Utopia!

Those of you who do not follow this stuff won't be surprised to find the average blowout for a Comm games is about +50%, Brisbane was almost 100% and Birmingham was 43%. There are accusations of creative accounting for the Birmingham games with allegations some expenses were funnelled into special COVID budgets not included in the final report.

[kruddler]

Interesting the Commonwealth Games announcement.

I suspected at the time the costs / bidding was all a bit dubious. because coming out of COVID I was hearing from mates in construction and event business that costs were skyrocketing and the announced budget was basically the same as a pre-COVID 2018 games. Some materials have gone up twofold or threefold in cost, also not directly but because resources are being redirected the decision to cut forestry in Vic has made things even worse. All this feeds back.

I wonder how much of the estimated budget overrun is really increased material costs, versus contractors trying to recover their loss of income over COVID?

You'd have to be pretty nervous working on big projects at the moment, but on the bright side there might be a fresh material for a new episode of Utopia!

Those of you who do not follow this stuff won't be surprised to find the average blowout for a Comm games is about +50%, Brisbane was almost 100% and Birmingham was 43%. There are accusations of creative accounting for the Birmingham games with allegations some expenses were funnelled into special COVID budgets not included in the final report.

Smart move really.

There is a reason that the construction industry has businesses toppling over like dominos of late.

Costs of everything have gone through the roof in both labour and materials. The demand for trades is sky high and they can name their price in a lot of instances. Suggesting a blowout of 3-fold is possibly quite conservative.

Its a case of damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

At least this way we end up with more cash to spend on other things, rather than a lot less.

[LP]

Its a case of damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

I know they made a point of including lots of extra sports, many of which doubled up as para.

I know this question will be offensive to some, but I have to ask it anyway, at what stage do we stop funding blowouts by cutting minority funding?

I've read some of the events more than double in cost when integrating para sports. Are we heading towards such a politically correct ideology that it's either everyone or no-one at all?

Interestingly, the official CGA(Commonwealth games Authority) has gone the other way, and cut the required sports down to just two, Athletics and Swimming are the only two mandatory sports.

And let's not get started on the building industry rules and regulations regarding disability access, regulations that get applied without discrimination across the board!

I have a vivid imagination, but pretty soon I imagine gender or ethnicity neutral(certified) paint colours only, it's going to happen, you just know it!

btw., Some of you might be asking, what is a gender / ethnicity neutral paint colour? Well for other technical reasons it already exists, it's called Munsell / ANSI gray, rather than being made up of a blend of black and white, it's a gray made up of equal parts of all the primary colours so that it reflects all colours evenly and doesn't cast a shadow or glare in any specific hue or tint. It is used in industries that have to control and measure colour as a neutral background for quality control, often a lightbox used to inspect parts of images will be painted with Munsell gray. How long before all public buildings have to be painted in this at the cost of about $325/ltr? There is your episode of Utopia right there!

[Lods]

As a outsider looking in, with no knowledge of the State's financial situation...it looks a bit embarrassing.
Countries cancelling such events are usually the poorer nations.

The regional nature of the games and the spread around the State always seemed a bit strange, rather than a central Melbourne location.

[tonyo]

As a outsider looking in, with no knowledge of the State's financial situation...it looks a bit embarrassing.
Countries cancelling such events are usually the poorer nations.

The regional nature of the games and the spread around the State always seemed a bit strange, rather than a central Melbourne location.

Victoria came in as the 'saviour' in April last year after there were no other takers, and in response to a request from the Commonwealth Games Federation.  Pretty sure Andrews et al saw it as a great opportunity to announce justifiable pork barrelling of some regional areas prior to a State election last November. 

Given the limited interest, especially in terms of telecast rights around the globe, the numbers just don't stack up any more for this event, and anyway, how many international visitors will be attracted to Bendigo and Traralgon as a result?

Funny, though, how those that are now moaning about the reputational damage would no doubt have been the same critics if it had gone ahead and poured $6b+ down the gurgler.

Moral is, don't host any events unless they are worth hosting.

[Gointocarlton]

Victoria came in as the 'saviour' in April last year after there were no other takers, and in response to a request from the Commonwealth Games Federation.

The CEO of the Comm Games Craig Phillips said in his presser today that the statement about Victoria coming in last minute as the saviour is BS.