I meant the scene of the photo.
I wasn’t there, I was busy being a kid, somewhere else.
The caption said it was a group photo of the NSW contingent before returning home.
Maybe an accompanying article would shed more light.

Thanks KD for the Coffee Club reviews.
I try to ration my trips down the rabbit hole.
You’ve seen what can happen with over-exposure.

TE
If you find the Annual Report of the NSW police for 1974 it states 39 police (with 30 UHF portable radios and base station) were dispatched to Darwin.
I’d link but haven’t worked out how to link pdfs from my phone.

Gold is actually down against the US dollar. It hit a high of US$2,077 in early May and is right now trading at US$1,888.50.

The only reason gold is up against Aussie dollar is because the Aussie has weakened against the greenback. This isn’t a very healthy situation because you want gold to be in a bull market against the US dollar.

Knuckle Dragger

Aug 21, 2023 8:48 PM

Thanks KD for the Coffee Club reviews.
I try to ration my trips down the rabbit hole.

I’ve seen some things, man.

Done some stuff.

Yeah.
Me too.
Can’t say too much, though.
Official secrets and all that.
I’ve probably said more than I should have already.

Shit!
I nearly said peak population and tipping point in my Chinah population post.
So glad I didn’t.
I don’t want Cohenite’s gay neighbour to get a boot up the arse.

Speaking of Joe Hildebrand:

There are two typical responses to the far Left: laughter and fear. Both are correct.

Much if not all of what overprivileged activists and self-determined intellectuals say and do is clearly ridiculous, from Extinction Rebellion protesters throwing soup at paintings in London’s National Gallery to Lidia Thorpe hurling small-dick insults outside a Melbourne strip club.

You couldn’t script such idiocy and expect any reasonable person to believe it or newspapers to print it, and yet here we are. It is all true.

Then there is the fear. Because while ludicrous undergraduate howls usually break against commonsense in modern liberal democracies and the cops come in and save the day, this was not always so.

Deranged academic and economic thought bubbles have a tragic capacity to curse the world when historical wormholes emerge.

An obvious example is Lenin’s obsession with Marxist theory that led to the mad, warmongering and genocidal autocrat Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany deciding it would be a good idea to send the Swiss-based scribbler to Russia.

There the crazed Bolshevik party destroyed not the hapless Tsar – as the later leftist propaganda would suggest – but a nascent liberal democratic regime that had already deposed Nicholas II.

As a matter of fact, the Bolsheviks’ only contribution to humanity was to butcher this government in a coup, slaughter the royal family and spark a civil war that killed millions.

Indeed, if Russia had continued on its path to democracy and the Bolsheviks had not sabotaged its parliament Hitler’s Nazis would never have had the platform they needed to seize power and launch the worst campaign of war and genocide in human history.

Oh, and Hitler and Stalin agreed to invade Poland in 1939, chop it up and kill people. That’s a card-carrying fact. Make sure you mention this to the next socialist you meet.

But I digress. Point being, socialists are ridiculous but that doesn’t mean they cannot be dangerous.

This brings us to the great godless gala of the ALP National Conference in Brisbane over the weekend and a couple of fun days prior.

Labor conferences used to be glorious occasions for hundreds of delegates to get pissed and shag anybody they could but these days they are more humourless affairs.

However one tradition endures and that is the lemming-like drive of various hard-Left groups to oppose everything any Labor government does, and in this the Brisbane gathering at least did its duty.

This was of course the idiotic and predictably ill-fated push to roll Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over the AUKUS agreement by a group called Labor Against War and its comrades.

As I pointed out on the weekend, Labor Against War’s position on AUKUS – Australia’s vital national security cornerstone – is entirely opposed to ALP policy and is exactly the same as the position of the Greens and socialists.

As one correspondent to me asked over the weekend, what is wrong with that? What’s wrong with having debate and disagreement within a democratic organisation?

Well for starters if your beliefs are diametrically opposed to your party’s on arguably the single most important policy issue in the nation there comes a point where you’re probably in the wrong building. It’s a bit like rocking up to a One Nation meeting and demanding gender neutral bathrooms.

But the real problem is that Woodstock-infected lefties make Labor look silly and provide a giant floating target for conservatives to shoot the party down.

To use a term often misattributed to old Vlad Lenin, they are useful idiots – except they are useful only to the other side.

For true adherents of modern Labor – the party that expunged communism instead of succumbing to it – this is a great shame.

It has taken decades of work, starting in the Hawke-Keating era and resurrected now, to put the party at the centre of mainstream values and aspirations and shake the stigma of the dopey hard Left.

But like barnacles on a ship – and possessing similar brains – they just keep hanging on to the vessel, damaging it all the while.

Inevitably Albo – which is a good name for a musical now that I think about it – outsmarted and outplayed these knuckledraggers but you have to wonder what next for Labor’s hard Left rump now that their erstwhile hero has betrayed them by revealing his sensible centrist instincts.

Even machines can now process the failures of past experience and change their objectives and processes as a result. Perhaps one day we will see if ideologues can advance to the intelligence of robots.

Sounds like an Albo arse lick. Sorry for the imagery.

Official secrets and all that.
I’ve probably said more than I should have already.

You do realize that, in mentioning “official secrets”, you are committing a breach of the “Official Secrets Act?”

Idiots like turtle and every fuking green have no idea about this.

Cronkite, Bowen is an idiot but not for the reasons you think. The Liars are in the tank to the unions and big renew ball.

The unions love renewballs because the sector is in comparable terms massively labor intensive. There’s no reason to spell out why the renewball industry is touting itself. I think even you can work it out. It’s not idiocy, it’s massive corruption. Stop mislabeling it please.

JC

Aug 21, 2023 9:13 PM

Sachez, perhaps Dover is correct that Zeihan’s figuring is grossly overstating stuff. There is concern about the economic situation though and it’s actually scary as I posted last night

Yeah, and if they go into an extended recession their birth rate will totally tank.
No sweet government handouts for poppin’ out kidlets over there (not like most of the West anyway).

I don’t want Cohenite’s gay neighbour to get a boot up the arse.

it’s a win/win situation; depending on the boots.

Head prefect: it’s an issue for the ages: is turtle a genuine retard or merely a union lackey propping up the ruinables Ponzi scheme.

Dude!

Lee
Aug 21, 2023 6:25 PM
The yes campaign is about recognising the great privilege we have of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth

A “culture” with almost nothing to be proud of.

I find it rather odd that every TV ad featuring an aboriginal person, usually a woman, always starts with “I am a proud Darug (or whatever tribe(s)) woman and I …”. What are they proud of? Their genetic background? That is straight up racism, being proud of something you have no control over.

Don’t they realise how exclusionary are these statements? We are all, or at least most of us, proud of our ancestry but we identify ourselves more with our own achievements. Most people say they worked hard and achieved their place in society due to those efforts. That is something to be proud of.

Cameron Dick threatens to strip BHP of mining leases
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has warned the government will not hesitate to revoke existing tenures on BHP’s Queensland mines if they are being “misused”.

EXCLUSIVE
By lydia lynch
Queensland Political Reporter
@LydiaLynch101
8:56PM August 21, 2023
No Comments

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has threatened to strip BHP’s mining leases if the Big Australian fails to keep investing in the state, in an extraordinary escalation of the Palaszczuk ­government’s battle with the mining sector over royalties.

Ahead of the release of BHP’s full-year financial results on Tuesday, Mr Dick warned the government would not hesitate to revoke existing tenures on its seven Queensland mines if they were being “misused”.

BHP and the state’s mining lobby have been at war with the Palaszczuk government for more than a year over Mr Dick’s unheralded coal royalty regime, which was introduced last year despite an election promise of no new or increased taxes.

Queensland’s three-tier coal royalty scheme – which includes the highest mining tax rates in the world – funnelled $15bn into ­government coffers last financial year and delivered Mr Dick the biggest state budget surplus in ­history.

The scheme has drawn strong criticism from the resource industry, which claims it has undermined the viability of mines and threatened future investment.

On Monday Mr Dick warned of the government’s “clear expectation” that BHP continue to ­invest in its current projects.

“BHP has legal obligations, and there are significant consequences for not meeting those ­obligations,” he told The Australian.

“What I would say, if BHP or any other company fails to meet their mining development obligation without genuine commercial reason, our government has the ability to cancel those leases.”

Mr Dick’s comments come days after the Queensland ­Resources Council revealed its plans to target key Labor-held seats at next year’s state election.

Under Queensland law, the government can cancel a mining lease if companies do not “prepare, maintain and comply with development plans”.

“We won’t hesitate to act if valuable tenures are being misused, and not being mined when it is clearly commercial to work those tenures,” Mr Dick said. ?“It’s clear there are plenty of other mining companies who would be willing to take up those leases and invest properly in their development.”

BHP declined to comment. In its latest production report, metallurgical coal-making was in line with the previous year and the company pledged to “sustain and optimise” existing projects.

In the report, released last month, BHP said Queensland’s sovereign risk has increased ­because of the royalty regime, which has a top tier of 40 per cent for coal prices above $300-a-tonne.

“Given the negative impact this has on investment economics and the increase in sovereign risk, we will not be investing in any further growth in Queensland, however we will sustain and optimise our existing operations,” the report said.

BHP confirmed in February its plans to sell its Daunia and Blackwater mines – part of its BMA group in Queensland – ­because they would struggle to compete for future capital.

Whitehaven Coal, Peabody Energy, Yancoal, Stanmore Coal and BUMA are circling to buy the two mines, expected to sell for up to $7.5bn.

Mr Dick said interest in BHP’s mines was proof the decision to raise taxes on coalmining companies had not deterred investment in the state.

“I’m sure BHP’s results will show another bumper profit,” he said. “It’s great to see the appetite for new investment in Queensland mining, particularly around Daunia and Blackwater.

Broken Hill, vs the bankrupt banana republic, known as the Queensland Government. I know my money is on…

Oops.
Just shit me dacks.
Sorry.
Happens every time God Oracle shows up.

By popular demand: a cute owl.

cohenite

Aug 21, 2023 10:18 PM

By popular demand: a cute owl.

Can someone check Cohenite’s account?
I think he’s been hacked.
That one looks decidedly feminine.

Swimmer

The issue is this: if commodity prices drop, the Australian dollar will likely follow suit. This would indicate reduced demand for commods. While miners might not be severely affected for their exports in aussie dollar terms , consumers would face the downside of a weaker Australian dollar, leading to higher cost of consumption in the import component.

REPORT: Three Pilots ‘Die Suddenly’ In One Week

cohenite
Aug 21, 2023 10:23 PM

BIL says Whitehaven digs and delivers coal for ~ $100 per tonne.

That’s great, but if volumes fall off and/or they’re selling at lower prices, the rest of us piggy back on their sales to satisfy the import component of our consumption. Exports pat for imports.

The oil price has been kind of steady in the recent past and you can draw a circle around US$80 bucks a barrel. I paid $2.45 a liter the other day to fill up. That’s the highest I’ve seen 98 grade. I paid just under a $155 for a fill.

Lot’s of our rural commods can also be prices in US Dollar terms. Cost of food rises. A beat aussie is terrible news at the moment.

The best way to figure your financial life is to just think of the Australian dollar as the currency you transact in for your consumer needs. In terms of your net worth/ investments etc. revalue in the world’s reserve currency – the US Dollar. Relate it back to the US.

Newsweek

Climate Change Is an Ally of Jihadists in Africa | Opinion

Unsurprisingly, Nurse Letby* got a whole life sentence for each of the seven baby murders.
Sadistic bint refused to leave her cell for victim impact statements and sentencing.
….
* Not to be confused with Nurse Betty, who we don’t think has ever killed anyone.

Not to be confused with Nurse Betty, who we don’t think has ever killed anyone.

Why don’t you think?
Please share.

Pretty well everyone over the age of 60 stole, grafted or caused the immoderation of those around them to survive the famine years.
Similarly everyone around that age joined in the lunacy of Maos purges of society.
The fact they are where they are in the world is in spite of, not because of the godless commie scum.
And now the same scum have caused a demographic implosion decades in the making.

..
Which is why, if you love Chinese culture, Taiwan is more than just a geopolitical wrangle. It is the last repository, the last living embodiment of everything that Mao eliminated. From complicated Chinese writing characters to literature, from the old Chinese family values to religious artefacts that were systematically vanished from the mainland.
If you deplore communists and want to deny them their designs, hope for the continued existence of an independent Taiwan. Many, many things exist there and nowhere else.

It’s $35 billion now.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme has become a “magic ­pudding” for governments, service providers and some people with a disability and the $35bn program’s rising costs are greater than have been publicly revealed, the head of the Albanese government’s NDIS review warns.

Don’t annoy me, you buffoon.

Go & perform sex & travel. After that insert noggin where zero sunshine is to be found.

Repeat several times.

It’s just not the cost of imported food that rises, dumbo. Staples like wheat for instance are annexed to a US dollar spot price and it also rises. Meat to some extent. Normally, I’d say you get the idea, but because it’s you, I wonder if I should list other examples.

Return for exported food goes sky high (in Oz dollars)

You got that in one, congrats.

You’re contradicting yourself there Dunning Krugman.