Mr Opinion, you are very astute. I didn't think anyone would have guessed China from those vague clues I gave.

We tried to sell the whole of the joint to the Japanese in the 1960's for the bargain basement price of only a few billion, and a house swoop, they move here, we move there. They had popped in during the 1940's for a look, and liked what they saw.

But alas, the Yanks reminded us that they owned the joint and we were only tenants, so no sale. The Brits objected saying if anyone owned the joint it was them, a property developer of theirs who's name I think was Arthur dropped in 1788 and finding the joint was VP (vacant possession), needed work, the house boys living here hadn't done much to improve the place in 40,000 years. Reminded the lads that their man the real estate agent Jamie Cook had picked up the place cheap in 1770, and they had been gazumped, but all was not lost for the local lads, Arthur did offer them cheap digs in British Antarctica for 2 weeks rent up front and 4 weeks bond. Unfortunately, since none of the lads had held a paying job in 40,000 years the boys couldn't come up with the dosh. So they have been left on the outer ever since.

There is also a somewhat erroneous claim to ownership by the Dutch, Claiming there man Abe Tassie was driving by in about 1640, didn't see any lights on, couldn't hear anyone speaking English, French or Spanish, so assume the locals could be Dutch and claimed the joint for Dutch and all the little Dutch, very cute bunch those Dutch, with their clogs and windmills.

Dear Paul1405,

What I'm wondering is what the impact will be when the South China Sea War breaks out. They can forget about the debt and start counting the dead.

Poirot>>sonofgloin,

We have a "Net" debt to GDP ratio of around 17% (16.9 last figure I saw)

We had a Net debt to GDP ratio of 10% at the time of the last election.<<

“Australia recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 33.88 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2014. Government Debt to GDP in Australia averaged 21.20 percent from 1989 until 2014, reaching an all time high of 33.88 percent in 2014 and a record low of 9.70 percent in 2007. Government Debt to GDP in Australia is reported by the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM).”

Poirot, this is the site I got the numbers from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/government-debt-to-gdp

First we should send back all those Kiwis over here costing us a fortune. Then deport anyone who has been here more than 3 years who is still receiving any kind of welfare.

Just that should get us back on track.

Crusty, if we get rid of the current tax system, and replace it with a TT then everyone will have so much more to spend in their weekly pay packet.
It stands to reason that the more people have to spend, the more they will spend and what better way to stimulate our economy. Even the big end or those profit shifting could not escape this tax, but for some reason our law makers wont go there, wont even give it an good look into.

As for butchers wages, wages are a percentage of turnover and as turnover increases, so too do wages. The trouble is there are so many additions to wages, like penalty rates, super, work cover, redundancy, the list goes on. So when you add all these to wages, wages become very high, but unfortunately not so much for the wage earner.

Y. while I don't have a problem with medicare, I do think self induced medical conditions should not be subsidised by the tax payer.

"What I'm wondering is what the impact will be when the South China Sea War breaks out" Mr Opinion, your concerns are unwarranted, stop wondering.

Any action by the Chinese in the South China Sea, shall be treated as a violation of Australian sovereignty, and an act of war. We shall unilaterally declare war on China, forming a new Coalition of The Willing comprising Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, and us of course Australia in command. The Kiwi's can join in if they are not busy with rugby on the day. We shall immediately mobilise the third AIF under General Monash, and I fully expect, with some confidence, our brave troops shall be landing in Beijing within 24 hours, depending on the availability of seats for a group booking on China Air.

Mr Opinion I hope I have been able to address your fears and concerns on this matter.

Acting Field Marshal Paul1405.