You speak of irrelevant extremes *Peter Mac* which seems to be based on the view that there should be unbounded freedom for some regardless of the cost and whose backs they are standing on.

Let us consider a "fair days pay for a fair days work." Now, some people have regulated wages, and some people do not.

My view, is that a healthy democracy requires universal medical, housing, legal and employment.

I note that in some ways the working poor are far worse off than those who have health care cards, as exemplified by the example of the truckie who cannot afford to have his tooth fixed and suffers as a consequence, as reported in the media not so long ago. ... Easily fixed - create more doctors, dentists, vets and lawyers and put them on a sustainable fund with limited exceptions - end of story.

I care about farmers, truckies and small business, not about bloated mega corp retailers and their shareholders (especially the foreign ones) who monopolise the supply chain, crush small business and extort consumers.

Exactly how many people do you want to pay for your apple?

..

*Bazz*

I get the distinct impression that Australia has long since priced itself out of a lot of potential growth and that that in turn requires a "scaling down" of certain sectors of the economy.

Corruption , whether "legal" or otherwise is a lazy person's business, characterised by parasites with over inflated opinions of themselves who destroy economies and businesses by over paying themselves.

That is a question of productivity that is all too often over looked. For example, the politicians come out with their usual simplistic and impoversished thoughts and rhetoric stating they are spending so many millions on a program for the BlakFellas. In the aftermath, after much shrieking and running around in the shadows, it is discovered that there has been next to nothing done except to pay pencil fiddlers 90% of the funds in administration costs.

..?..

What a sick joke.

Queensland; the land of the "White Shoe Brigade"...nothing changes!