Zero Degrees - News

12/06/2023

How do we fix our current financial woes?

So when is someone going to actually tell us what to do financially to stop the pain for the Australian public.

How do we stop interest rate rises and inflation growing?

I hear we need unemployment to rise because it’s to low…. Does that not put more people / businesses out of work and increase government benefits as opposed to getting money from taxes?

Cost of electricity is rising because of the war in Russia? Umm… we make our own power…and are closing down power stations faster than finding / constructing apparent green alternatives…

People can’t afford to buy a house…. Maybe don’t look at a 4 bedroom inner city house…. You might have to move and travel to get to work.. yet the government gives out more handouts to make it easier and cheaper …. How about those that already own a house…. More quantity has to push values down..

Housing companies are closing down due to cost increases and lack of materials ….. We have forests and trees here…. We had a timber industry which the government has chosen to shut down…. Initially in 2026 but gone 4 years early and spending nearly $300 million in compensation / re- training etc…

So how many trees will grow now - then we will have a bushfire and blame climate change …. Not an abundance of forest growth…

We continue to have to pay a premium price for trades / building for construction …. Yet when they collapse the government bails them out / pays the “victims”… you can’t have your cake and eat it too…. Everything we overpay for…. Someone else’s is increasing their price to cover the cost…. A vicious circle of spending….

It would be nice if the governments set an example - what’s the point of a budget if you overspend each year… and just keep the interest rising…. For example - Victorian Government pays $10 million a day in interest…that’s $3.6 billion a year and still increasing….Instead of worrying about your own jobs and legacy projects…. How about we tighten the purse strings and knock down the debt… allowing us to recover and spend money where it’s needed.

As home loan interest rates rise so do the rates on savings. Figures suggest that Australia has approximately $365 billion in home loans and $1.3 trillion in savings accounts….. so does it not cancel itself out or even cost more to pay more interest on savings - why keep punishing those with home loans?

When will the government/ banks/ big businesses stop blaming something or someone else and provide actual solutions to make everyone’s lives simpler…. and more cost effective!

29/08/2022

Gender Pay Gap

It has been revealed that the Gender Pay Gap has increased to 14 %.

Some suggestions to rectify this are - share your super contributions with your partner/ offer to split pay difference with colleague ( give away your money).

The Gender pay gap is calculated by the average weekly wage of males and females and the difference is the gap!

So it is also reliant on the employment / training of people and associated salaries. So I’m sure there are also many males earning less than the average male - but they don’t matter in this discussion.

It is stated that the largest gap is in WA- without any research I can tell you why - the mining sector - there are females that work within it but it is a male dominated role - but I’d be confident the biggest earner is Gina Rinehart - wonder if she’s sharing her salary with the men?!?

Most jobs salaries are dictated by roles/ skills / experience- So the solution is getting more women to be skilled in the higher paying rules.

Unfortunately for women their careers / dreams are diverted by pregnancy / children. This is just a fact of life. Men cannot get pregnant!

It’s insinuated that the gap exists as men are just paid more than women for every job. This is not the case at all- it is just an average of all full time wages.

What is the solution? I say we don’t pay any attention to the stats around it - which can be twisted anyway to strengthen an argument - let’s just focus on if 2 people are doing the same job / same skills/ same experience that they are being paid the same!

29/08/2022

New Virus Alert!

I have lost track of the number of supposed new viruses that are being reported.

What was previously a warning about the new wave of the flu every winter - now appears to be a new daily virus to get us clicking!

It appears that the COVID variants have run out and we have now let the kinder kids name any type of “new” infection.

Monkey Pox - which has been in the endemic category in Africa for many years - has now become the virus to fear - and surprise surprise there is already a vaccine - so Australia orders 300,000 doses. Hopefully it’s delivery and effectiveness is a little better than the last one!!!

Today I read about “tomato flu”… it’s highly infectious with 80 cases in India since May…. Yes you read that right - that’s less than one case per day - and it’s medical origins aren’t even known - but a so called expert helps generate the headline that it’s likely going to make it to Australia.

So the scare mongering continues - what’s next?

The biggest virus at the moment appears to be main stream media!!

10/08/2022

Not so Tame.

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame who was given the award around her work for sexual assault victims has lashed out on Instagram at the current federal government.

This comes after her rude display towards former prime minister Scott Morrison earlier in the year where she refused to acknowledge him.

After the recent election she came out online supporting the new PM - Anthony Albanese. On the 1st of July her foundation - The Grace Tame foundation was awarded charity status allowing donations to be tax deductible - after being approved by the government.

Within a month - she has turned again - referring to our politicians as circle jerking, white washed, white ableist Toffs. Her complaint being that a white disabled senator was not appointed chair of NDIS committee.

I see it as a touch hypocritical seeing that the directors of her foundation are her husband and step-father. And the board members - I don’t see any listed sexual assault survivors there? And they all appear to be white?

I had never heard of her prior to her award - and she must have done great work to receive it - but just maybe stay in your own lane and keep doing the work you are good at- not using gutter language to give your political views which vary depending on the side of the bed you woke up on.

06/08/2022

Don’t believe the fear about Meningococcal!!

At time of writing there has been 2 cases identified at Splendour-on the grass ( the festival that keeps the MSM licking their lips) of meningococcal with one person unfortunately passing away. No other that are being reported by media.

The headlines are telling us that a deadly disease has struck and thousands are on alert. But here’s the facts:

CDC state - Carriage prevalence increased through childhood from 4·5% in infants to a peak of 23·7% in 19-year olds and subsequently decreased in adulthood to 7·8% in 50-year olds.

NPS Medicine state -Each year in Australia, meningococcal infections cause 700-800 hospitalisations and 35-40 deaths (10 in children aged 0-4 years). Invasive disease usually presents as meningitis or septicaemia. The mortality is high and those who survive may have severe sequelae.

So where is the fear of one death coming from. It is purely click-bait and fear growing by attaching it to the music festival that the MSM are up for days on end. It is a disease that is carried by many and unfortunately deaths occur - but one death shouldn’t cause fear for a disease that is not spread by casual contact and is not airborne - it is not easily spread. (NSW health)…. You decide?!?

21/03/2022

WHERE ARE YOUR DONATIONS GOING?

In amongst the constant local disasters ( flooding /bushfires/cyclones) that keep occurring in Australia the one constant is the request for donations by the public to help support those in need. Being the country that Australia is, people are constantly putting hands in pockets and giving what they can, even during the harsh financial times that many are going through.



The Red Cross is always the frontrunner when it comes to charity organisations and fund raising events ( concerts etc) to raise funds. After the bushfires in NSW and Victoria in 2020 there was public outcry when much of the money raised wasn’t immediately disseminated to help those in need, and was being held for future disasters/projects.



So a quick little google search brings up the financial details of the Australian Red Cross. I am not an accountant, so I will just note some of the key figures that I observed in the report. ( I have attached a link to it below to allow full transparency). Now I am aware that the Red Cross also run the Blood Banks ( Lifeblood) which is a large part of their organisation, however it appears that it being run as a profit business rather than what most people likely assume being a not for profit / donate most of our money to causes.



So a few points of note:



$511 million on employee expenditure of which $467 million is in employee wages



$837 million in govt funding of which $163 million is for humanitarian aid. In the FY21 there was a deficit on nearly $5 million however nearly this is nullified by the $80 million in profit FY20 ( largely due to Bushfire donations).



Red Cross Australia has nearly $500 million in cash/assets.



The Disaster Relief Fund ( Donations you the public make ) contributed $227 million in FY20 and $14 million in FY21



Throughout the COVID period of FY20 and 21 they received $25million in Jobkeeper allowances



In FY21- $850million spent in employee and operating costs



In FY21 - $198million held in bonds/shares/ managed funds along with $322 million in cash and term deposits



The members of the Australian Red Cross Society Board provide their service on a volunteer basis and receive no payment other than reimbursement for reasonable travel and other expenses incurred in connection with their roles. Nearly $3.4 million was spent in FY21 for the 15 or so Volunteer board members.



As part of various expenditures, there was also $1.9 million spent in FY21 on Financial Audit services.



I will note that they are not doing anything illegal and all of the practices are lawful and comply with legislation and regulations. But surely next time you think about donating that few dollars, consider exactly where that $$ may be going.

https://www.redcross.org.au/globalassets/corporatecms-migration/publications-research--reports/annual-report-2021.pdf

10/01/2022

Novak free - for now!

Visa cancellation has been quashed by court, however government can still force him to leave the country.

However, have we forgotten that documentation provided shows a positive PCR from 16/12 - however on 17/12 he is pictured on his own Insta account at an event receiving a stamp in his honour.

The Serbian rules are that you must isolate for 14 days if positive.

So where is his credibility on this? Did he really test positive? What would the opinion of all his supporters be if it was anyone else?

Be interesting if he plays to see the reaction of staff, players and crowds.

07/01/2022

Let’s really talk about death!

Firstly - this is not meant to offend anyone and I understand that all of the deceased have family and friends that are grieving. Condolences to them all.

All I read, hear and see everyday is a death number of people that have died from/of/ with COVID. ( depending on who gives the data) Especially in cases where it is a young person, although they have just died and the actual cause of death is unknown until an autopsy/ coronial hearing.

To add a little reality to this- in 2020 COVID was number 38 on the causes of death… however a deeper look at the ABS figures for 2021 show that 71.2 % of those listed as deceased by COVID (1671) had pre-existing chronic conditions. That’s a big number, approx 1186 persons. Out of the just under 500 others there are all sorts of varying reasons given for the death along with COVID.

My concern is the scare mongering around COVID deaths, but I see as more important the 37 causes that have greater numbers that are not even mentioned. What are we doing to try and prevent some of these?

The top 5 causes- Ischaemic heart disease, Dementia including Alzheimer's disease, Cerebrovascular diseases, Lung cancer and Chronic lower respiratory diseases are top of the list and have been for a number of years. Where is the “hype” about these?

I understand that some of these diseases are prevalent in older people, but so are the COVID deaths. Should the be treated any differently just because they are “old”.

Also in 2020 - There were 3,139 deaths due to su***de (2,384 males and 755 females). But the only time this is discussed is if it’s a celebrity and even then rarely is the term su***de used… just wait for the mention of Lifeline at the end of the story to presume it is a su***de.

Why are we so scared to talk about su***de? On top of that others with mental health issues are generally only discussed when they have done something bad, and stigmatised on TV and film.

It’s time they we start looking at what we can do for all of these illnesses - but I doubt our budget and pharmaceutical companies will allow that for a long time.

03/01/2022

What makes a celebrity?

The word is defined as :

“a famous person, especially in entertainment or sport.” The problem in our current day and age is the power that they wield as influencers, but generally have no knowledge about what they are discussing…. And subsequently influence people.

I’m taking a crack at those that become celebrities by being on a reality show… or should that be a show apparently about reality. They are more scripted/ directed/ produced than most movies … and many on them are there to become a celebrity- not actual show reality!

I use the example of a MAFS alumni who created some controversy and now has 629000 followers, and makes money promoting products. She then becomes a figure that is listened to and promoted in mainstream media because it’s click bait.

Her latest is that she has COVID and the biggest problem is -it makes you f***ing ugly. Thanks for the expert opinion!

I appreciate this is the world we live in, but imagine if some of these so celebrities influenced for the good of society and not just to line their pockets and boost their ego, I also am not sure how being an influencer is a job, but maybe it’s just the way we advertise now.

This is life as we no know it… maybe it’s time to give up on social media… but where would I then post this… am I now an influencer?!? ( with no followers)

03/01/2022

I hate to stick to COVID - but it has just got out of control! Not the virus but the disaster that is testing in Australia.

I heard today of an 80 year old man that had to wait 6 hours to get a PCR test to allow him to go to hospital for cancer treatment. The result took too long to receive, so no treatment. But at least it’s not a COVID death…. Hopefully you read
the sarcasm!

I then read that a man in his 30s in Queensland has died… it’s been intertwined into a COVID story but is no mention that this person even had COVID…. But it sounds good to add a death into the figures…

I then watch a video of a person in ICU and on a ventilator…. Here’s me thinking they are on deaths door if at this point…. Yet here is this patient recording a video and speaking clearly…. are we putting people into ICU because it’s the treatment they need, or just the beds and set -up to create isolation that works best?

It’s time to report the truth, not what sells a story….

And as I write this I hear members of the media ( cricket commentary) saying how they are going to Sydney and will be PCR tested tomorrow, and will obviously get a result by the end of the day to allow them to commentate…. It shows that money can buy your life and freedom…. Let’s start to treat everyone equally…and with the respect they deserve.

27/12/2021

Government can’t get testing right!

All you will see is pictures of lines of people and cars, stories of testing sites being over run and locking people out at 9am, 4 hour waits and testing results taking days to return to people causing them to isolate and then possibly being given the wrong result anyway. It’s not like we just started doing this!

All at the same time when the rules for some are different…. I would make the natural assumption that all of the England Cricket team are close contacts of the family and team members that have tested positive yet a quick rapid test and off they go for a days cricket.

So if this can be done for the cricketers why not the entire nation?

It appears that there are currently 3 types of people getting tested -
1- those that are symptomatic
2-those that are close contacts
3- those that need a test to travel

I only know the testing system in Victoria which is definitely not efficient. Once arriving within the testing area you are required to provide all your details to a person, this is then checked by a second person, before a third person comes and conducts your test after all of your information is checked again after being written on a testing tube. Sounds complicated and inefficient doesn’t it!

Just a suggestion - maybe you pre- register with your details - and are provided a reference number. (Those who are unable to do this ie. elderly can do it manually when attending )

You arrive provide your reference- they print out a sticker and you are tested … seems simple to me?!? You see less people and less time is used per test.

The other option is the use of rapid tests - they are a lot cheaper, test results within 15 minutes and in the text on the Victorian Government website - rapid tests are likely to find most COVID -19 cases.

Rather than having people choosing not to be tested due to the waiting periods or unable to even get tested… surely this has to be a better option. Even in NSW where it is “ out of control” only 5% of those getting tested are returning positive results.

I’m just a member of our community with some of the information - but surely after nearly 2 years we could’ve got this right! We were quick to create and told to download the COVID app at the start of the pandemic which detected only a very small number ( 20 in NSW in 6 months) of cases, yet can’t get the testing right… I won’t be lining up for hours to be told that the site is closed and come back tomorrow.

25/12/2021

25/12/2021