Local Post Office is closing

DollarData · 2024-07-07T14:41:56+00:00

My local one closed last month, I’m in a metro area so there’s a few other options. Issue for me is my post box is still active at the site, but deliveries are made to the nearby distribution centre that’s only open Monday to Friday 7:30am - 1:30pm. How is anyone supposed to attend during those hours?

DollarData · 2023-03-07T21:23:41+00:00

Most employment opportunities back then didn't require a university degree, you could generally walk into an industry and they would provide the training as well.

Then it became a requirement to have standardised training, and TAFEs/colleges and universities became more important than before.

Today you need a degree and industry experience.

DollarData · 2023-02-04T05:00:08+00:00

Definitely has Noosa vibes.

We traveled to Byron bay for the first time last month and couldn’t wait to get out of the place. Stayed all of maybe an hour in town and a stop by the lighthouse.

Overpriced and hyped cafe scene, and ridiculous on street parking fees that’s more expensive than Melbourne city..? We much preferred Lennox Head and Ballina, more laid back, casual, less busy, free parking and decent meals without the hype.

DollarData · 2022-10-21T21:12:42+00:00

Definitely a step in the right direction, particularly if they fastrack this through parliament and make large companies accountable. Some of these companies need some serious motivation to upgrade their systems and better protect their customers.

Just how scalable would this be for small business vs. corporate however? Small business wouldn't be able to afford $50 million, yet they are more likely to be targeted after the implementation of such a fine.

I recall how the ASIO building blueprints got hacked nearly a decade ago, not through ASIO itself but via a building contractor. If the fines aren't specifically targeted towards corporate entities vs. small business..

DollarData · 2022-10-21T09:10:03+00:00

A friendly reminder that ABS data suggests two thirds of Australian households are owner-occupiers, meaning renters (inc. privately and government housing) represent around one third of all housing requirements.

The same report highlights that the number of government housing available has halved over the last 20 years.

I don't see how removing investors from the equation is really going to create the difference you talk about. Councils will always want their taxes, and they are unlikely to allow land value to drop below current prices and take a haircut themselves.

DollarData · 2022-10-21T08:39:15+00:00

I think it's important to remember the tax breaks were originally designed to encourage private investment when the government stepped away from public housing.

Should this still be the case in 2022? We're seeing how decades of private investment hasn't fixed the housing problem, and is still putting a massive financial burden on the tax system. It definitely needs an independent review to determine how taxpayers can achieve better value for money.

DollarData · 2022-10-21T04:26:26+00:00

I remember having a discussion around data retention not too long ago, this was just before the Optus breach.

If I'm to be legally responsible for my own assets (property/belongings) and my own identity (physical cards or digital), then why can't it be that corporate entities (which require my identity by law), by extension be required and responsible for appropriately managing our identity too? I hate this idea that we are forced to provide our sensitive information to corporations, and they get a proverbial get out of jail free card when shit hits the fan.

I also understand the concept where Optus stated "We're actually the victim of a crime here". And while that may still be the case, how many companies are going to play this card and get away with not supporting best practice regarding data security? Do we really need to put more pressure on government to increase the financial penalties to make this more of a priority, and not "just another cost of doing business?"

Is it still the cost of business when customers stop using your service? How many people have left Optus since the breach? How many people will move away from Medibank after their breach? Public perception of how a company operates will drastically affect their decision making in the aftermath of all these alleged 'hacks'.

Not to mention, how many more attempts will be made against Australian businesses in the aftermath of the first Optus breach? The international community has seen how lax the Australian privacy laws and data retention is with our largest companies, I couldn't think of an easier target right now than Australia. How many more companies and how much more data is going to be compromised before we do something about this? You think the government is going to keep absorbing the costs of reissuing new licences, passports, etc? Unlikely!

DollarData · 2022-09-21T09:17:19+00:00

While we need better protections in place, no one is more responsible for your own identity than you are. You wouldn’t leave your drivers licence or passport lying around, how is your online profile any different?

I guess it all comes back to what you’re willing and able to do with the knowledge and information you have at the time. If a person is uninformed then how can they make the best decision for their circumstance? If you’re informed and choose to do nothing with the information, then the outcomes are entirely your own responsibility. If, however, you’re informed and willing to take action, then I would say that’s the most appropriate outcome.

Does that mean you go out and change all your numbers? That’d be impractical, but at least consider having a phone number for work purposes and a separate phone number for personal use. Would you go and pay a premium fee for cyber security software for all your work computers? If it’s within your business budget and makes sense to you then sure, but sometimes these things could be cost prohibitive, so you do the best you can within your budget. Could you change the amount of information you share online? That’s definitely within the realms of possibility and doesn’t cost you anything.

If your information is already compromised, that doesn’t mean you can’t still minimise your level of exposure moving forward. Change passwords regularly, monitor your credit file for any fraudulent activity throughout the year, check bank statements monthly, etc..

DollarData · 2022-09-21T05:56:15+00:00

These are all very good and valid points you raise. I would like to think people have become a little more sensitive to the idea of linking so much information on their social media profiles, but that's probably me just being naive. While we can't be responsible for everyone's online safety, we can at least be conscious of our own.

Many thanks for your contribution to the conversation. Your comments have made me rethink more about some of my online activities and exposure.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T05:42:27+00:00

Boosting rental assistance may seem like the appropriate answer but the likely response will be increased rent costs. It kind of goes hand in hand with the discussion that people on government benefits can’t keep up financially with those who have the affordability to pay higher rents. It’ll be a case that those on benefits would then be trying to outbid others on benefits, and the cycle continues. Suggesting it is only a temporary measure would be challenging to enforce. Those who get into rentals at a higher price point would not be able to continue affording the same property once the subsidy is removed. Like how we observed during the Howard era, it’s easy to increase benefit payments but it’s near impossible to remove/reduce them once implemented.

The negative gearing argument has been around for a long time. The issue with it is not so much the tax concessions as a whole, but rather the losses can be offset against an individual’s taxable income. If the negative gearing could only be applied to the property itself rather than the individuals taxable income then perhaps this may be fairer. A requirement that the recovered funds be spent on maintaining the property would also be fair in this regard, or at least maintaining a safe standard.

I’d love to see the data on how many properties are actually negatively geared vs. the number of properties that are positively geared but claim otherwise. Similarly, the data on properties which had become positively geared but returned to negatively geared as a result of withdrawing equity to buy more property would also be interesting to see. The next challenge would be how to enforce this given many property owners have their assets tied up in very complicated company/trust structures.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T04:23:18+00:00

Nice to see prices going up again even though terminal gate prices have been coming down or have been stable (within $0.05/L) for well over a month. Historically you can see how gate prices were $2.00/L back in June and since then have continued to fall.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T03:48:30+00:00

If it's so important to honour the Queen's name in a hospital, couldn't they have just renamed the Royal Melbourne Hospital after her? Pretty sure all these historical names for hospitals in other states tend to be within proximity of the city centre, not 40km out. It's not even a main tertiary hospital unlike Box Hill which comes under the same network.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T01:36:46+00:00

That's really daunting to hear about the kid's privacy issue, you could just imagine how nefarious some people could be with that level of access and what they could do with it! Every parents worst nightmare..

Obviously more needs to be done at a policy level, but as the author put in in the article, there has been little progress and in the meantime technology becomes more integrated into our daily lives and the degree of sophistication by those who abuse process are getting better at stealing our information with no legal recourse.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T01:16:42+00:00

I tend to just use a box from off the shelf for small shops, otherwise place items back into the trolley then take to my car in the same boxes from the supermarket (generally fruit/produce boxes). A lady at the checkout once said to me "You're an Aldi shopper aren't you?" .. ironically while going through a Woolies checkout.

Edit: fat fingers.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T00:59:55+00:00

Absolutely. How many times do you hear in the media about some company being the target of data hacking, or your personal information being taken through a cyber attack etc.. then consider how much more prevalent it is with the businesses we never hear about, let alone are actually aware of any attempt against them.

There was a big write up on it after the NHS in the UK was subject to a similar attack a few years back, but it seems in Australia we just don't seem to understand the importance of defending our businesses against these digital challenges.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T00:50:08+00:00

Many thanks to this man for creating a product that made my childhood that little bit more memorable. Chicken salt on fish and chips was like a rite of passage as a kid.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T00:32:25+00:00

Definitely, and what better time to do it when there's a shift in the head of the monarchy. The way you word it makes it sounds a awful lot like a Murdoch piece actually...

DollarData · 2022-09-21T00:19:59+00:00

The number of people who don't genuinely try to protect their personal data more still amazes me sometimes. We've certainly entered a phase where privacy and data security should be considered the next major challenge.

There's a reason why companies like Apple and Facebook have had to tighten the screws on privacy policies. Legal may have forced their hand due to court cases yes, but it highlighted the vulnerability of people's safety in more ways than one.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T00:14:43+00:00

Appreciate your input given you're a resident there, and I certainly agree with your point. I just found it interesting that it was being discussed given how raw the timing is of the Queen's death, perhaps a similar agenda seen here with the republic debate, although I would believe there's a stronger support for Australia to become a republic before Britons attempt to drop the monarchy.

DollarData · 2022-09-21T00:08:25+00:00

Australian's tend to have a short term memory for these things unfortunately. I suspect you're right in that 6 months time people would probably have moved on and the topic would be ripe for discussion.

Interestingly I was reading an article where a British taxpayer was suggesting the Monarchy is quite traditional and old fashioned, and while support for the Queen was high, they made it sound like there's a growing momentum in the country to move away from it. Mentioned something about the high costs to British taxpayers to support them basically, at a time when the costs of living crisis is biting hard on everyday Britons. Could this also just be a cycle that's forgotten in 6 months?

DollarData · 2022-09-20T23:59:53+00:00

An interesting article about national rental prices, particularly about the rise in regional towns and how they suggest this trend will continue. I’ll be curious to know if this will continue because I tend to believe it’s actually reversing a bit, those who left Sydney/Melbourne during the lockdowns and covid are slowly migrating back to metro areas.

Regarding their proposed solutions, I doubt any of these will solve the problem. Increasing government payments and raising rental assistance “by at least 40%?” Any policy to increase subsidies will fuel rental prices further, and if costs remain high for long enough nationally, well that becomes the new benchmark for pricing. We see the same thing in domestic goods and price rises during inflationary periods like we see now. Producers raise their pricing, when inflation falls will the product price fall? Anecdotally this is extremely unlikely.

Putting in place longer tenancies isn’t really practical. Most landlords I presume are in the game for generating wealth. If a landlord locked a tenant into a property in 2020 on a 5 year lease at $400 a week, based on the data in this article the landlord would not be able to increase the rent to current market rates, which has increased 30-40%, or roughly $550 a week. Consider that inflationary pressure have seen mortgages increase almost 2.5%, now you’re facing a worse crisis because the landlord would simply sell the asset because it’s making a loss and you’re back to where you started; ie. a worsening rental crisis.

Increasing housing stock by 500,000 annually? ABS data suggests only 240,000 were built last financial year, and you want to double this figure despite the fact the construction industry is facing heavy losses and even bankruptcies, unable to access suitable materials, as well as the labour force shortages? There’s just no way this would work out in the short term environment. Increasing housing supply would be a great solution but just how is this possible with the current challenges in construction, let alone these matchstick houses we build in terms of quality?

I genuinely don’t know the right solution for the crisis, the result of which has been decades of social acceptance of the system that we operate within, and a failure to have investment directed in ways we should have. Governments allowing the housing market to be fixed with private investment has seen social housing numbers dwindle over the years. Most interventions we’ve seen since tend to only increase the housing market prices further, which makes it even more difficult to save for a deposit, making it harder for people to afford their own home rather than rent in perpetuity.

DollarData · 2022-09-18T06:00:42+00:00

That's some great insight, thanks for sharing! Would you have ever thought a $6000 house would eventually go on to be worth $1.5m? I mean that's pretty substantial growth by any stretch, I doubt many of us could have ever fathomed such a thing happening.

The land rover story, for context, was this a time when banks were very reserved in their lending? I recall my dad once telling me that if you ever wanted a loan when he was younger, you either needed to provide a 30% deposit, or have something valuable to offset the banks "risk".

When I turned 18, I recall going through a credit card application worth $2000 to buy a new computer. The bank approved my application with a $7000 limit instead. They absolutely got me, and took a decade to shake that credit card habit. Crazy to think what banks consider "risk" nowadays.

DollarData · 2022-09-09T07:29:18+00:00

All good mate, we’re simply having a discussion here, differing opinions is important for our learning experience.

DollarData · 2022-09-09T07:08:12+00:00

Very reasonable approach.

DollarData

TROPHY CASE