Albo Buries Kids' Gambling Report, BHP Sues Broke Miner & The Budget's Hidden $95 Billion + Why Can't We AFFORD A House Anymore? A Landlord With 16 Houses & Economist Disagree On EVERYTHING! + THE PUNTERS LOBBYIST
Albo Buries Kids' Gambling Report, BHP Sues Broke Miner & The Budget's Hidden $95 Billion
THE SCAM: Mining giant BHP launched Federal Court action to silence Michael West Media. The story? A coal miner, Simon Turner, broke his back at BHP’s Mount Arthur mine in 2015. He was paid $400 a week –one sixteenth the award rate – after being miscategorised as a clerical worker. Experts say the alleged wage theft could hit 2.5 billion.
THE DAMAGE: A homeless veteran with PTSD is now representing himself against BHP’s top-tier lawyers. The message to other workers: come forward and you’ll get crushed. BHP is also fighting ‘same job, same pay’ laws in the High Court, preferring to churn underpaid trainees instead.
THE COVER-UP/OUTCOME: BHP wants West to delete articles and YouTube videos. The subtext? Bankrupt any journalist who covers this. West is now crowdfunding his defence. But here’s the kicker: suiting up against an independent newsroom is the quickest way to make sure millions of punters read what you’re hiding.
Michael West Media - BHP Wanted Us Silenced, The Court Said Not So Fast
 |
 |
Why Can't We AFFORD A House Anymore? A Landlord With 16 Houses & Economist Disagree On EVERYTHING!
THEY DISCUSS: Investor Jack Henderson says the current system works, pointing to parents retiring on home equity. Economist Richard Dennis counters the market is "completely broken" for most non-owners. They also debate land tax, supply constraints, and whether government can effectively build housing.
THEY AGREE ON: The CGT discount applies to all assets, not just property. Land tax is payable on developed and undeveloped land. Developers won't build without a profit margin. And cheaper houses for a nurse would be a good thing.
THEY DISAGREE ON: Who the system works for. Jack says housing is a great wealth vehicle for hard-working Australians. Richard says it's a disaster for low-paid workers and most non-owners. Impact of the CGT discount. Richard says it pumped prices and costs $10 billion a year. Jack says scrapping it won't fix the real problem and only hurts average punters, not wealthy investors. Government building homes. Jack says the government "sucks at building shit." Richard cites the DHA's $53m profit. Jack fires back that profit is from property management, not development – proving the government can't build efficiently.
|
|
|
THE PUNTERS LOBBYIST
THE MISSION: The Punters Top 5 Policies, starting with getting our Gas Taxed.
THE UPDATE: The Tax Gas Not Beer knock-off tour through Newcastle was a roaring success, with punters flooding in from as far as Sydney to sink a cold one and celebrate paying more tax than the gas cartels. The campaign racked up free beer tabs from Grifter, Bridge Road Brewers and Heaps Normal, while Konrad and mates on e-bikes rolled from pub to pub proving that when politicians won't name the scam, the people will.
The war chest is growing! The donations now sit at $119,844.30 with spending to date on lobbying and PR of $10,652.40 means the War Chest is sitting at $109,191.90. Gas didn't get taxed, but we will continue pushing the issue until it does. The next plan... Sky Writing?