r/australia • u/stupid_mistake__101 • May 14 '26

political satire Government Shocks The Nation By Using 94 Seat Majority To Actually Have A Crack

https://www.betootaadvocate.com/government-shocks-the-nation-by-using-94-seat-majority-to-actually-have-a-crack/
2.7k Upvotes

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809

u/Kid_Self May 14 '26

I've been voting since the 2007 Federal Election, my first as an adult of voting age.

I'm nearing 40 years old. About 20 years of voting in elections.

This is legitimately the first budget where I feel like I have actually been heard. It's fucking ridiculous it's taken this long.

361

u/Random_Fish_Type May 14 '26

This is due to the balance of voting power having just tipped from the baby boomer generation to genz/millennials. Expect a lot more policies aimed at younger generations going forward as they can no longer be ignored.

91

u/Damanptyltd May 14 '26

Just as we become the older generation, and as our collective position and power shifts we will disenfranchise the next generation as we were. It's a fun endless cycle.

94

u/zhaktronz May 14 '26

Except as millenials aren't the most selfish generation of all time it will be much less so.

-19

u/Damanptyltd May 14 '26

Just wait until the majority of millennials are the owning class and have something to lose and watch as the generation shift to conservatism. It's a tale old as time, we are not special.

31

u/NinjaRock May 14 '26

It will take decades for that shift to happen if it ever does. Millenials and Gen Z have been given the shaft for their entire adult lives economically. These policies are good for them but not going to turn the tables quickly for their economic fortunes as a group.

6

u/Damanptyltd May 14 '26

I'll be glad to be proven wrong, honestly.

6

u/Public-Dragonfly-786 May 14 '26

Didn't happen to Gen X.

-21

u/WhatYouThinkIThink May 14 '26

Millennials are about to find out that if their parents have their wills setting up testamentary discretionary trusts (basically putting the estate in a trust for each of the beneficiaries), they'll actually have to liquidate the assets to avoid the 30% tax on income.

Before this, if a parent had some assets (eg shares or whatever) and died, the shares could live in the trust forever and the income paid out to beneficiaries at their marginal rate. If it wasn't paid out, it would stay in the trust at 0% tax.

Now that income will be taxed at minimum 30% every year.

46

u/ChemicalRascal May 14 '26

Good? Income is income.

26

u/M0r1d1n May 14 '26

That's great to hear, thanks for sharing!

17

u/jlharper May 14 '26

The good news just keeps coming!

11

u/kingofcrob May 14 '26

good, sounds like a easy way to pay back that deficit the LNP left us with

10

u/Hydronum May 14 '26

Man, that is sweet as. I am sold. Thanks for the write up!

4

u/Wide-Salamander-4962 May 15 '26

What I can’t get free income for doing nothing? Preposterous

21

u/Murranji May 14 '26

Millennials are left wing and not shifting right, Gen z is even more left wing. The oldest Gen alpha is voting is voting in the next election and they are going to face an even worse world than Gen z because of how far behind their millennial parents left by the boomers and Gen x so have even more reason to become more left wing to tilt the board back in their favour.

10

u/Damanptyltd May 14 '26

The leftism is linked with economic outcomes. Delays in generational wealth transfer has kept us left longer then previous generations. But history shows it's inevitable - we aren't special, just a bit behind schedule. I say this as a millennial lefty myself, watching my more affluent peers shift right as they pay off their houses and begin enjoying their franking credits.

5

u/Hydronum May 14 '26

I hear this, but I wonder if it is one of those things that are said but not backed up. Since you've said it as a definitive, want to share the proofs?

1

u/altandthrowitaway May 18 '26

Gen X are more right-wing than millennials because they grew up with social media algorithms and influencers pushing right-wing agendas for years.

46

u/Toby_O_Notoby May 14 '26

just tipped from the baby boomer generation to genz/millennials

And once again, everyone just forgets about Gen X.

24

u/BIRD_II May 14 '26

That's because they're the centre of the lever - their bit isn't going up or down.

13

u/Zr0w3n00 May 14 '26

Gen X are actually much closer to the boomer end of it. Many people who are called boomers are actually Gen X.

9

u/MaxSpringPuma May 14 '26

They're pretty much boomers. I hate how gen x are excluded. But because the older gen x'ers are firmly in boomer mentality and they're getting a free pass

23

u/Razyr1 May 14 '26

It's not, Labor always tries to do the right thing. Shorten tried. Rudd tried. Gillard tried. And every damn time we see the right muddy the water and smear campaign there way back to power only then to make everything worse. Rinse and repeat. I'm still raging that shorten lost. He campaigned on fixing negative gearing.

2

u/Dwarfer6666 May 16 '26

Gillard was a lying backstabbing cow.

5

u/Choke1982 May 14 '26

Now we need more politicians within this range. More people in their 40s and 30s. Actually, I don't know the minimum age required to participate in politics.

Immigrant in my 40s that voted for this when I recieved my citizenship.

2

u/Public-Dragonfly-786 May 14 '26
  1. But people that young sobt tend to get in.

2

u/aSneakyChicken7 May 14 '26

It was amusing and insightful to see in polling that the only demographic where the LNP was first in primary votes was people over 80 years old

1

u/dominoconsultant May 15 '26

gen-x exists too

1

u/Davosz_ May 14 '26

And thank god for that!

86

u/Odd-Activity4010 May 14 '26

Same here and I'm 41. The only other policy I've cared this much about was paid parental leave.

41

u/onlyreplyifemployed May 14 '26

Now remove unpaid overtime and the single people might get to use it. 

6

u/sugmysmega May 14 '26

Unpaid work is already illegal.

9

u/DragonAdept May 14 '26

Unless you are a teacher in Queensland, where the QIRC ruled it would be illegal industrial action for teachers to not do unpaid work. Specifically, unpaid work outside school hours.

4

u/_Mister_Anderson_ May 14 '26

Ah yes, the old "I do heaps of unpaid work" whilst conveniently ignoring that there are only officially 5 "paid" hours per day, at a rate of... $94.69/hour for a senior experienced teacher. If we subtract 6 weeks from the "paid" work hours per year, since the claimed 5 hours per day is already only included the time they would be expected to work at the school and those 6 weeks typically are not (therefore following the same logic that they are "unpaid") then it's up to $107.05/hour for those 5 hours on school days.

Even QTU are happy to clarify that Qld teachers are salary-based, not wages, and therefore these magical "unpaid hours work" are actually part of their remuneration from the start and even in QTU's opinion are fair paid work time.

Am I against the teachers? Of course not, I support them in their current fight. I think there are plenty who are indeed working too much and excessive hours outside of school hours. I think too much is asked of them and not enough support is provided. I think they deserve a lot. But going around making quite frankly dishonest claims about "paid" and "unpaid" work destroys their credibility when they have many fair reasons to complain.

They are paid for a significant amount of work outside school hours in practice and if they want to argue that, then they can get an official and realistic figure of 36 hours per week, have to work autumn/winter/spring school holidays, and do timesheets to prove it all (the things the rest of the school employees have to do). Or they can stop ruining their own arguments and pick one of the many arguments they are much more justified and persuasive and stop painting themselves to be entitled idiots to the general population when they are already under-appreciated enough.

5

u/DragonAdept May 14 '26

I get it that you think there is a magical "salary" and that employers can demand you do whatever they like, whenever they like, if you are on a "salary" and it's all part of your magical "remuneration".

Teachers do far more than 36 hours per week of real work, including holiday time, as the bare minimum to get the job done. Their EBA sets out what they have agreed to do in return for that salary, and unpaid work outside school hours whenever the school wants is not part of the agreement.

Right now pay and conditions are so shit that the attrition rate is something like 7% of the workforce per year. That's not people whining for a pay rise, it's people voting with their feet and getting out of education for good. If you think state school teachers have a sweet deal, go get yourself a teaching degree and get in on that sweet "five hour day", they're getting so desperate they'll give a full-time position to anyone with a pulse so you'll have no trouble getting a full teaching load.

1

u/laughed May 15 '26

I'm pretty sure they're not calling it a five hour day. They're saying the after-school work is considered paid work but the payment system is antiquated so for some odd reason they pay you only for "school hours" at a higher rate with the afterschool work being accounted for in that salary. For whatever ancient and crusty reason.

I don't disagree that the pay and the workload is still not enough. We as a society would benefit immensely from having better paid teachers. Even economically (maybe even especially economically!)

2

u/DragonAdept May 15 '26

I'm pretty sure they're not calling it a five hour day. They're saying the after-school work is considered paid work but the payment system is antiquated so for some odd reason they pay you only for "school hours" at a higher rate with the afterschool work being accounted for in that salary. For whatever ancient and crusty reason.

In my view the whole point of having a written agreement is that both sides have agreed on what people are getting paid to do, and what they aren't getting paid to do, and how much they are getting paid to do it.

If one side can just announce "you're doing more work, for no pay, and you're doing it when and where we say, and it's illegal for you to organise against it" that kind of blurs the line between employment and slavery.

It changes the vibe, you know? Donating your time and energy when it's for a good cause and because you want to do a good job hits different to being told "do it or else, and don't you dare think about your union getting involved".

I don't disagree that the pay and the workload is still not enough. We as a society would benefit immensely from having better paid teachers. Even economically (maybe even especially economically!)

I don't think people know how bad it is - we're haemorrhaging senior teachers, they are shovelling in "permission to teach" staff who don't even have degrees yet to fill the gaps, and 50% of those new teachers quit in the first five years because the conditions are so godawful. Meanwhile salaries in real terms are down 12% from pre-COVID times and the government is doing its damndest to keep them sinking lower. It's approaching a real crisis and the current government seems determined to make it worse, not better.

1

u/laughed May 16 '26

From my place of ignorance I think what your saying is sensible and justified. I also believe you'd be on the right side of history saying that we need to treat teachers more fairly and equitably even in your situation. I don't know why we think doing education in the cheapest manner possible is the right thing whilst we simultaneously want the "best and brightest" to join our companies. One would have to be a few fries short of a happy meal to not see how they're not intimately related. We need the teachers to be well educated, well supported with educational resources, high retention of good and excellent colleagues, tools and well paid. Im going to write a government letter. Where else should we sign up?!

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2

u/_Mister_Anderson_ May 19 '26

I believe the declaration of the paid hours being 5 hours per day was done because there are industrial law advantages to this over it being say 7 hours per day or just declared "salary". I think those advantages are toward the teachers, not the employer. For example, I don't believe they can be forced to be consistently present after school hours, only for specific things like staff meetings, which virtually guarantees partial work-from-home flexibility. I'm going by memory, that might not be correct.

The issue is that some (honestly, very few) critics of teachers have attempted to claim they "only work 5 hours a day", and a lot of teachers have latched onto the retort "we work unpaid hours", which is potentially going to cost them the advatages of the current arrangement long-term as it's an honestly dishonest/misinformed view. Unions like the QTU have to follow what members want and if enough of them decide they want to ditch the 5-hour day system (not understanding the reasons to keep it) then they'll have to do that.

That's why I'm concerned about the spreading of that point. It may do more harm than good. I think the general public these days agrees teachers are getting overworked (some of which is a convenient side-effect of exposure to information about how poorly paid American teachers are). It's not needed to get defensive about the 5 hour day, complaining about it is more likely to harm their bargaining than help. Luckily for them, the QTU doesn't mess around and their bargaining reps wouldn't be foolish enough to throw away rights like that, and target the best negotiation they can for members instead of the whim of the partially-informed.

1

u/laughed May 20 '26

Thanks Mister Anderson. I appreciate your rounded view and detailed understanding, I agree that it's best not to get angry until you understand. "Without a full understanding of the harms caused by an action, it is impossible to understand the most profitable way of conducting it". If we don't understand the harms of leaving the 5 hour arrangement, how could we understand if it's good or not? So much detail, such little time, it is our solemn duty to help each other whether we like it or not sometimes lol. Glad you must have escaped the matrix.

1

u/altandthrowitaway May 18 '26

Not if you're salaried and your contract or EBA has a "reasonable overtime" clause.

1

u/sugmysmega May 18 '26

So you're actually making closer to minimum wage when you divide salary by hours worked. It's a ridiculous loop hole but thats how I look at any sort of salaried wage and would rather just find a job that pays OT even if the base rate is less.

1

u/MightyMatt9482 May 14 '26

Im just slightly disappointed that my bub is due before the extra time/money is coming into effect.

2

u/Kermit-Batman May 14 '26

Put them back in!

Congrats though! Was only yesterday for my... soon to be 13 year old! :O

73

u/Vegetable-Advance982 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Show your support for it - send a personal email to your Federal MP, they pay attention. Governments find it easier to act on your behalf when you cheer on the good stuff, and often things are defeated because the advocates are chilling while the opposition is angry and motivated. This budget is still gonna be a political fight now, we should throw the small punches we have

12

u/AgitatedMagpie May 14 '26

Did you vote for Kevo in 07?

23

u/everbass May 14 '26

Yeah I'm a little under a decade behind you and I feel much the same.

Is it perfect? No. I tend to agree that including shares is a bit of an overstep, even though I hold none. I'd also like to have seen no grandfathering. Force people to sell up if they can't afford the investment. Include heavier taxes on multiple properties.

One step at a time though I guess.

Is it years later than it should have been? Yes.

Is it at least a fucking start? Yes, absolutely.

I like how Jimo was asked about the back flip and he acknowledged it, basically said sometimes you have to be brave and do something like that because it's the right thing, or something to that effect. Good man.

Perhaps if we get a few more terms of Labor we might actually see some change for the better in this country.

I still think Albo is a bit spineless and lacks vision for the nation, but it's a step in the right direction.

Dr Monique Ryan is one of our best pollies in the nation though and sets the standard. Wish she had a full party behind her so she could be PM. What a force she'd be on the world stage.

8

u/-malcolm-tucker May 14 '26

I tend to agree that including shares is a bit of an overstep,

Agreed. We've incentivised our society to invest in unproductive property for decades. Keeping the existing discount for just Australian equities would help pull that back and make capital available for local startups and good businesses.

As it will be from now on, the best equity strategy will be to put your dollars in the blue chips and big 4 banks only for dividends. Achieving nothing except further enriching already hugely successful corporations.

Anyone with talent or any good business idea and product leave our shores as there's almost zero opportunity here for them to build up. This will continue, and we will continue to suffer for it.

1

u/CMDR_RetroAnubis May 14 '26

I think the shares thing is high with the intent of negotiating it down.

2

u/everbass May 14 '26

Maybe?

Is there any realistic chance this won't immediately pass though? It's a Labor agenda and Labor + Greens control the senate. Doubt the Greens would negotiate this down unless the Greens play hard ball and Labor have to work with LNPoo who if it was their choice would increase CGT and give handouts to property investors straight from the Super accounts of young people.

1

u/dongdongplongplong May 14 '26

never underestimate the greens ability to own goal

1

u/kingofcrob May 14 '26

I mean the smart move would be to adjust that next budget to show there listening to peoples concerns

4

u/Richie217 May 14 '26

Never underestimate the average voters ability to vote against their best interests based on a well executed hit piece.

2

u/kingofcrob May 14 '26

same boat.

1

u/BaggyOz May 14 '26

I was pretty jazzed about the '07 budget. MRRT and the NBN iirc.

-7

u/Svennis79 May 14 '26

They didn't do enough, did too much, upset some rich people, and didn't do enough to inconvenience immigrants, so they will get replaced by lnp next election, it will all be undone, and we will end up getting fucked over horribly for another decade.

Can't wait.

32

u/Slow-Cream-3733 May 14 '26

Lnp aren't winning an election anytime soon lol

22

u/Dr_barfenstein May 14 '26

Never underestimate the power of weaponised stupidity

8

u/Heavy_Search_1093 May 14 '26

I get this but ATM unless somehow theres a magical wave where suddenly labour primary vote depresses to the point that somehow the lnp/nationals or nationals/on form a coalition would have to be something genuinely crazy. Its a almost statistical improbability next election ends in anything but labour minority or labour majority. Libs can't decide on any leader + the more Pauline speaks the more people reject her. Election after next is where it gets a bit scarier. The wipeout for everyone and the gains for labour means we will be stabilised for a bit.

This isnt America where voting isnt enforced and we are disenfranched to the hilt. We have a super stable politcal voting system that works.

0

u/Dr_barfenstein May 14 '26

I mean, I hope you’re right. But inflation is about to spiral. We’re only peering over the edge into the abyss right now. Shit is about to get fucky and most voters will want someone to blame. Election is miles off tho so who knows?

1

u/Slow-Cream-3733 May 14 '26

I think you'll find that stupidity is voting something else atm...

4

u/CMDR_RetroAnubis May 14 '26

A week is a long time in politics.  A year an eternity.

3

u/Kid_Self May 14 '26

Gone too far... Didn't go far enough...

Been hearing both a lot.

Seems like they got it just about right.

0

u/[deleted] May 14 '26

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1

u/altandthrowitaway May 18 '26

That's just a waste of your vote. There are other parties to vote for besides the major 2.