morry040

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

International student intake as a ratio of housing supply is the main issue. If dwellings were being built at the same rate of international student intake, then affordability or vacancy would not be a problem.

Look up your local universities (they're all non-profit organisations with financials reported in the ACNC) and realise just how much their business model has become funded by international students. Here's a few examples:
University of Melbourne: 69% of tuition fee revenues comes from intl students
University of Queensland: 70% of tuition fee revenues comes from intl students

The universities also receive government funding, pay no income tax (because they are "nonprofit"), and don't need to contribute anything to the housing problem that they are feeding. It's time for them to help carry the burden - they should either provide housing or help pay for it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No, you need to read the remarks again. Paragraphs like this one do not support your interpretation at all.
The US is saying that China's economic trajectory has been too optimistic in the past and that the US needs to focus on domestic improvements, force China to play by the rules, and then facilitate the US becoming the leader.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't call it propaganda or even news - it's just theories at this stage.
What we can speculate about is motive to deceive. Russia has been incurring some notable losses from Ukrainian anti-air defences recently, so there would be a motive from the Russian side to portray those anti-air defences as either ineffective or untrustworthy so as to try and sway public opinion about its use.

Claiming that POWs were onboard the plane aligns with that motive but it also raises questions such as:

  1. The plane was reportedly shot down after taking off from Belgorod, so if it was carrying POWs away from Belgorod, what was the intended destination? It doesn't seem logical that Russia would fly from Belgorod into Ukraine (unless they were stupid or taking the risk).
  2. Why not transport POWs to Ukraine by road or rail, given that Kharkiv is only a 90 min drive away?
[–] [email protected] 35 points 10 months ago (4 children)

If you have management that tries to push for a return, give them this article from Microsoft and request a discussion of its many points.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work

WFH, particularly in 2020-2021, was the opportunity for managers to learn how to effectively manage remotely, using metrics and good planning practices. Those who failed to do so should be the ones questioned as to why they should remain as managers.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I would love to see the overlap between the courses taught and the recognised skills gaps that we have in Australia (referenced as the basis for why we import so much overseas skilled labour). According to the migration reporting, chefs are the third highest skillset imported, so I would think that cooking classes would be a useful course for jobseekers...

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2022-23.pdf

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

A reasonable explanation is in this thread: https://twitter.com/BlakeMMurdoch/status/1728160700965523736

Basically, COVID causes a similar immune deficiency to that of HIV. This deficiency weakens the body's response to other illnesses, making infections like RSV or pneumonia more severe or more frequent. We see this effect more commonly in children because children have a lower vaccination rate than adults.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A big difference, however, is that houses in the 80s were 3-4 times the average income. Now that ratio is about 10x.
Younger generations always need to work harder than older people, yes, but the major difference is that working hard these days doesn't provide the same rewards that it once did.

https://www.finder.com.au/owning-a-home-in-the-80s-vs-today

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (3 children)

You can use this tool to compare: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Australia&country2=United+States

My cinema down the street costs $18.50 for an adult.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Seems to be a logical choice, particularly when the universities are moving away from hiring staff based on merit. The unis will end up with a bunch of underqualified lecturers teaching to the only students able to afford the degrees (international students).
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-17/qut-defends-removing-merit-from-hiring-policy/103114562

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago

I've lived overseas and I disagree.
Australia is no more racist than some other developed and developing nations, and there are countries with more racism than Australia.
Travel to different cities in the US and notice how neighbourhoods are subtlety segregated by race.
Talk to any European about their thoughts on gypsies.
Ask Japanese about their thoughts on Koreans.
Look up the usage of the word "keling" in south east asian cultures.

What we have in Australia is perhaps a more overt style of referring to cultures or differences, but the barriers to integrate with Australian culture is much lower than other countries. For some migrants that have come from cultures where they had a racial privilege (e.g. caste systems), it could now be confronting to them that their standing in Australia is lowered and equalised.

The way that we establish social bonds (banter, joking around, jabs, insults etc) can also be confusing to foreigners and be perceived as racist, but it's an old UK way of establishing camaraderie by proving that you can dish out an insult but also take it as well. Like stand-up comedy material, this method is being tamed as time goes on.

One final indicator of racial division is the level of mixed marriages. If it was a serious problem, we would see low levels of marriages between different countries of origin. In the EU, the rate of mixed marriages is about 8% (1 in 12). In Australia, the rate is 3.5x larger at 29%.

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