individual,
There's one lesson I hope you (and the police) took from this: always check you have the right insurance policy, because many insurance companies have no qualms about ripping off their customers.

Belly,
My long standing argument is to freeze Public Service Salaries for at least three terms of federal Govt. Freeze politicians salaries for ten years & introduce a flat tax for wage earners & introduce a non mlitary National Service. Then there won't be any need for penalty rates & job cuts the lower income workforce & Welfare could be reduced by at least 50%.

Aidan,
Most insurance companie will not insure private pleasure boats north of Cairns. The two who do have premiums that no-one can afford.

individual while I never have and never will thought politicians and public servants wages are too high I am confronted by the multi millions some CEOs earn in the open market.
Pay peanuts get Monkeys comes to mind, however! it has been my experience in some public service positions the standard of work is bad to dreadful,it seems the worse they are the higher that person gets to go, why? love to know

Belly apples & oranges mate. Compare the public servants pay rate with the equitant job requirement.

Try perhaps a check out chick, although they work much harder than most public servants. Or if you like, a clerk in an office somewhere. If you do you will have to admit bureaucrats are paid at least double what they are worth.

On insurance of boats individual, in the 70s I was quoted 4% a year for coastal, between Rockhampton & Melbourne, & 7.5% north of Rockhampton or for foreign going. After 8 years of foreign going uninsured I had saved over half the value of the yacht, so infront, & after 19 years I had saved over the value of the thing. You just have to be competent & careful, much easier on the water than the roads.

individual,
Even no insurance is better than insurance which takes your money and fails to pay out.

>My long standing argument is to freeze Public Service Salaries for at least three terms of federal Govt.
Likely result: most of the talented people in the Public Service would leave.

>Freeze politicians salaries for ten years
That sounds more reasonable, though I'd still be wary of supporting it until I know more about why they're currently paid as much as they are.

>& introduce a flat tax for wage earners
So why exactly do you want to fund a tax cut for high income earners by giving low income earners a tax rise?

>& introduce a non mlitary National Service.
Taking away people's freedom and instilling a huge resentment of the government. WTF is your objective here?

>Then there won't be any need for penalty rates
That looks like a non sequiter. Why do you think penalty rates are currently needed?

>& job cuts the lower income workforce
That problem could better be solved by changing fiscal and monetary policy.

>& Welfare could be reduced by at least 50%.
It looks like your plan would reduce the welfare of the population by at least 50%!

But presuming by "welfare" you mean social security payments, you seem to have missed the fact that pensions make up the bulk of these.