You have to wonder how dedicated to the betterment of Australians the Government is when this kind of shit happens.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/06/apple-moved-89bn-in-profits-from-australia-to-ireland-report-says
And if you think Apple is unique, you're daft, Harley Davidson is moving profits in a similar fashion.
Australians are host for these blood sucking foreign corporations and the blathering idiot Abbott is a pawn; not much different than prior PM's but that's no excuse.
Just a bit of food for thought,
Minimum wage USA is $7.25 usd per hour, minimum here in Oz is $16.37 aud.
I know where I would rather be. Yes, we pay more for stuff here, but in general, we earn a lot more as well. If we want US prices, are we also prepared to earn US wages?
Peter
Sorry guys just cannot get excited about this price fixing crud. Of course HD are going to charge what they can. It is called the law of supply and demand. We want them cause they are cool. The lucky ones, or the ones who have avoided child maintenance/wives/families can afford to buy them and trick them up. Excellent!. I paid $13000 for a second hand 87 softail when I was young and single. Lovved it for a while. Got bored. No clearance. No brakes. Sold it one year later for $12000. Good value.
I have had many bikes snce and just returned to Harley by getting AN IMPORT!!!!.Got it from a dealer, used agent. Went well. Bikes good. Old shovel 75 sportster. I love it. It's a work of art (not stock). There will be times when I will no doubt swear at it, but I will get to know it, as with all bikes I work on. I am not really into just buying bikes and riding them. Was a time when someone who could not work on their bikes was considered not to have learn't their stripes yet.
I do not have the cash for a new local bike. It don't worry me. I will re-enter Harley market once more in this life. I look forward to it. If I am strapped for cash I will go second hand. No biggie.
New Zealand is a great place to ride.
Nice ride Mongrel.
Old fella told me once "a good bike is one that goes". Somethin in that.
Cheers.
This is a very interesting subject, and while I can see both sides of the argument here there is a great deal of truth in what 'Greygo' is saying. It's interesting that everyone (or at least the majority) agrees that we are being ripped off, and it's also interesting that everyone has roughly the same answer i.e. 'Suck It Up'. So if the Government itself or if the Government allowed a business (Electricity Companies are a good example) to increase the price of their product by say 100%, then what you're all saying is that we shouldn't complain (because in your own words we can't do anything about it) and we should just blindly accept that the price is the price? So if I've got this right, while all of you hard riding fun loving bikers out there are happy for the Government and Big Business to 'RIP YOU OFF'? Because after all what can you do about it right, after all it's the Government and they have the 'POWER' right! This attitude is the reason that Australians do get 'RIPPED OFF', that good old Aussie spirit of 'SHE'LL BE RIGHT MATE', and just accepting that 'WHAT IS, IS WHAT IS'! is the reason that our Government and Big Corporations walk all over us! And to those of you who espouse to the 'FREE TRADE AGENDA', here's some historical facts for you, now remember these are facts not something that I've just pulled out of my arse! Before Hawke and Keating decided that we should 'deregulate our banking industry and sell off the Commonwealth Bank (Australia's one and only Government Operated Bank) to the 'Private Banksters', and then 'Float the Australian Dollar' on the world market, and then reduce 'Import Tariffs over the next 30yrs' till the Import Tariff disappeared altogether, and don't forget prior to this happening Australia was booming, we had low unemployment, a manufacturing industry that was the envy of the rest of the free world,and one of the best standards of living in amy OECD country in the world. But after 1983 that all changed, who could forget 'The Recession We Had To Have' and Australia's 'Banana Republic Name Tag', 18.5% Mortgage Rates! And why did this happen? Easy take a look at the backbone of the Australian Economy, yeah it was the Manufacturing Industry. Here's just one example of what's wrong with 'FREE TRADE'. In 1985 before Keating reduced 'Import Tariffs' the import tariff on a vehicle was a staggering 57%, holy shit batman you say, that was ridicules right! WRONG! At that point in time 85% of cars sold in Australia 'WERE MADE IN AUSTRALIA'! Capish. And there were over 73,000 people employed in the Automotive Industry in Australia. Today the import tariff on vehicles (that don't have a Free Trade Agreement with Australia, and there aren't many) is a 'Whopping 7%' yeh just 7%, and cars from Asia 'PAY NO! IMPORT DUTY'. So what I hear you say, cheaper cars for all I hear you say, better for everyone I hear you say, BULLSHIT! Here's the facts, today there are less that 10,000 people employed in the Automotive industry in Australia and that is about to drop to under 1,000 people, so you can now buy a cheaper car but 70,000 Australians have lost their jobs and joined the Social Security Queue, and worst of all Australia lost over 70,000 employment positions, and 70,000 wages were removed from the Australian Economy, that's great hey! And why did we lose all of these jobs? Well if you believe the Government and the Car Manufacturers (after all they wouldn't lie would they), we just weren't 'PRODUCTIVE ENOUGH', in other words we couldn't match the wages and conditions that GM, FORD, TOYOTA and the rest of the big Car Makers enjoyed over in countries like CHINA, KOREA, INDIA etc etc! Yep these people haven't stopped making cars they simply moved their manufacturing plants over to CHINA and elsewhere, were workers are paid in some cases less that $10 a day! Yeah that's right $10 a day, so how does any Australian Worker match that????? That people is why Countries have 'FUCKING IMPORT TARIFFS' to protect the jobs and the lifestyle of the 'CITIZENS' of that Country. Go and have a look at how 'BLUE COLLAR WORKERS' in China, Korea and India live, and then tell me that you'd be happy with that, BULL FUCKING SHIT! And for those of you who are earning Big Bucks in the Mining Industry and other industries, all I can say is enjoy it while you can, because the Big Miners and other companies all want to be able to 'IMPORT WORKERS FROM PLACES LIKE INDIA AND CHINA' (all part of the 'Free Trade' movement) what do you reckon they'll be paying then, you can kiss goodbye to your $100,000 plus a year job and join the Dole Queue and wait six months before you get any money, LETS SEE IF YOU WANNA SIT ON YOUR ON YOUR ARSE THEN, AND LETS SEE IF YOU STILL WANNA JUST SIT BACK AND LET YOUR GOVERNMENT AND BIG BUSINESS SCREW YOU'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now you all have a lovely day and don't forget to 'KEEP THE SHINEY SIDE UP'!
The solution as you call it is easy, acheiving it is the hard part, why? Well in order to fix the problems that we all face daily i.e.
1. Falling wages and conditions, loss of job security
2. Low and under employment (nowadays our workforce is primarily made up of 'Part Time and Casual Workers' and because of this the figures relating to unemployment in Australia are misleading at best, and outright lies at worst, to give you an example if someone is claiming Unemployment Benifits and they work just a couple of hours a week, then they aren't considered by the Centrelink to be 'Unemployed' so they are not included in the unemployment figures that the Government feed to us!)
3. Rising cost of living expenses (compared with the rise in CPI of 2.9% from March 2013 -14, most workers negotiating EA's were given between 2 - 2.5%, unlike Politicians who gave themselves a 20% wage increase)
4. The rapid decline and loss of our manufacturing, primary industries and lets not forget the sale of 'OUR' public assetts, all of these are subjet to overseas takeovers, i.e. the loss of our car manufacturing industry to China and the sale of huge chunks of our Primary Production to places like China as well.
The list goes on and on, but I'm sure that everyone gets the idea.
The Solution:
What has happened over the last one hundred years in Australia is the same thing that has happened in every other OECD country around the world, we the people have become complacent and allowed our Government to 'Highjack' our so called 'Democratic Rights'. An example that everyone on this forum can relate to is 'Helmet Laws', did any of you vote for this Law, were any of you asked if you wanted this Law, the answer is a resounding NO, the Government simply decided that they (just over 200 people, our so called representatives made that decision for us, do you agree with that, is that how a democracy should work?), no of course not. What has happened is that our Politicians have forgotten the most important aspect of a 'Democracy', and that it is that our Government Is a Government 'FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE', so what happened to our rights? Well while we were all enjoying the great Aussie lifestyle our Politicians slowly eroded all our rights to the point where we have almost become a 'Police State'. To harsh I hear you say, consider this then, the Government decided that Biker Gangs were all 'Outlaws' (how many of you have been pulled over for no reason and harrassed?) and as such should be treated differently to other people, in that they can no longer enjoy the company of like minded individuals in public. Now I know there are some out there who will say that it's about time, and yes there are always some bad apples in every barrel, but consider this for a minute, if you wanted to join one of these 'gangs' you could couldn't you? what I mean is that membership to these gangs was open to all who wanted to join, wasn't it, and having friends who were in some of these gangs I know for a fact that if I wanted to go along to a meeting that I was welcomed? Now lets look at any States 'LAW SOCIETY' in other words Judges, Solicitors, QC's, Barristers and the like, did you know that you or I can not join this select little private club unless we are willing to spend years of our life to gain a qualification, and yes it seems reasonable on the outside to have to do this, but if you or I simply wanted to attend one of their Meetings as a spectator it's a big NO NO, so in my mind the State Bar Associations are more of a 'Closed Secret Society' who even have their own 'Language (called legalese)' and they are more closed to the general public than any Biker Gang, so why pick on this one particular group, in fairness any group that meets in secret and is closed to an Australian Citizen should be banned, shouldn't it in all fairness?
So how do we change this situation, like I said it's easy, we all just have to realise that it we the people who are the power in Australia, not 200 Politicians or a few thousand Police or the 60,000 defense force personnel. There are 24,000,000 of us in Australia so why do we let less than 100,000 or less than 0.5% of the population tell us what will happen?
So the answer you were asking about is as simple as getting everyone to refuse to put up with what our Government is doing, what can 100,000 do against 24,000,000?
But the trouble with that idea is that we are all sitting back going "well I know things aren't great, but hey they aint that bad either" well our Government hasn't finished selling us all out yet, and when their finished it'll be too late.
I WANT TO LEAVE YOU WITH ONE THING TO THINK ABOUT, 'WHAT DOES THE REST OF THE WORLD HAVE THAT WE IN AUSTRALIA NEED FROM THEM?' (and don't say Harley's, because if we wanted to we could build Harley's here, couldn't we?), AND WHAT DO WE HAVE IN AUSTRALIA THAT THE REST OF THE WORLD NEEDS FROM US????????????????????
And Mongrel this is not just about Harley's it's about our very way of life, our freedoms that are being slowly eroded away while we all sit back and watch.
Yeah Bashful, you're dead right on both counts! Call it a strike or whatever else you want to call it, but yes we need to show the government that 'WE' have the power and not them! And yes again you're right about getting people to do it, I know that they won't because as far as they're concerned things aren't that bad, 'YET'!
Money can do nothing, money makes nothing, money builds and manufactures NOTHING! People do all of these things, and without people nothing gets done!
"I took a Million Dollars out to the bush and threw it on the ground and asked it to build me a house, you know what happened NOTHING!"
"I went out to the bush with a dozen friends and I asked them to help me build a house, and guess what? three months later I had a nice comfortable house to live in!"
People power 1, Money 0!
A nudie runs the go I reckon,
How about we anex parliment house in Canberra with thousands doing a nudie run around it,
Even a nudie run across the roof too.
Yes Yes its fucken cold in Canberra, so not so flattering for blokes.
but would be a whole lot of fun and one to tell the grandkids about.
We could protest, safety conditions and low pay in Bangladeshies clothing factories.
Get back in ya fish n chip shop Pauline!
But the nudie run sounds interesting vvvvery interesting!
"You seem jaded by the country you live in yet offer no sugestion other than blame all sorts of people or investors for daring to make a return on their money. Is there somewhere else that has none of the "issues" that you raise?"
No Wimbo I'm not 'Jaded' as you put it, and I love Australia and the Australian Spirit, I lived and worked in South East Asia for a couple of years and that experience made me realise how 'Lucky' we really are here, and because I beleive that Australia is the lucky country, it doesn't mean that I don't think that it coulld be even better for everyone, and not just 'The Privledged Few'. And unfortunately like a lot of Australians you seem to think that because someone exercises their right to criticise what our 'Government' (and I don't give a flying 'F' if it's an LNP, ALP or bloody Martians 'Government' is doing, then I'm not happy living here and that I should leave and find somewhere that I do like and go and live there.
From your photo (if it is you) I'd guess you're in your early 20's, and from my own vague memories of being your age (after all it was 40 odd years ago), I too 'Knew It All' (before I forgot it all). And you have to forgive an old fart like me for forgetting that I'm now just too old to know anything. But putting that handicap aside Wimbo, I'd be more than happy to debate Australia's economic dilema with anyone (even you 'The Worldly Wise Wimbo', and I would be especially happy to discuss how 'Our Governments' policies both PAST & PRESENT have created the massive gap between 'Rich & Poor' that we now see not just in Australia but in most OECD countries throughout the world today, and those same policies have also led to the loss of our 'Manufacturing Industry, Rising Unemployment etc etc' and lets not forget the 'Percieved' economic disaster that Abbott and Hockey are trying to scare ordinary Australians with.
As I said, I'd be happy to debate this subject with all and sundry especially you Wimbo! But, there is a problem, and that problem is that like the rest of us you have been 'Indocrinated' into the 'Capitalist / Consumer' club. And because of this fact like most people you no longer have an 'Open' mind in regard to alternative social structures, you have been 'Brainwashed' into believing that the best and only system that will work is 'Capitalism'. And this mind set is what creates the inequities in our world today, and creates the massive gap between Rich & Poor, NO I hear you cry, that's not true, everyone can make something of themselves 'If they work hard enough', and there you have it, if you aren't prepared to give up the time then you can't have it all, ahhhhh the 'Bible' according to the CORPORATE / BANKSTERS of the world.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ? Martin Luther King Jr.
