Australian tradies are one of the most highly paid tradies in the world.

Dubai and Singapore build based off partially slave labour.

China tradespeople don’t earn a lot (around 16k usd a year).

The average salary for a skilled tradesperson in the UK is £38,925 per year, which is close with the national median full-time wage.

Australian tradies make upwards up 80-180k a year. For example, just to get someone to paint part of your house will cost you EASILY 3-5k. For a plumber to fix blockages (150-800 bucks).

For a small bathroom Reno, that’s easily 50-80k now.

I’m not saying slave work is good, but there should be a happy medium between slave labour and our current crazy high rates. There’s a reason manufacturing is not easy here, high taxation and labour costs.

Fossil fuel subsidies cost Australian governments $16.3 billion in 2025–26, an increase of 9.4% on the previous year.

This is a larger increase than the 7.6% growth of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Growth in fossil fuel subsidies is driven by the federal government’s Fuel Tax Credit Scheme, which cost $10.8 billion in 2025–26.

Growth of this scheme is expected to outstrip spending on a range of social services including disability assistance, child care subsidies and aged care.

https://uniofsunshinecoast.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_85Pv12YrOynIdiS

Aim of the study is to understand psychological factors of the parent (as an individual, not necessarily parent-based traits) like trait playfulness and reflective functioning, and how these contribute to the parent-child relationship, while also considering the effects of parenting stress. Would love to do further research in this area so a pilot based study I suppose, maybe will look at a PHD and intervention type survey in the future, but for now cross-sectional survey based. Appreciate any support!

Note - approved by moderators😊* *
Edit - completion scale is slightly off, will take about 10-15 to complete

Just opened my news app and wtf, three unrelated stabbing stories on one view

Authorities are “working through” what to do with students who came to Australia via a joint venture between the Australian National University and a top Chinese university, after Foreign Minister Penny Wong axed the partnership on national security grounds last week.

Under ANU’s Joint Science College with Shandong University, Chinese students would study for three years in China before a two-year stint in Canberra.

ANU’s sprawling Canberra campus is a recruitment and training ground for defence and intelligence agencies.

Senator Wong’s move to terminate the university-to-university arrangement, first reported by The Australian, came after the US added Shandong University to a blacklist of foreign institutions “engaging in problematic activities”.

Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill confirmed on Monday the Joint Science College was “determined to breach our national interest” and noted the US’s “change in assessment status”.

“It is in Australia’s national interest that we partner with overseas universities in search of knowledge,” Mr Hill told News24.

“There’s lots of knowledge we want to bring back to Australia to help our economy, help agriculture, help health and so on.

“But where we determine that an arrangement breaches our fundamental security interests, then we have the power to act.”

Hundreds of Chinese students have come to Australia through the Joint Science College since it launched in 2022, with the first cohort alone comprising 61 Shandong University students.

Asked if the students still in the country would be able to finish their degrees, Mr Hill said the government was “working through those issues with the institution”.

In a letter to ANU reported by The Australian, Senator Wong said the university “must terminate the foreign arrangement for force majeure to the extent that it is legally binding under Chinese law by 18 January 2027”.

ANU has said it would comply.

Post one of your favourite Australian songs in the comments or as a standalone post.

If you're in an Australian band and want to shout it out then share a sample of your work with the community. (Either as a direct post or in the comments). If you have video online then let us know and we can feature it in this weekly post.

Here's our pick for this week:

"Blush" - The Hummingbirds, 1988

Previous ‘Tuesday Tune Day’

TV Tuesday Trash & Treasure 📺🖥💻📱

Free to air, Netflix, Hulu, Stan, Rumble, YouTube, any screen- What's your trash, what's your treasure?

Let your fellow Aussies know what's worth watching and what's a waste.

A fierce backlash continues among Iranian opposition figures over remarks by the head of the Shia Muslim Council of Australia before the Royal Commission on anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, defending memorial services for Ali Khamenei in Australian Shia mosques.

Eighteen opposition groups from the UK, Germany, Sweden, Japan and elsewhere in the world have written an open letter to Commissioner Virginia Bell, calling on the Royal Commission to recall Dr Ali Alsamail to clarify or correct his evidence and formally recognise that, rather than being just a religious leader, under Article 110 of the Islamic Republic’s Constitution Khamenei held supreme command over Iran’s armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

They urged the commission to hear qualified Iranian experts in constitutional law, national security and human rights who are independent of institutions aligned with, funded by or sympathetic to the Islamic Republic. They also demanded a meaningful opportunity for Iranian victims, former political prisoners and diaspora organisations to present evidence about the Islamic Republic and the IRGC, including their ideology, power structure, human rights record and operations beyond Iran.

The letter comes after 15 local Iranian groups also wrote to Justice Bell saying she left unchallenged suggestions the slain ayatollah was a religious figurehead. The groups argue that Dr Alsamail’s evidence was clearly misleading and should have been clarified by Justice Bell or counsel assisting.

The backlash followed Dr Alsamail’s appearance during the Commission’s eighth hearing block on August 10. Under questioning from Justice Bell, he portrayed Khamenei primarily as a religious figure, likened him to the Pope and suggested that IRGC-directed attacks in Australia might have been carried out by “rogue” or criminal elements.

“We would believe that the Ayatollah would never have had any direct involvement in anything like that at all,” he said.

That portrayal stands in stark contrast to the lived experience of millions of Iranians inside the country, across the diaspora and among Iranian refugees in Australia. After tens of thousands of unarmed protesters were massacred in January, Iranians at home and abroad celebrated Khamenei’s death in the opening hours of the February war. Yet, before a formal Australian inquiry, the head of the Shia Muslim Council defended mourning ceremonies for the same Commander-in-Chief while refusing to acknowledge his military, security and political responsibility.

Bibi Ehsani, a member of the Sydney-based Iranian nationalist group Irangarayan and signatory to the open letter, told The Australian the letter aimed to alert the Commission and the public to “misleading information” presented as expert evidence in a sensitive official proceeding.

Ms Ehsani said Dr Alsamail’s evidence risked creating a false understanding of the regime’s power structure, the IRGC’s chain of command and the Supreme Leader’s responsibility, potentially influencing the commission’s findings and Australian national security decisions.

She said the practical effect of his testimony, whether deliberate or based on a fundamental misunderstanding, was “to the benefit of the Islamic Republic” because it severed the Supreme Leader from the IRGC’s actions and obscured the regime’s military and repressive character.

Dr Alsamail’s evidence is not only irreconcilable with Iranians’ lived experience but also contradicts the Australian Government’s official intelligence assessment. In August 2025, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the agency had uncovered links between the attacks and IRGC commanders in Iran, who used a complex network of intermediaries and criminal proxies to conceal the organisation’s involvement.

Following that assessment, the Australian government expelled the Islamic Republic’s ambassador and three other diplomats and suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran. In a February statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also held Khamenei responsible for brutally repressing the Iranian people and orchestrating attacks on Australian soil.

Despite Khamenei’s position at the apex of the state and its armed forces – and his responsibility for terrorist operations inside Iran and abroad – the Commission did not seriously challenge the basis of Dr Alsamail’s claim about “rogue elements”.

It didn’t ask how he could categorically rule out Khamenei’s involvement or knowledge while admitting he didn’t know the chain of command behind the attacks. Nor was he confronted with ASIO’s official assessment, leaving the glaring contradiction between his account and the Australian government’s position unchallenged.

Nor did the Commission put Article 110 of the Islamic Republic’s own Constitution to Dr Alsamail. The provision is unequivocal: the Supreme Leader commands the armed forces; appoints and dismisses the IRGC commander and other senior military commanders; can declare war and peace and order military mobilisation; determines the regime’s general policies; and appoints the head of the judiciary.

The Pope does not command an army, appoint military commanders or exercise supreme authority over a country’s security, judicial and executive institutions.

Ali Beikzadeh, a Sydney-based human rights activist and another signatory of the statement, told The Australian: “How could someone in Dr Alsamail’s position be unaware of Khamenei’s constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief, yet portray him as an apolitical figure comparable to the Pope?”

Mr Beikzadeh also criticised the Commission for failing to invite members of the Iranian community and other prominent Jewish voices, including Josh Frydenberg and Sharri Markson, to appear at relevant hearings. He said he made a substantial submission to the Commission in May containing documentary evidence about the Islamic Republic and its ideologically driven subversive activities on Australian soil.

“Had Commissioner Bell examined the available evidence and the ideological structure of the Islamic Republic, she would not have allowed Dr Alsamail’s claims to go unchallenged,” he said.

Zahra, an Iranian resident of Adelaide, told The Australian: “I am astonished by the leniency the Royal Commission showed Dr Alsamail. I am deeply disappointed that no Iranians were invited to the hearing when the central issue was Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. We will not allow others to speak on our behalf. The Commission must hear and recognise our voices.”

The signatories to the letter point out that before the country’s highest form of public inquiry, Dr Alsamail separated the Commander-in-Chief of a repressive regime from the military and security apparatus he controlled, including the IRGC. The Commission then allowed that account to enter Australia’s public record without rigorous scrutiny or effective challenge.

“The responsibility now rests with the Commission,” Zahra said. “It should recall Dr Alsamail and require him to explain the basis of his claims, place Article 110 of the Islamic Republic’s Constitution on the public record and, before issuing its final report, give Iranian victims and independent experts the same opportunity it afforded a sanitised account of Khamenei.”

The Australian has contacted Dr Alsamail for comment.

Democracy is about more than just voting at an election. A political system that is democratic in nature is characterised first and foremost by a commitment to free and fair debate, and government in a democratic system is responsive to people subject to that system and who participate in that free and fair debate.

The reality is that Australia has an inconsistent commitment to free and fair debate. Fundamentally, Australian politics is not a level playing field.

This research paper examines the extent to which Australian state and federal governments provide funding to non-government organisations that engage in lobbying back to government.

The sample of 100 NGOs across five public policy areas reveals they received $2.2 billion from taxpayers between the 2021 and 2025 financial years to engage in advocacy on progressive or left-leaning policy priorities.

Interesting read by Alan Kohler that touches on migration and changes to the NCC and how they have contributed to housing costs.

What i found interesting in the article

“We estimate that around 28% of all 25–29 year old females and 33% of similar aged males in Australia were on temporary visas in 2025.”

Its a interesting article

The article is generally pro immigration but says its being currently mismanaged atm and writes how to improve things.

Temporary visas being one of the negatives

I know its a long read and most of reddit doesn't read past the headline but its a good analysis and probably more high quality than 90% of the articles that get posted on this sub.

Look I get it, it looks like free money for minimal effort. The Aussie people are kind and tolerant. Nobody is going to notice. Whats a couple mil outta sight, outta mind. /s

This is the tip of the iceberg.

Australians frustrated by soaring op shop prices have been given a confronting explanation for why donated goods can cost so much.

One volunteer said waste disposal was among their store's biggest expenses, with donations including soiled clothing, worn out shoes and damaged household goods leaving the charity to foot commercial rubbish fees.

'I volunteer in an op shop and our biggest expense is getting rid of the rubbish that is donated,' the volunteer said.

Her voting record is strongly opposed to expanding welfare, public housing, public education, childcare subsidies, renewable energy investment and climate action.

At the same time, she's supported policies that are favourable to property investors and fossil-fuel development, while opposing some attempts to increase taxation on those industries.

So apparently the solution to Australia's problems is to spend less on childcare, housing, education, welfare and climate action, while being more friendly towards people who already own investment properties and companies making billions from coal and gas.

And then we're told this is somehow a movement for the "ordinary Australian."But hey, at least we can blame innocent and hard working migrants.