r/AustraliaDiscussions

Australia has been warned for years that its visa system was too easy to exploit, so why is the government only taking tougher action now? It could take the government ages to determine who knowingly breached the rules and who is still waiting for their status to be resolved. Many are concerned that we could face grater challenges if this is simply a political solution being presented to the public for a much more complex problem. Do you think migration is an issue that can be effectively addressed through deportations?

Pauline Hanson has vowed to cut Australia's net migration from around 300,000 to 130,000 with international students expected to be a major target. She has called the $55 billion international education sector a "farce" and argued that student visas are being used as a pathway to permanent residency. International education is Australia's second-largest export sector. Is it really one of the biggest problems when it comes to immigration?

I live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and like many had heard stories of machete wielding gangs in other suburbs thinking we've worked too hard to be cohesive (multi-faith & nationalities) for this crap.

You can imagine my surprise when not only was there a bunch of youths flaunting a now banned weapon but 2 gangs with them and a gun or two.

They invaded Craigieburn's largest shopping center, where legitimate patrons had (actual barriers closed) to hide in their current shops to avoid being in the line of fire.

I asked Google (yes i willing suffered the AI) about the definition for terrorism and this fits. They choose these shops, these illegal weapons and deliberately creating fear. Why are people not calling it terrorism?

Bogans

Why is there so much anti social behaviour in Australia, is it a cultural thing ? Been to
Several places overseas and this is not normal there, but seems like a regular occurrence here.

How do you see Pauline Hanson's reaction to the student walkout? Did you expect her to hit back at the Education Minister, given that student protests like this happened before? What effect do you think this student protest will have on public opinion and support for Pauline Hanson?

The Albanese government is considering sending more immigration officers into the community to track down and deport visa overstayers as part of its broader migration overhaul. There's no real argument that visa rules should be enforced. If someone has exhausted their legal option and no longer has the right to stay, the law needs to mean something. The question is how far this should go. Some people are also calling for a broader crackdown, arguing that visa overstayers are only one part of the problem. Should government be looking more closely at the wider visa system, including student visas and the appeals process?
What's the best way to track down visa overstayers without turning into an Australian version of ICE?

Recently, Australia has gone and banned the upcoming Halloween game. They refused to give it a rating, which means its illegal for the developers to ship it to both here and NZ.

Personally, this is an absolutely bullshit call by our government, considering the game was banned not because of the violence but because of the fact your character can smoke weed. They talk and go on so much about " protecting " the kids when this CLEARLY isn't a kids' game, and now Adults have to suffer because of their foolish attempts?

Australia needs to wake the fuck up and put more effort into more important things than simply trying to keep a video game out of the country.

These demographic trends demonstrate that Australia is not simply geographically located in the Asia-Pacific region; it is becoming socially, culturally and more economically connected to Asia.

Australia’s future is therefore being shaped by its relationship with Asia, and by the strong Asian connections within Australia .

So, if Australia does not recognise that its connection to Asia is critical to the future growth and prosperity of Australia, is it possible that Australia will miss many opportunities and fail to reach its potential?

The former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has called British shipbuilding an “industry in disarray” and predicted it will produce few, if any, of the nuclear-powered submarines promised under the Aukus agreement in the foreseeable future.

Speaking at an independent inquiry into the implications and viability of the tri-nation submarine deal, which will cost Australia the equivalent of nearly £200 billion, the former Liberal Party leader described the pact as “a colossal mistake”.

“If the goal of this project is to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, every indication is that we won’t get them,” he claimed. “The Americans are not producing enough of their own, let alone ours.”

He added: “The British shipbuilding industry is in disarray and the British are more aware of that than anyone. So we are sending billions and billions of dollars over to the United States, over to the UK, and there is every prospect that we will end up with no submarines, certainly no American ones, and potentially none of the British ones for a very, very long time.”

Turnbull, 71, who served as prime minister between 2015 and 2018, claimed it would take well into the middle, or past the middle of this century, for the British submarines to appear.

“This is a colossal mistake,” he declared.

He argued that Aukus would involve a huge “sacrifice of sovereignty” for Australia.

“Everything points to the fact that we will be less secure, not simply because we won’t have the same ability to defend ourselves as we had before, not because we will be reliant, even more reliant on the United States than we have been before. And what exquisite timing … Right at that time in history when the United States, not by accident, not by carelessness, but by design, has become less dependable under Donald Trump and that trend shows every sign of continuing.”

Turnbull’s criticism reflects growing public unease about the cost of Aukus, which was signed last year and allows for the Royal Australian Navy to operate and maintain eight nuclear-powered attack submarines by the mid-2040s.

Under the agreement the United States will sell Australia up to three Virginia-class submarines.

But Britain will also play a key role in the construction of future Australian SSN-Aukus submarines, which will be based on the UK’s next-generation nuclear attack boats to be built at Barrow-in-Furness.

HMS Anson, the fifth Astute class submarine from BAE Systems, as it departed the company’s shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness

The Australian partnership will also offer the UK a significant military presence in the Indo-Pacific, at a time of increased Chinese naval activity.

Maintenance and construction facilities in Western Australia and South Australia have already involved a considerable investment.

While Aukus is backed by both the Labor and Liberal parties, the crowd-funded public inquiry, which is currently touring Australia, has revealed deep reservations among community groups and the political class.

Turnbull’s latest criticism also reflects his long-standing tensions with Britain.

Before entering politics he made his name as a lawyer representing Peter Wright, the retired MI5 employee who wrote a book about his work for the spy agency. The British government tried to ban publication of Spycatcher in Australia, but Turnbull successfully appealed an injunction to stop the book’s sale, making him something of a national hero.

He went on to become a founder of the Australian republican movement, helping to further cement his popularity among those who favoured axing constitutional ties with Britain and removing the monarch as head of state.

In 1999 a referendum proposed that a president be elected by a two-thirds majority of parliament, but failed to win the necessary support.

The Census relies on millions of Australians providing accurate information about their lives, but some questions are personal and sensitive. Do you think most people answer honestly?

Someone in Hervey Bay has a $20 million Oz Lotto winning ticket, and they may not even know it yet! The $40 million jackpot was split between two winners, with one winning ticket sold in Tasmania and the other in Hervey Bay. The Queensland ticket was unregistered, so officials don't know who the winner is. Anyone from Hervey Bay checked their ticket yet?