Bobbsy

I'm with Peach. Look at it this way. If you need to carry six people, is it really worth buying a mini instead of a people carrier just because the mini is cheaper? I believe the phrase is "false economy". The FTTN technology the LNP wants to foist on us has already been rejected as a mistake by both BT in the UK and the New Zealand telco. The fact that other countries have already tried it, sold it and rejected it shows just how far behind Australia is. Do we want to rely on tearing up our country to mine coal that the rest of the world is trying to stop using--or do we want an infrastructure suitable for high tech industries? His mates Gina and Rupert have told Tony to go for the coal.

No stranger should ever slap another's child. Ever. Let me say that, as a parent I believe in spankings as the last deterrent. Note I said spankings, not lashing out in anger and hitting indiscriminately. The vast majority of the time, the mere threat is enough to make the point and improve behaviour--and it certainly produces a far more balanced and better-mannered child than all the time out corners in the world. Yeah, I'm sixty and was brought up this was in the 1950s...and I also brought up my own children (now 30 and 27) that way in the 1980s and early 90s. Those two turned out to be great children--no neuroses, no psychological problems, well mannered in every situation and doing well in their own lives. Suffice to say that our 8 year old afterthought is being raised exactly the same and has won school awards for his manners and helping others. It's worth saying that he's had maybe 2 spankings in his life...the rest of the time all it takes is to start counting and the deterrent works. But that's for parents. Strangers should NOT discipline others' children except maybe in the very unusual circumstance where the child is in physical danger.

So what do some UK sites have to do with broadband in Australia? Yeah, things are more expensive here...but things are what they are. I pay $109 per month for my bundled phone (with unlimited calls anywhere in Australia) and broadband ("up to" 20 Mbps but the best I can get is under 4 Mbps.). The NBN (unless the LNP mess it all up will cost almost exactly the same but for a vastly improved service for me. Although I'd love "cheap", quality is more important to me BTW. (Oh, and that $110 would equate to £45 if the UK hadn't plunged into recession and converted the British Pound to the British Peso--by following the same sort of philosophy beloved of the LNP.) One other point...you haven't paid for the NBN...for a couple of reasons. First, the capital cost is being handled by government borrowing, not your taxes...and it will all be paid back to the government over a period of years. Second, the rates you're talking about aren't just for the line from your home to your ISP. It also includes all the bandwidth you use to connect to the rest of the world. Guess what...undersea fibre or satellite circuits from Australia to the rest of the world are more expensive than those from the UK--because Australia is 10,000km from anywhere. The same applies to the connection to your house. The population density in the UK meant that I was about a kilometer from my local exchange there and most people were similar. The larger properties and sparser population mean that you can be 3 or 4km from the nearest exchange...and that's why we need FTTH not FTTN.

There's only basically one broadband supplier in Australia right now and that's Telstra who own practically all the copper cable infrastructure. (Optus has a little but it's minimal, none of the others like Dodo, iiNet, etc. etc.) own any. They just buy at wholesale rates from Telstra and sell onto you. So that's different from what the NBN will be doing how? You can pre-register you interest in NBN broadband on most of the providers. (Except, of course, it'll work rather than be rusty old cable that fails when it gets wet or an engineer touches it.)

Reminds me of that line from Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy where the bureaucrat says the planning application has been available for viewing...down in the basement of the Hong Kong office with the lights burnt out and the steps replaced with a rickety ladder. I refer again to Hockey's press conference where he totally waffled--and even a quick glance at the PDF shows some pretty questionable assumptions. The NBN costs have only really blown out in projections issued by opponents of the NBN. Where there ARE cost over-runs, it's mainly down to deficiencies in the Telstra duct network--the same one Abbott wants to rely on for his scheme. The low take up is largely down to not much advertising yet--due to the relatively small number of areas finished. Once the fibre passes a lot more homes and businesses--and internet content providers start to pump out stuff that needs the higher bandwidth--take up will rocket. Finally, where do you get you figures that the NBN will cost several times what's reasonable. My present Optus bundle of a home phone and ADSL (which for me is under 4Mbps) costs $109 per month. The same package with fibre and 25Mbps is $110 from Optus. If I want 50Mbps, it's an extra $10 per month; the full 100Mbps is an extra $20 per month. In terms of cost per Mb that's way better than what I have now.

The speed they're going for is 20 Mbps and you'll be lucky to get that if you're not really close to the node. Telstra fibre is in shockingly bad condition. And, no, I won't be happy with even 20 Mbps if I'm one of the lucky ones to get that--and neither will you in a couple of years. There enough developments around the corner that the Lib plan will have to be replaced even before it's finished. I remind you that both BT in the UK and the Telco in New Zealand have stated publicly that their Fibre to the Node role outs were big mistakes and have already started replacing that with FTTH. But, of course, Tony knows better than these telecom companies!

And your grounds for saying it's a fiasco? Oh, that's right...Tony Abbott and the Murdoch press and broadcasters say so. The reality is that it's NOT going to cost anything like the numbers Abbott is claiming and the project is the right technology at the right time. Have a read of some accurate information (I suggest whirlpool.net.au--a forum for telecoms engineers) and get the real facts and numbers. They even have a long term thread debunking the press lies about the NBN Except Hockey DIDN'T actually spell out how they're going to pay for their promises--he just waffled for half an hour. I watched it live. The reality is, the promises are either lies or there will be enough cuts to put Australia into recession. It's ironic isn't it that Aus managed to get through a global financial crisis without recession but then gets brainwashed into electing a government hell bent on causing a recession to keep it's billionaire masters happy.

When we first moved here in 2007, one of our first holiday lets while we looked for a permanent place was near Springfield Lakes (which was still being built). At that stage it was a bit soulless (but that's probably down to it being very new). However, I have to agree with oshividhu that it's a long way out if you're going to work in Brisbane proper. We ended up moving out to Toowoomba so I'll leave it others to suggest good places--I only seem able to shoot things down!

Talk to any telecoms engineer rather than a politician with an axe to grind and they'll explain why the coalition FTTN (Fibre To The Node) idea is a waste of money and will need replacing before it's even finished. It should be considered that both the UK and New Zealand started rolling out FTTN systems (note that this means Australia is already years behind) and both have declared that scheme a mistake and started the change to FTTH schemes like Labor is rolling out. Why is the coalition hell bent on repeating mistakes made years ago in the UK and NZ? Because they don't know what they're doing.

Funny...just a few weeks ago there was a thread asking why PIO had such a RIGHT wing tendency--and that thread certainly supported the assumption. I wonder if the PIO conservatives are so confident of victory that they can't be bothered to post in this thread. ^^^^ This. In a nutshell. Australia has one of the healthiest economies in the world. The debt to GDP ratio is low, growth is good at a time when most of the developed world is struggling to get out of recession, unemployment is at a number many countries would love to have and, unlike even the mighty USA, Aus still has an AAA+ credit rating. Yet despite all those absolute and confirmed FACTS, at least 50% of the public has been brainwashed into believing there's some kind of financial crisis here. I'm sure that couldn't possibly be because Rupert Murdoch controls 70% of the print media and a big chunk of broadcasting--heaven forbid! Did you know that an independent group produced the following ad but, when they tried to buy time on the three main commercial TV stations they were turned down? A complaint has been lodged with ACMA (the regulatory authority) but the case won't be heard until after the election. [video=youtube;grqp-JQMFuM] If I were to become Prime Minister the first legislation I'd put forward (well, after the vote on gay marriage) would be an act to limit how much media any one person can own. In the meantime, you have to be very, very careful about what you believe from papers, radio and TV.

Did anyone else watch Hockey pretend to explain where the savings for their promises will come from? He spoke for half an hour and said nothing--because the cuts they have in mind will be brutal and unpopular. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Unless you're Gina Rinehart or Rupert Murdoch, voting for the LNP is like a turkey voting for Christmas.

If you wanted to see brown, you should have arrived in mid 2007 like I did, towards the end of an 8 year drought. By the time our local reservoirs were down to 8%, THAT was brown! (But not flat!) I was amazed at how much it greened up between September 2009 and January 2010--it was like a different country.

I'm on a PR and, in the past year have had some heart problems entailing about six stay in hospital--all completely free (even ambulance is free here in Queensland). I have to say the treatment has be first rate and the facilities great.

Well, not ALWAYS flat... Our city is on top of an 800 metre plateau!

Another thing that might make quite a large difference is that I think most contents insurance in the UK is based on a "depreciated value". I found this out to my cost when I had to claim for a theft and, since most of the stuff was 3 years plus old, they valued things like a wide screen TV and a DVD player so low they didn't even get above my excess. I don't know if my insurer (Barclays) offered a new for old policy but they certainly didn't advertise it. On the other hand, my insurer here (Suncorp) has new for old as their standard--the premiums looked very high when we saw it--but a claim for my wife's computer (she spilled vodka and coke into her laptop) resulted in a rapid payment of the entire original price. Even with a $100 excess we actually made a profit because computers are cheaper now. I don't know if either of those apply to other insurance companies but it's something to watch for.

It's far from an urban myth (at least here in Queensland) but it's a law frequently ignored in my experience. Certainly every DIY shop etc. carries the very plugs you're not supposed to install for yourself. Not that I'd flout the law...would I?

Many TVs won't work for the free to air services (different transmission standards) but if you're going the Foxtel route then that box will connect and work just fine, as will a DVD player. If I were your kids I'd take you up on the promise of a new TV here but, if it maintains peace in the house, then....

There's an excellent fact sheet about the Syrian conflict HERE. Note points 2 and 3 if you think Assad's brutality is a matter of "interpretation". Edited to add: I meant to say that the one thing the article misses is that another reason for the escalation in Syria is a regional influence fight between Iran (Shia) and Saudi Arabia (Sunni). Another reason why western involvement would be a no win situation.

There's no interpretation about it. Bashar Assad--and his father before him--ran/runs a brutal and repressive regime, basically having any opposition killed. Indeed, the present mess started when troops killed a number of peaceful demonstrators outside a mosque in 2011. There was a decent majority supporting the rebels when they were all Syrian and simply looking for increased freedom. Obviously the presence of the insurgents has changed that with most people just wanting the civil war to be over. Egypt is a very different situation but the end result is a similar "no win" situation when considering outside involvement. Yes, Morsi had been democratically elected--but he also abused his power, disbanding the multi-party committee charged with writing the new constitution and imposing what the Muslim Brotherhood wanted. As an analogy, if voters disagree with Obama in the US they need only wait a maximum of 4 years to vote again. However, if he somehow imposed a new constitution that ensured the Democrats would be in power forever--and provided for the oppression of half the population, is that democracy? Egypt is similar except the oppression is against women and non-Muslims. A nascent democracy without the traditions (and without an agreed constitution) is different kettle of fish to more mature countries. The one thing I think is clear in both countries is that they have to sort things out for themselves without outside interference. It's outside interference--be it Iran supporting the Assads, Britain displacing several million Palestinians to create Israel or the USA propping up Mubarak in the past--that is the root cause of most of the Middle East problems.

But surely this is the dilemma. Do you support a vicious despot who kills his own people to preserve "stability" or do you help with his overthrow with the ensuing power vacuum and years of sectarian violence? Neither is a palatable solution. Basically if you support 'stability' you're ditching any concept of human rights, freedom and democracy. However, the real rebels are now completely mixed up the insurgents who have no connection with Syria and every idea of advancing their conflict in the region. That's why I say this is a no win situation. As for the FSA (and the political Syrian National Council) they're the home grown opposition that evolved out of the peaceful pro-democracy demos that started this whole thing back in 2011--the one's that Assad's troops started shooting at. As a local pro-democracy movement they have a pretty good justification for their actions--unlike outside insurgents like Al Qaeda and Hamas (one from each side) who are using Syria as a battlefield to advance their own causes.

Yup, really. Ironic I know but Syria is both the victim and perpetrator of terrorism. For example, Nizar Hindawi (who attempted to bomb an El Al flight out of London) was funded by Syria, both before the attack and also for legal expenses after he was arrested. If you recall, the EU imposed strong economic sanctions on Syria after that one. There's also a long record of Syrian-sponsored assassinations of people opposed to Assad, including (but not restricted to) Bashir Gemayal and Kamal Jumblatt in Lebanon and a ton of Syrian journalists and politicians. Of course, as I said, the other side ARE the terrorists (but from the other side of the sectarian divide) including nice folks like Al Qaeda. As I said, Syria is a no-win situation. Neither side deserves any support. (Well, I'll re-phrase that. The FSA may deserve help but there's no way to help them without also helping the insurgents.) Sorry to be boring. I've been following the Syria/Lebanon/Jordan/Israel situation since my first assignment to Beirut in 1976. It was no place for a callow youth back then.

As I say, ring any companies you're considering and ask for details of how they handle things and what they require to be listed--it tends to be things over a certain value and/or things like my wife's antique jewellery where it would be hard to value after the fact. I don't think it affects the premium much if at all...it just saves arguments later. On the policy we have we can also specify things like my sound gear is insured outside the house (I use it for live events sometimes) while other things are only insured if stolen or damaged at home. These affect the premium level but can be important. One thing I'd suggest though is to NOT simply go with the cheapest quote. Check on people's experiences actually making claims. Some companies fight every claim, other make things easy and have a good reputation. If you ever need to make a claim you might be glad you spent that extra $5 or $10 per month for a company that has a good reputation.

Sorry...I had a visit to the dentist yesterday and have been feeling sorry for myself. Yes, listed items affect your quote--but don't forget you can delete the listed items from that $105,000 you mention. You don't need to double count. I just checked my policy document and it lists the amount of basic cover then the listed item by value and finally totals them all up before coming up with a premium. However, I think at this time you need to phone one or more of your insurance shortlist and get absolute details from them. Different companies have different rules and policies about what you need to list separately and how it's handled.

Absolutely. The best way is to simmer it in water until you hit the texture you want--you'll go through "tender but sliceable" to "falling apart like silverside" as time moves on. I tend to get it to the "tender but sliceable" stage then take it out, trim the skin (if it has some) and glaze with mustard powder, honey and brown sugar and bake for half an hour or so, basting in the glaze every 10 minutes. Cutting a crosshatch into the ham and poking in cloves is optional. This tends to end up just short of falling apart.

We're with Suncorp and they certainly allow you to specify particularly expensive items to be included on the insurance. We have some of my wife's jewellery, all our smart phones and laptops and some of my more expensive sound gear like the mixer and some mics. All these are insured on a "new for old" basis and Suncorp didn't bat an eye when my wife spilled vodka and coke into her laptop...they just had a computer expert come and decide it was a write off, then sent the money for a brand new computer. I can't speak for all companies but I assume they have to be similar to remain competitive.