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Comment by hulahoof | Hacker News Reader

The problem is that it is very easy to have a decent life here in Australia. We have never had to feel the full force of the repercussions of our voting or policies and as such there is an apathy towards the direction of government policies, at least within my age group - "I don't care they can have my meme's" or some variation of "I have nothing to hide" is the most common attitude.

Unfortunately, by the time the effects are felt by the vast majority of the population it will be too late - indeed with the recent Identify and Disrupt legislation, it would be completely legal for the government to take over the accounts of the leaders for any meaningful protests or awareness groups and use that trust to break the groups from the inside, or at the least crush momentum as it appears.

If anyone has any useful advice or tips to raise awareness please let me know.

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>We have never had to feel the full force of the repercussions of our voting or policies

I would suggest that the restrictions on Australians being able to _leave_ the country has been a direct result of their poor voting choices. However tying the two together seems to approach conspiracy theory level of thinking.

I'm not sure if it's the same in Australia, but in NZ there's another saying that really kills me as it deflates any conversation, "if you don't like it you can leave"

Honestly, the drive to have a better country for all left a long time ago. Everyone seems to just want what's better for themselves and for the richer people that they want to one day be.

It has been 80 years since the ANZACs actually had to fight off forces like this. We've had a good run but unfortunately we need to get ready to gear up again... I just never thought it would be the tradies out protesting

Don't give your guns away next time.

Funny because I actually used to go deer hunting with a WW1 .303 rifle.

I don’t think the lack of guns is the problem. My family are keen hunters and have a > 1:1 ratio of guns to people.

The apathy and lack of involvement in political processes along with the boiling frog are what I see as the problem.

I do find this response humourous from Americans. What's the plan, fighting off the most well equipped military in history with a few AR15s and shotguns? How do the American people having guns stop tyranny?

If you have good, progressive ideas and have time and energy, run for parliament. If Hanson, Katter, Christensen and all the other useless junk can get in, you have a chance. We do need a real progressive alternative in politics. Greens are good, but we need more.

Easier to run on fear of simple things that people understand as being a more immediate threat, unfortunately.

If people are voting for the likes of Hanson, Katter, and Christensen over the other candidates, it's unlikely that a scientist or engineer would have much chance. You'd be standing either as an independent or Greens candidate.

As Douglas Adams famously said, "[...] one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them."

> Hanson, Katter, Christensen and all the other useless junk

Are further on the freedom spectrum than the typical liberal or labour party member. In cases like these they are allies!

It's important to realize that a large number of Australians will never vote for the greens or other progressives (for both fair and unfair reasons). We can work together on issues we agree on.

Australians are the richest in the world, mostly living a good and dare I say peaceful life. I wouldn't think of even 100k people cares about this issue.

That depends on what year you were born and whether you got into the property market or not (again, depending on what year).

There is a very large gap between the haves and have not's in terms of property wealth.

It's a strange situation here. A 25 year old on 150k p/a will have major difficulty getting into the property market because owner investors, who bought in a couple of decades ago (or even a decade ago!) are reaping major benefits with regards to lending and tax policy.

The so called 'good' life is not enjoyed by the majority, but by a certain cohort of property owners.

Overall, as we'd say, it's 'not too bad', though.

> A 25 year old on 150k p/a will have major difficulty getting into the property market

errrrr... Australia is a big place so this isn't as concrete as you've made it sound. There's quite a lot of affordable property, but sure, the handful of places (cities) where a 25 year old can manage to get 150k p/a pre-tax income might also be inaccessible for buying property for a few reasons, one of which are the situation involving investors. However, this kind of person I wouldn't really exclude from being able to live the 'good life' available to Australians, but I get that this is moreso an example of a benchmark esp. related to the demographic of this forum.

Seriously though, many young devs in Australia can live a pretty great life beyond "home ownership" haha. And the average Australia can find decently priced property, just maybe not exactly in the neighbourhood they like most. But I don't think that's the point of property ownership.

There is an Australia outside of Sydney and Melbourne but job opportunity in regions are very limited. Hopefully the remote work trend that accelerated with Covid lockdowns will make the situation better.

"Australian adults are the wealthiest in the world, a new report has found.

Aussies topped the global rankings for median wealth per adult, at $A315,000 per person, according to Credit Suisse’s annual Global Wealth Report."

https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/wealth/australian-adul...

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