Carlton Supporters Club

If only LP hadn't persuaded us all out of buying Teslas.

some of our first nations people were slaves.  This country is half built on it.

Quote from: Thryleon – on March 27, 2026, 09:53:49 pm

some of our first nations people were slaves.  This country is half built on it.

First Nations people were massacred, exploited, confined to missions and reserves, incarcerated, underpaid or not paid, but they weren’t enslaved.

The closest Australia came to slavery was the blackbirding that brought Melanesians here to work in the cane fields.  It was indentured labour rather than slavery and they were paid a pittance and returned home when their “contract” ended.

Australia wasn’t “half built on slavery”, it was probably closer to three quarters.  Rather than direct slavery, the wealth that drove the development of the pastoral industry and commerce in 19th century Australia was largely derived from the Transatlantic slave trade.  British families that made their money through the slave trade or through slave labour invested in Australia and the other British colonies.

I can't speak for the type of work undertaken in adut prisons but in the juvenile system....

For up to 16 year olds school was compulsory.
Older than that, they had the choice between school and 'work party'.
The numbers were pretty much an even split with this group...many chose the work party option.
Some chose a flexible attendance...e.g three days school, two days work
Work party duties consisted of things like gardening, mowing, cleaning common areas... and for those eligible, community service activities outside the centres.
It was hardly 'chain gang' stuff.

Quote from: madbluboy – on March 29, 2026, 01:33:28 pm

If only LP hadn't persuaded us all out of buying Teslas.

Don't Teslas run on diesel?

Foregoing an “ev road levy” at this point in time is a strategic move to promote a new infrastructure, a time will come to introduce it but now is not the time.
Now is to allow the market to pivot from dinosaur juice to electrons, unless you’re beholden to big oil lp… ?

Have a look at the 3D printers that have become all the range.  What do they use as material?  Why plastic of course.

For a sparse and largely unpopulated country like Australia hydrogen in either ICE or Fuel Cell will eventually become the fuel of choice as you can transport, store and pump it largely like traditional fuels. It just won't ever make sense to roll out recharging infrastructure in regional areas it where will barely be used.

Cities are a different issue, and I expect at home off grid overnight charging to become a thing once battery and SolarPV technology get to a sensible point of efficiency and capacity but it's no even close yet. In my own area the power companies have already replaced two substations in the last year due to overload failures at night, prior to that they had replaced one in the last two decades.

My R&D associates tell me retail SolarPV efficiency has to double, while the energy battery storage has to increase in both reliability and longevity while the cost per kilowatt falls. In effect you need each and every "average" house generating and storing about 20kW of clean energy per day in winter. At the moment most home roof space taps out at between 6kW and 10kW maximum in summer, a big sun facing roof might deliver 15kW in summer but the average for a 15kW install is about 11kW.

ps; By average house they mean parents and two children average, two cars, gas stove and water, no boat or pool, for all electric the daily requirement increases to 24kW. My understanding this is also qualified for suburbia, where vehicles might not need travel a full charge range each and every week.

Too often figures get quoted that are for the latest all singing and dancing passive heat design(airtight), double glazed, insulated floor, wall and ceiling dwelling, but that is not even 1% of the Australian market. In my area there are only two completed homes like that out of about 10,000, with a couple more planned, and they cost about 3x a typical build, not really viable is it? At the normal rate of replacement, it will take approximately 50 years to convert 80% of the dwellings. Ironically, in one of those homes, after all the trouble getting the design, approvals and build right, the people love having the windows open which effectively defeats the concept!

Your move.

https://www.unaa.org.au/2020/06/13/was-there-slavery-in-australia-yes-it-shouldnt-even-be-up-for-debate/