Everyone who doesn’t want to engage with my nutty rants is terrified of my superior intellect.

Lets leave it there shall we. If you genuinely believe that a party can be better by every metric but fail to form government, then I can’t help you understand politics. Well done.

Sorry boss, you don’t seem to understand how our politics works.

Why haven’t the majors had a political reason until now? Every major party has wanted to be elected since forever. If this is such a straight shot, an obvious win, why hasn’t one of the major parties just done it?

the better option

That’s subjective, obviously: I’m not sure who your “better option” is but given that we do not have free dental I can only conclude that this better option is a minor party. This might shock you but minor parties can just make up whatever policies will gather votes for them because they don’t have to form government and actually implement them.

health care card holders

We’re not talking about only health care card holders.

If everyone wants free dental then why isn’t it already a thing?

If it’s such a no-brainer with obvious unilateral support then why isn’t it included in medicare? Or why doesn’t every state government implement it?

Sorry mate, I don’t know what to tell you. This is how the political cycle works. Announce a big policy and take it to an election so the public can decide whether they want it.

The public won’t disapprove of it by majority.

You don’t know that. It’s an expensive policy, and plenty of people with private health insurance would feel like their taxes are subsidising the bad decisions of the poors.

The surcharges suck, and in another month they won’t be allowed, but it’s not as though everything is going to be cheaper in the long run.

What we want is for the list price to be the final price, instead of this plus this plus that nonsense.

Yes, by carrying cash things might be 1% cheaper, but most people are happy to pay an extra 1% for the convenience of not carrying cash.

That said, as a card-only person for decades, I think I’m old and grumpy enough to start carrying cash again just because I don’t like my bank being all up in my stuff.

The last time this thread came up there were some convincing comments suggesting that the over torque protection for philips was not an intended feature.

That’s not really how the political cycle works. An expensive policy like this needs to be taken to an election, so people can decide whether they really think it’s a good idea. If they get elected then they have a mandate to implement it.

Haah. Sweet.

Such small dick energy. Look at this amazing car that I pretend is mine.

I still like to chuckle about his fluffer from that arrest video, I wonder what he’s up to now.

Yep. Personally my first choice is the t490. Theres so many in great condition.

I like to imagine the IT debt in some office building buying and hording t490s just to be sure they don’t lose their budget next year.

It’s so shit.

I’ve spent most of my life wishing for a Labor government with a strong mandate. That finally arrives with the opportunity for real progressive social policy and suddenly they decide they want to be centrist.

Fuckwits. This is not what I voted for and it’s unlikely I will vote Labor again.

Not really, the case was finalised last year. This is the predictable appeal, which can almost be seen as a final step where you don’t review the evidence necessarily, but rather review the process followed in the case to ensure everything was fair.

Letting the guy sit around doing nothing for the last 15 years was the abuse.

Its not “cold turkey”, because hes had 15 years to work on it. If he hasn’t, then it’s kind of left over Turkey from last weeks thanks giving which has already been re-heated several times.

The best time to kick him out was 15 years ago. The second best time is now.

LOL. You do you but this sounds like a nightmare to me.

edit: it’s not just “becoming tech support person”, but becoming the default person to blame for everything.

She has two melons though.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-12/melon-gesture-japanese-memo-afp-referral/106840234

Sure, but at some point popular & unpopular becomes concensus & objection.

My point is really that no one bothers to speak in support of these measures because they’re so obviously sensible and everyone’s happy to implement them.

As in, people don’t walk around espousing the virtues of speed limits on highways because it’s just naturally appropriate. However, there’s a few 18 year olds that cry about nanny states and the removal of restrictions because reasons. There’s a vocal opposition, but that doesn’t imply that there’s a democratically significant opposition.

One Nation is the notable exception - they will of course use any opportunity to gather up dissenters.

You’re correct that restrictions only effect law-abiding people.

I think there’s a few things going on.

Firstly, every gun has the potential to cause harm, so less guns is less potential. Halving the number of guns does not halve the risk of harm, but there’s some reduction.

Secondly, I value living in a country where there just aren’t that many guns around. We don’t really have any kind of “gun culture” here. Sure some people feel the need to have a firearm to feel safe but they’re a small minority.

Also, and this is related to both points, without buy backs the number of guns in the system will always increase, as old weapons are more likely to be stored rather than destroyed.

Finally, it reduces the opposition to the new laws. Suppose a decade ago you purchased a weapon that you use for legitimate vermin control but is now illegal. You’re not particularly concerned about that but you still need a weapon for that purpose. At least this way you’re given a chunk of the cost of a replacement.

I’ve found myself using this a whole lot. It really is great for finding foss and / or non-US alternatives.

This is the type of issue which has a small minority in vocal opposition, but broad support from everyone else.