Australia may well be the next Greece.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

As a fifty year old I can tell you the quality of life is nowhere near what it used to be in Australia.Probably the worst example of this is income disparity for example the top 7 Australians are worth 56.6 billion,that exceeds the bottom 1.73 million households or 20 per cent of the population with 54.6 billion.As you know Morrisson and Hockey are currently after the 'spongers'on welfare,yes there is welfare waste but half of newstart recipients are under the poverty line,half of the disability support pension are under the poverty line and a quarter of carers,they are robbing the poor to feed the rich.Analyse the last 80 billion in tax cuts -most ended up in high income earners pockets.

13.9 percent of Australians are under the poverty line which is 400 a week for a single person and 841 per week for a couple with 2 children,Im not in a flash area and the rent on a 3 bedroom house here is about 450 per week.

One in three elderly Australians live in poverty.

When I first hit the workforce in the 1980's if you couldn't get a job you weren't looking,soon there will be no Ford,Toyota or Holden,Mr Hockey says get a good job well tell me Hockey if my kid is in Newcastle,Geelong,Wooloongong Port Kembla where does he get a job,he doesn't they've all been given away under 'trade agreements'

Its not just Abbott I dont think that weve had a Prime Minister thats genuinely cared since Hawke,we've sold down the river a long time.

a reply to: khnum

I have to disagree with your OP, Greece has been brewing for years.

Australia is probably set for some hard times, but we are years away from a Greece like path still..

Abbott will be long gone, and Shorten will be another forgotten opposition leader, certainly won't ever be PM by the time it happens..if it happens.

a reply to: babybunnies

True but you need income to pay the bills and Australia like Canada relies heavily on commodities.Commodity prices have tanked so guess where your and my government is going to fill the vacuum-our wallets.

a reply to: Chadwickus

Well I hope it doesn't all blow up as for Shorten Ill probably move to Thailand hes told us up front he wants our savings and pensions so they can continue to operate in the manner which they are accustomed.That being said I cant vote for Abbott either I hope Nick Xenephon has a crew together before the next election.

originally posted by: Soloprotocol
I thought the Aussies struck it rich with a Maaaaahooosive Oil strike in the desert a couple of years back.?

Useless in today's market. The price per barrel is down below $50 and falling daily....

a reply to: snowspirit

Its actually shale oil which is too expensive at 40 something a barrel to produce,your nation according to a Toronto Dominion economist is probably now in recession due to lower oil prices.

a reply to: khnum

Yes, we are in a recession again, the value of our dollar against the US dollar seems to be dropping daily as well. A lot of job losses in our oil patches and related industries.

There was a rumour a while back about the US and Saudi flooding the market to kill Russia's economy (don't know if true), but it's sure done damage in Canada ....

originally posted by: khnum
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

If I wish to discuss the F35 I will go to one of Zaphods threads and learn its praises there I am also familiar with the Rand corporations assessment of it and the F16 designers assessment of it we should of bought the Eurofighter typhoon,

If you wish NOT to discuss it then don't post about it. I simply responded to you.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Well there are politer ways to tell someone that you believe is an idiot that they are an idiot.You believe the F35 is a great long range weapon like the F14 was maybe so, I believe there are better multi role aircraft available for the RAAF we will just have to differ.

a reply to: khnum

As you know Morrisson and Hockey are currently after the 'spongers'on welfare,yes there is welfare waste but half of newstart recipients are under the poverty line,

Oh, there is a massive waste in the wefare system, but its not by people who are claiming newstart (or dole bludgers, if you'd prefer). The government pays 8 billion a year for newstart payments, which is actually good for the economy, since that's 8 billion dollars a year which is being circulated into local economies and not just sitting in the saving accounts of the middle and upper class.

Problem is, newstart is meant to be for the purpose of supporting people well they look for work. Now how does a person with bills, rent and other expenses to pay and is only getting $260 a week (plus $60 rent assistance, if they pay over $150 a week rent) manage to put fuel in there car to even get to a job interview? Forget about even considering a hair cut or new clothes... Newstart payments need to be raised by at least $50 a week in order to be effective for what there meant for (helping people find work), rather than just preventing people from starving to death.

But the real problem with the newstart system are the job network providers, who get paid by the government to help you look for work though training and support... but trust me, they do everything but! Just trying to get a $10 fuel card to drive to a job is usually a major ordeal.

I actually had an employer who had a job for me if I could hook up a fork lift license. So I went to my job network provider to get them to pay for it (since there obligated to do so) and they told me they would pay for me to get my forklift ticket, but that I would have to do a full time 3 week course (a forklift license course is usually a 3 day course). Thing is, these dodgy pricks knew full well I was already working 3 days a week and wouldn't be able to do a 3 week course. In other words, it was just there clever little way of refusing to pay for my forklift license.

They don't even want you working, because being unemployed makes you a commodity to them. They just make you go in there once a month and get you to sign some papers, then send you off and collect there check from the government.

Four corners even uncovered countless cases of fraud by these jobnetwork providers about 6 months ago. But the government still hasn't done much of anything to fix the inefficiency of the system. They'd rather just keep paying untold millions of tax payer dollars out to them and then just go after people claiming newstart, who can barely afford to feed themselves.

The whole system is a incompetent waste of tax dollars and a complete disgrace.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

I was unemployed in the early 1990's there was high unemployment at the time and it took 4 months to get a job, even back then I had to dip into savings to get through,at that time yes there were dole bludgers for example 5 guys could get a house down the Gold Coast pool their resources and live pretty damn well.The CES used to be good there were no agencies back then other than independant head hunter agencies for white collar jobs.There Is not many dole bludgers now too many hoops to jump through,too many audits to catch you.There are long term unemployed though and youth unemployment is 13.4 per cent for 15-24 year olds, in my day you could afford a car its registration and petrol but not these days rego is 800 a year on a limited income whocan afford that ?.

The disgrace is that this government is not creating jobs,Hockey can pontificate all he wants that if your young your either in a job or your in training well without the creation of jobs all there will be is training to qualify people for jobs that dont exist

So thats the scenario what we might discuss now is how to protect oneself from Government and bank confiscations and other unpleasantries should the worst occur,that I am not clued up on.

The scenario is a bit worse than you suggest because australia's mining sector is at least 83 per cent foreign-owned. We have all but sold the farm with little left but the housing bubble from keeping the economy from collapsing, The problem isn't really confined to Australia though, USD is rising because its the best port in a storm. Worlds wealth is exiting derivatives into cash which has caused commodities like oil to collapse.

There are a lot of survival video's in youtube for shtf scenario's but without going to extreme's you could start examining your outgoings to try to reduce them as much as possible (debt, taxes, petrol, power, gas, water etc). Lot more people in melbourne of late are using electric bicycles (cargo bike like Yuba Mundo etc) to travel to work/shopping etc. Also try reduce the size of your home to reduce energy costs etc. Plant a vegetable garden, have couple of chooks for protein etc

Government might end up commandeering superannuation funds to keep the over-bloated and overpaid government sector paid so try keep one step ahead their actions.

a reply to: khnum

The F35 can't turn, can’t climb, can’t run but they say it can deliver missiles to targets before the targets can see them, but I personally wouldn't gamble 12.4 billion that opponents wont be able to develop lower frequency radars to see stealth aircraft in the near future.

a reply to: glend

The Russians claim they can see stealth allready if so thats a lot of money invested in nothing.Thanks for your other post too I might look into a Belgian passport as my grandfather was Belgian,when the hammer comes down expect travel restrictions as well as financial ones.

a reply to: khnum

Dual passport is a wonderful option to have. I feel that we will see much the same in a controlled slo-mo collapse so try not to make any grand decisions on fear that might never become a reality. I cannot see them restricting travel unless the world is at war.

"unless the world is at war" ? The world IS at war - sure it is not total war but that seems inevitably close right now and With China converting thousands of cargo ships to troop carriers I have a intuitive feeling that we might not get away so lucky this time - With our guns gone if the USA had it's hands tied elsewhere we are sitting ducks.

Australia is no longer the lucky country - it is just not felt and seen by all YET. The complacency and "it will never happen here" attitude is going to make it all the harder. I'm no doom merchant but I am predicting that we here in Aus are about to suffer from harsher austerity measures than ever imagined. I see our big banks collapsing - house market collapsing, pensions and super funds confiscated, mass inflation and being knees deep in a big f*&k off ww3 that we may not emerge so victorious from ! ( if you - like me believe Pt Arthur was a FF to take our guns - then the next logical conclusion is why .. ??? Hmmmm ) and I am looking at the near future not some far off prediction.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
I hope to god and the alien overlords I am wrong

Glend and Mungbean......good posts. We all are in VERY interesting and volatile times. Yes, money is rushing to the US dollar as the least of several unsafe ports in a storm, but the strong dollar will further f##k the economy there, and then WHERE do you go? The seasaw in many political/finance/social trends will tip this Oct !st, or near abouts (read Martin Armstrong). Here in NZ the milk price has plummeted and many over extended farmers are in the #...... just hoping they don't sell our farms to the Chinese. Actually I'm guessing that China is just muscle flexing as needed they may believe to claim big hunks of Sth China Sea for oil etc.......or they too are worried about a more major war in 2017

And Aussie is a MAJOR ally (possession) of the U.S. who would never wish to lose it to China any more than Europe would allow Greece to be lost to Russia. I hope the E.U. collapses before it can do much more damage. You'll be better off in Aussie than most places I think.

a reply to: Stevinipetini

but the strong dollar will further f##k the economy there, and then WHERE do you go

I too will be checking Martiin Armstrongs website to find out

a reply to: Stevinipetini

The Doco. I saw last night, was about the Chinese, buying up vast swathes of Queensland, because the Banks owned the third and forth generation farmers that were broke due to the drought .On the surface its starting to look like China is going to go Expansionist as it drops the single child policy. At present they buy land, import the labour , so it has nil benefit to the country that sold them the land in the first place. This is going on all over the world, the problem will be when they protect their interests when a country wants them out. The safest way would be to lease them land, because you cant buy land in China, only lease it from the Government.

We have the same housing crap in much of the US. I think home prices are artificially kept high somehow. Just look at how housing caused the last recession. I find it suspicious that at the exact same time housing investments in the US cause the recession I read that they were also having a housing bubble in England. That can't be a coincidence, it is an attack on regular people by the bankers.