From the Age in Melbourne.

Discussion in 'Australia, NZ, Pacific' started by Sallyally, Nov 6, 2017.

  1. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    Here's Kim's big chance
    Kim Jong-un needs no missiles to wreck Australian society. The way the constitution is interpreted right now, he could permanently paralyse the Australian government by unilaterally conferring citizenship on all Australians.
     
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  2. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Silly thing is - this has always been a problem - we have just never really adhered to the rules before I think most people see this as a complete and utter waste of time and would rather the governent get back to doing what it is supposed to be doing - fixing things we REALLY care about

    Like making sure the Melbourne Cup is worshipped properly
     
  3. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    You, are a true Australian!
     
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  4. m2catter

    m2catter Well-Known Member

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    Love this one,
    what a circus in a country of migrants.
    The way I see it is you need to be an Australian citizen to serve in the government and that's it, because anything else would be unfair against those immigrants, who call Australia home....
    Regards
     
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  5. scarlet witch

    scarlet witch Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Sorry to be controversial, but having been a dual citizen myself at some point I think it's rather important. When you make a decision to become an Australian citizen it's a commitment to Australia and certainly if you're going to serve the country in parliament or even armed forces I think you need to choose.
     
  6. m2catter

    m2catter Well-Known Member

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    Fair enough.
    I think as long as people love this country I couldn't care how many passports they hold.
    What difference does it make if they give up a nationality which they inherited through their mums/dads?
    But here I am, admittingly an aspiring humanist.....
    Reg.
     
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  7. scarlet witch

    scarlet witch Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Just having a chuckle about this citizenship thing... the media certainly are having fun with it, yesterday it was
    "Pauline Hansen denies being British"
    today it's
    "Jacqui Lambie denies she's Scottish"
    wonder who it will be tomorrow
     
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  8. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    It's hysterical isn't it. The cracker is that it isn't the Labour side and boy are they smug! In a nice way, possums.
     
  9. bigfella

    bigfella Well-Known Member

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    Cute, but I'm pretty sure if this was accurate Matt Canavan would not currently be in Parliament. It is one thing to have citizenship by descent, but entirely another when another person confers it on you without your consent or knowledge. My lawyer mate (who has provided advice to the High Court on at least one occasion, so he's pretty cluey) says the principle is novis actus interveniens . So, fun to think about, but not going to be an issue. :)
     
  10. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    I think it was meant as a joke.
     
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  11. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Hmmm yes that I agree with but some of those caught out had no idea they were dual citizens
     
  12. bigfella

    bigfella Well-Known Member

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    Given what a joke this situation is its kinda hard to tell. I have this vision of a Parliament where only Barnaby Joyce & Pat Dodson are qualified to sit. :D

    ....on a more serious note, it wouldn't be a complete shock if we ended up in an election early next year one way or another.
     
  13. Derideo_Te

    Derideo_Te Well-Known Member

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    Just checked and even though I have an Australian grandmother I don't qualify for citizenship!

    Phew!

    What a relief!

    For a while there I thought that I might have to go around drinking Fosters and calling my wife Sheila!
     
  14. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    IMG_3304.JPG Also from the Age.
     
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  15. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    Not strictly speaking from the Age.



    As reported in the newspaper...

    Commenting on a complaint from a Mr. Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West Gas said, "We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible Mr. Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house."

    (The Daily Telegraph)

    _____

    Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van, because they cannot issue a description. It's a Special Branch vehicle and they don't want the public to know what it looks like.

    (The Guardian)

    _____

    At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coastguard and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied he was sorry, but he didn't have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover off the cliff.

    ( Aberdeen Evening Express)

    _____

    Mrs. Irene Graham of Thorpe Avenue , Boscombe, delighted the audience with her reminiscence of the German prisoner of war who was sent each week to do her garden. He was repatriated at the end of 1945, she recalled. "He'd always seemed a nice friendly chap, but when the crocuses came up in the middle of our lawn in February 1946, they spelt out 'Heil Hitler.'"

    ( Bournemouth Evening Echo)

    ____
    AND .......................................................

    A list of actual announcements that London Tube drivers have made to their

    passengers...

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, I do apologise for the delay to your service. I know you're all dying to get home, unless, of course, you happen to be married to my ex-wife, in which case you'll want to cross over to the Westbound and go in the opposite direction."
    ____

    "Your delay this evening is caused by the line controller suffering from E & B syndrome: not knowing his elbow from his backside. I'll let you know any further information as soon as I'm given any."
    _____

    "Let the passengers off the train FIRST!" (Pause.) "Oh go on then, stuff yourselves in like sardines, see if I care -- I'm going home...."
    _____

    "We can't move off because some idiot has their hand stuck in the door."

    _____

    "Please move all baggage away from the doors." (Pause..) "Please move ALL belongings away from the doors." (Pause...) "This is a personal message to the man in the brown suit wearing glasses at the rear of the train: Put the pie down, Four-eyes, and move your bloody golf clubs away from the door before I come down there and shove them up your arse sideways!"
     
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  16. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    "Strategic risk fears spark cable fund plan"
    Australia takes over Solomon Islands internet project amid spies' concerns about China.
    Australia's spy agencies were so concerned about the security and strategic risks posed by a plan for Chinese firm Huawei to build an internet cable linking the Solomon Islands to Sydney that the Turnbull government will now largely pay for the project itself.
    Is it about time we started to counter or at least, equal, Chinese influence in the Pacific? I think so. Your thoughts?
     
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  17. scarlet witch

    scarlet witch Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    That's really interesting, I also noticed an article with Trump stating he'll consider the TPP if the deal for the US improves. Although a topic of it's own (and not sure I would want to deal with Trump who has a reputation of screwing everyone) clearly the US and Australia recognise what previous US Administrations have also acknowledged for a long time. If America disengage from Asia, China will fill the gap. It sounds innocent enough but make no mistake, unless the US increase their presence in Asia, China will rule this area with an iron fist, dare to step out of line and you'll be squeeeeezed.... economically, until you choke. South Korea/China Thaad sanctions perfect example.

    We don't have the money to throw around like the Chinese... therefore even if we pay for this project, certainly won't be able to pay for every project the Chinese throws in our direction especially without other smaller Asian nations and the help of the US. China will not stop, it's decision time for America... in or out. On the long term for the US it would also mean losing Australia as a political ally, we may be able to hold off another... I dunno.... 50 years if we're lucky...
     
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  18. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    Yep. I always feel as if I'm unduly paranoid about this stuff but when you consider Tibet and China re the Dalai Llama, or translocating Chinese to dilute troublesome ethnic areas it seems that they can be very singleminded.
    Yes the TPP is a big question. It was a stinker as far as Aust was concerned.
    What do you think this Claytons TPP will be like if it goes ahead without the US and China? Is it viable? Is it a third trading bloc able to flex its' muscle as an equal with China and the US?
     
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  19. scarlet witch

    scarlet witch Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    yes I agree with you, I noticed Bill Shorten asked for Independent modelling figures for the TPP and the government is baulking at this idea which says a lot... if you add in having to pay Trump to participate, I hope Labor stick to their guns and absolutely insist on independent modelling of the TPP.
     
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  20. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    I'd forgotten about the China Aust free trade agreement that Andrew Robb negotiated. This on the surface looks favourable for Aust.
     
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  21. LeftRightLeft

    LeftRightLeft Well-Known Member

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    Turnbull taking over their internet layout would definitely stop spies accessing the network. He would hand it to NBN Co and it would never work properly.
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2018
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  22. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    Very good!
     
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  23. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    :p:p:p:p:p
     
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  24. Derideo_Te

    Derideo_Te Well-Known Member

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    Good points about China!

    :applause:

    It certainly is growing as a superpower and it is doing so as an ECONOMIC superpower rather than a military one. The Chinese are experts at the game of GO and in order to win you have to play the "long game" and see many moves ahead. With a weakened economy America cannot compete as a nation and multinational corporations owe no allegiance to America and will simply pivot and work with whichever nation provides the best tax/profit margin.

    Australia is definitely at a disadvantage and should seek to align itself with all of the nations that are in the zone threatened by China. United they can stand up to being bullied because individually they will be crushed.

    One point about China that is overlooked is that it too has to deal with a changing demographic. Not in the traditional sense of different ethnicities but the growing "affluent middle class" with money to spend. China does not offer as many options for spending money so this upcoming demographic is looking beyond the borders. They are internet literate and are aware that there are other economic and government systems. Hard line Communism is not going to work on the newly affluent and educated demographic. If anything that would lead to widespread unrest and political turmoil.

    Instead I see the Chinese government modifying it's stance in the future and embracing it's own form of "capitalist communism" which will be sort of the inverse of Social Democracy. Yes, the next 50 years are going to be fascinating for your region and you have a front row seat. ;)
     
  25. bigfella

    bigfella Well-Known Member

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    Good post. A couple of quibbles.

    China's growth as a superpower is as much military as it is economic. It is just easier to expand influence economically. The speed with which China is modernizing & the speed with which its blue water navy is growing scares all its neighbors silly. Once upon a time it was just a numbers game - China was a military power because it was big, but it couldn't project. That has already changed and it is changing every day. The only way to contain that capability is regional solidarity.

    The other quibble is the whole 'China plays the long game/sees many moves ahead' thing. Not having a go at you, but this is a heavily ethnicized view of Chinese leadership that is highly questionable. All very 'inscrutable orientals'. Certainlky the image the CCP wants people to have, but not always the result they get. Have a look at the last 120 years. Have a look at the last 70. Just go back to 1989. The ability to see 'moves ahead' should have meant that the Burmese military didn't expel the Chinese & decide to share power with its greatest enemy rather than remain a close Chinese ally. Didn't go that way It should mean that China doesn't repeat the mistakes of post-independence European involvement in Africa, yet it seems determined to do just that, and is already in the bad books of an awful lot of people there in a remarkably short time.

    China is capable of impressive feats of forward planning & strategic insight. It is just as capable of massive failings in both respects. So, pretty much like every other major power, just bigger & scarier if you live in the region.
     

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