John Smith

Retired now but worked as a tradie, a teacher and manager. Left leaning voter with a green hue. Union man since 1974. Two kids, only one dog now :? (, two degrees. Born at 314.3ppm CO2.
#auspol #DogsOfMastodon #canberra

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Last Notes

2024-11-09 22:59:15

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my guess is that it will come under "Homes and New Suburbs" which is in Yvette Berry's portfolio. With overlaps with other Ministers.

2024-11-05 21:58:21

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I'm a Green voter in the ACT and I'm happy with the outcome. I think a continuation of the coalition could have created a real risk of the Greens being dragged down in the polls by association with an increasingly unpopular Labor (locally and federally).
#ACTpol

2024-11-05 10:43:22

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I told my grandkids about it today. I told them how we'd get some old trousers and an old shirt and stuff them with newspaper so it looked like a body. I described how we'd get an old sock or, better still, a stocking and stuff that with newspaper to make the head. We'd paint a face on him and try to find a hat. Then we'd put our "Guy" (Guido to his Spanish mates) in a pram and take him into town where we'd ask passers by for "a penny for the Guy". What money we collected went towards the purchase of fireworks. After dark we'd tie Guy to a stake in the backyard, build a bonfire around him and set the fireworks off as he burned.
The Grandkids looked a little shocked and asked "Were backyard fireworks legal in the old days Grandad"?

2024-11-04 01:55:46

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I agree. But I think it's still true to say that the best thing Albanese has going in his favour is Dutton.

2024-11-04 00:23:58

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the unis have become overly reliant on full fee students ( predominately international students). I think, in a lot of cases, senior staff salaries have become too generous too but the main problem is underfunding by governments. In TAFE there's been a huge dilution of quality brought on by the forced competition with the, mostly, dodgy non-TAFE trainers. Again, the root cause is underfunding by governments. Both sectors have been infected badly by the neo-conservative "user-pays" ideology.

2024-11-03 22:49:53

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yep, and the 100,000 free TAFE places per year is a move in the right direction too (as long as it's not an excuse to pump more $$ into non-TAFE trainers).
There needs to be a lot more done to reduce the cost of education and training to individuals. Forgiving some of existing debt is good, lifting the threshold for repayment is good but is only a start to what's needed.

2024-11-02 04:51:12

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I agree. It's a failure of successive governments to not invest in education. School, University and TAFE should be free. The return on that investment is in the contribution that skilled and educated citizens make to the successful functioning of society across their lifetimes.

2024-11-02 03:38:39

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I got some of my undergrad free but by the time I was ready to start on my Master's the rules had changed to allow full fee Grad Certs (or maybe it was Grad Dips) and my old uni were insisting that I had to complete an expensive Grad Cert/Dip before being allowed into a HECS Master's program. I shopped around and got straight into a Master's on HECS. I had the advantage of being able to pay upfront and get a discount. I think that option has been taken away now (pretty sure my kids didn't have it).

2024-10-30 23:26:58

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I'm not sure he'll still be deputy come the next election. The Zed group may get the upper hand again and elevate Hanson to leader or he may, once again, show that he is a liability and is replaced, perhaps by Parton.

2024-10-30 23:18:25

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I'm not that surprised. I think the only way that a fundamentally right wing, neoconservative party can get elected to govern in the ACT is to go down the populist path. Castley has the personality, the ability to connect with people, to lead that. I'm surprised that Parton isn't her deputy because he has the same skills and would provide a better balance between the right and the centre.
#ACTpol

2024-10-30 08:31:30

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might be alright tonight as they're having David Pocock on.

2024-10-30 05:26:39

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yes, I hope so too. But I'm only guessing.

2024-10-30 05:17:20

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it didn't say. I'm guessing that Jennet will replace Glenday. Maybe he's got a new role somewhere?

2024-10-30 05:09:56

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can't believe they didn't need someone to present the weather somewhere.

2024-10-30 04:58:02

#auspol the Guardian is reporting that Greg Jennet is leaving afternoon briefing and will become the newsreader on the 7pm Canberra News. What did we do to deserve this? Is it punishment for not electing enough RWNJ to our ACT assembly? 😵‍💫
#auspol #ACTpol

2024-10-23 23:01:51

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many years ago my son was born in that Catholic run hospital and my partner and I were treated very poorly. We were never married and that resulted in them trying to exclude me from access to my partner and child. They even talked to my partner about putting our son up for adoption. We were a happy, stable, secure young family with a home, good jobs, etc. but we weren't married and, in the eyes of the religious nutters running the place that gave them licence to interfere. Thankfully the doctors and nurses involved assisted us in fending off the unwarranted interference. I count the day that the ACT government booted the Church out of the Northside Hospital as one of the best.
(Rant ends) ;? )

2024-10-21 04:07:59

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I hope the ABC get their Irish journo involved. I love the way they pronounce "Charles the 3rd". 😄

2024-10-20 22:12:53

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I'm not sure what the path to safer seats is for the Greens. The presence of high profile independents at a time when the so called Independent/Teal Wave was getting plenty of media hasn't helped them. Advance have been pushing various lies to undermine the Greens and that's being slavishly repeated by Labor, Libs and Nat's. That probably has influenced the votes of many who, being dissatisfied with the two major parties, might have voted Green but now choose Independent.
I don't think a change of leader would achieve very much but I do think the Greens need to get closer to their electorates - be active community Greens.

2024-10-20 21:42:31

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yes, it's currently showing a very small swing away from the Greens overall but, given they only got their seats on wafer thin margins, it's really significant in terms of seats held and lost. Encouraging to see that in Ginninderra and Yerrabi there has been a swing towards the Greens.

2024-10-18 04:40:06

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I'd much prefer the Libs to lose a seat to Fiona than to see Emma lose hers. You're much closer to the action in Murrumbidgee than I am though.

2024-10-18 04:05:48

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Labor tend to do well in Ginninderra. They've taken 3 of the 5 seats on a couple of occasions. I think Yvette Berry and Tara Cheyne are both quite popular local members and both have had much higher visibility than the Greens Jo Clay.

2024-10-18 03:48:02

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yes, Ginninderra could be interesting. Kikkert was the Libs strongest performer at the 2020 election but has been disendorsed and is now running for Family First. There's a lot of visible Kikkert promoting stuff around but I don't sense that there's strong support for Family First. Kikkert's personal following might come into play though, potentially taking one seat off of the Libs. Bill Stefaniak could benefit from the Libs Ginninderra woes too.
The Greens Jo Clay looks to be in a precarious seat but the Independents in Ginninderra seem to lean more to the right than the left. I don't think she'll lose votes to the Independents other than via a change in Labor preferences.

2024-10-18 03:33:12

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unless the Labor votes switch to Green. Not sure if that'll happen or if they'll switch to the Independents. I don't see much to suggest that the Libs will increase their vote by enough to make a difference.

2024-10-18 00:32:19

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yep, I'm not a great fan of the RiotACT generally but I did listen carefully to the exchange between Bushnell and Lee and thought he was being reasonable and not impolite in trying to get her to answer the questions put.
I've had my doubts about Lee being a genuinely more reasonable and moderate Lib for a while and following the middle finger episode and her rude and aggressive approach in the debate with Barr (ABC moderated not the Real Estate ones) I'm satisfied that behind the mask she's not much of an improvement on the rwnj that have preceded her.

2024-10-17 22:18:35

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my last international trip I had 4 grandkids with me (aged from 11 to 4). There were plenty of distractions 😄

2024-10-17 01:24:29

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just as long as you don't give the middle finger to the reporters 😄😄

2024-10-16 23:03:00

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Elizabeth Lee obviously not wanting Andrew Barr to be seen as the only one who hates journalists.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-16/elizabeth-lee-rude-gesture-journalist-canberra-liberals/104479754

2024-10-16 01:15:22

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yep. Most of the booths seemed to be electronic and most people seemed to be using them rather than paper.

2024-10-16 00:41:54

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I just voted and it was pretty busy. No long queues but lots of people there voting.

2024-10-15 01:09:55

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The Family First bloke outside Kippax this morning was having a tough time too. I was amused by how people would pretty much cross the road to avoid any chance of being handed a flyer or, dogs forbid, be engaged in conversation. I hope you didn't have it that bad. 😃

2024-10-12 10:41:44

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Jack Waterford is always an interesting read. In this one, at times, he seems to be having 2 bob each way (on a really unpredictable election). Personally, I think 27 years of Labor might be too long but 4 years of the Libs, who really haven't purged themselves of their right wing extremists, would definitely be worse. Would Independents help things? I don't see any in my electorate (Ginninderra) that would improve the Assembly. My hope is for the Greens to win more seats but they look fragile in several seats and could be the ones displaced by Independents.

2024-10-09 05:12:43

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yes, good news. Like we said the other day, this is one of Dreyfus' major failures. I just don't get how it is in anyway ok for the guy who exposes the wrong-doing to be the one who gets jailed. I hope his appeal is successful.

2024-10-06 21:59:09

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yes. The very limited anti-corruption body, the lack of protection for whistle blowers and continued frustration of FOI requests being stand-out examples.

2024-10-06 21:44:51

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yep, I read the Dreyfus article in the Guardian this morning hoping for a thoughtful, balanced piece but when I got to the bit about people only using the term Zionist to disguise their antisemitism I realised it wasn't to be. Disappointed.

2024-10-04 01:33:24

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that's not good. I wonder how the ABC justifies giving air time to some candidates but not others?
What about Ross Solly? He's been talking with quite a few candidates and taking his mobile studio out to the various electorates.

2024-10-04 01:10:23

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he has been on air here in Canberra for a lot of years and knows the lay of the land. I just wish he'd go a bit harder in some of the interviews he does.

2024-10-04 00:00:05

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I don't mind him but he's very careful not to offend anyone so tends to hedge around difficult issues in interviews and that can be frustrating at times.

2024-09-29 02:07:41

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If they're flying into the wind farms they need better pilots (should've gone to Specsavers) 😄😄
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skywhale

2024-09-27 23:09:56

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I guess it depends on whether you need/want to sell sooner rather than later. If you can afford to wait a cashed up buyer probably will come along.

2024-09-27 22:59:02

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the agent might be right about money being in short supply. The two houses across the road from me were up for sale. The smaller one sold at auction but the larger one was passed in and has been on the market for a couple of months now.

2024-09-24 07:02:26

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I suspect it's the increased density that has them panicked. As I read it there will be 30 homes on a site that previously had only 10. It shouldn't come as a surprise as "urban infill" and "densification" is what is happening all over Canberra. It can be done well and instances close to my place seem to be ok. I reckon their problem is Nimbyism.

2024-09-17 23:00:52

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I agree.
I've listened to the Greens position on housing quite closely as several of my mates have swallowed the "pursuit of the perfect is preventing progress" line. To me, it's very clear that it's Albanese's stubborn refusal to negotiate that is holding up progress on a critically important issue. The Greens have put forward sensible ideas on how to deal with the housing crisis but Albanese refuses to engage in anything like a positive way. And this is just another example of Labor failing.
I'd like to have the old Albo back too because the one we've got is no bloody good.

2024-09-16 06:47:01

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I didn't watch it but I did watch Shogun and really enjoyed it. It's picked up a few awards too I think. I remember enjoying the earlier version of it too (about 1980).

2024-09-13 08:04:18

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no, but not bad for NRL games, especially given the Raiders haven't had the best of seasons this year.
I think the record attendance at Bruce was back in the early 2000s when the Brumbies and Raiders were at their best and it was around 28,000.

2024-09-13 07:50:17

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I think the average crowd for the Raiders games at Bruce this season has been about 14,000. The biggest crowds this season were around 18,000.

2024-09-13 04:32:40

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more a case of "Don't vote, gamble your future instead". Election time does seem to flush the d***heads out doesn't it.
#ACTpol

2024-09-13 02:36:55

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none that I can find at this stage Jude. The best in Ginninderra are the Greens as far as I can tell. The Indies look to be closet conservatives or nutters. I do sometimes put the AJP at number 1 followed by the Greens.

2024-09-13 00:43:47

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I think it would be better to add to the Bruce precinct rather than trying to relocate the stadium. The current stadium is about the same travel time from Canberra CBD as the Sydney Football Stadium is from the Sydney CBD. Bruce is not an "out of the way" location. By most cities' standards it's pretty central and as Canberra's population grows it will become more so. The Acton site proposed by the Libs looks very tight.

2024-09-12 23:05:45

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I think Bruce is a great location for the stadium. There needs to be a bit of work done to bring the existing one up to a better standard but I'm not in favour of a new build.

2024-09-12 22:59:44

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I think Shane Rattenbury would make an excellent Chief Minister and I hope our next ACT Government has more Greens. I don't like everything they propose but I like their ideas more than any of the other options (in Ginninderra).
#ACTpol

2024-09-10 03:18:01

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she is trying to move the Libs back towards the centre right but I'm not sure it's possible as long as extremists like Hanson are still there. I'll still be voting Greens anyway 😃.

2024-09-10 00:51:25

#ACTpol https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-10/canberra-liberals-disendorse-elizabeth-kikkert-act-election/104330782
Hard Right Hanson supporter gets the boot. I wonder what flavour her replacement candidate will be?
#ACTpol

2024-09-05 12:16:24

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Jo Clay was my first preference last time. I'll probably go that way again although I never seem to hear anything from her beyond the rare report on the evening news.

2024-09-05 08:07:19

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I'm in the Ginninderra electorate.

2024-09-05 06:50:57

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Yep. I'll be voting Greens. Or maybe Animal Justice Party then Greens. I had a look at the independents running in my electorate and they don't impress me. I'll preference them ahead of the Libs and any of the nutters but they're not near the top of my list.

2024-09-04 07:19:45

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it's an interesting perspective but I don't think it puts enough weight on the damage that's been done to the Labor "brand" by the constant watering down of initiatives in order to get the Opposition on side. I see the Albanese government as better than Morrison's but that is a terribly low bar to set. Albanese just hasn't delivered anywhere near enough of what is needed and expected.

2024-08-31 23:07:41

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I've tried growing tulips a few times but the bulbs always get eaten by something. Daffodils and Bluebells do well in the same spots. Just the tulips that never survive.

2024-08-31 08:25:42

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sorry Jude. It's a tough thing to lose a loved one. I feel for you all.

2024-08-19 04:47:41

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Tony Burke had it about right when he said that Dutton is irresponsible and a sook.

2024-08-19 04:29:44

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followed by Dan Tehan who continues to amplify the divisive dog whistle to racists. This is why Australians are disappointed in the Opposition and are saying they are incompetent and dishonest.
#auspol #qt

2024-08-17 02:21:11

A Spotted Pardalote came to see what was going on in my backyard.
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/spotted-pardalote/
#canberra #belconnen #bird
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/112/974/940/757/933/886/original/9bbec4320f7df0ff.jpg

2024-08-16 11:48:36

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Dutton's words and actions show him to be racist. Here's an example of people caught up in this mess.
This NSW farmer's sister was killed in Gaza. Australia has denied her orphaned kids entry
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/this-nsw-farmers-sister-was-killed-in-gaza-australia-has-denied-her-orphaned-kids-entry/udp6tkl09
#auspol

2024-08-13 07:47:01

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hope you don't get it. It's not inevitable.
When I got back from overseas with family all 6 of them had covid but I didn't catch it despite sitting next to them on the plane and bus for about 30+ hours.
🤞😃

2024-08-05 02:52:11

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I like to think that a minority Labor government that is kept honest by a reliance on Indies and Greens is the best outcome but I fear that, in minority, Labor will increasingly team up with the Libs and Nats to continue with their ugly "succour the rich and screw the rest" approach.

2024-08-05 02:35:02

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yep, Albanese has been a massive disappointment. So many things that he's fallen short on; Environment, NAAC, Gambling, Gaza, FOI, unemployment, and now Makarrata. Probably more that I don't recall.
I don't think Shorten would have been better - it just seems as though Labor have become a party of the centre right now that the Liberal party have vacated that space.

2024-08-02 11:15:46

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Nikki Sava seems to be the same - maybe it's just the contrast with all of the newer journalists who only seem capable of seeing the world through a far right lens.

2024-08-02 11:01:44

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Laura Tingle is one of the few remaining journalists worth listening to at the ABC.

2024-07-30 22:06:56

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hope the meds can keep you comfortable and you mend quickly caity. Sounds like a very unpleasant experience for you. How's Wonderdog handling it?