‘With Dan Andrews’ repeated lockdowns, we aren’t even a leaveable city’
“I am amazed that we rated that high. Melbourne should be rating behind every other capital in Australia for a start because they don’t have Andrews, Merlino, Foley and Sutton in charge. With their repeated lockdowns we aren’t even a leaveable city.”
Should James stay or should he go?
“From someone who lives in Melbourne I’m thinking more about leaving than I am about staying!”
BrisBen bristled:
“I scoff at the Melbourne tourism adds and weep for your small businesses there.”
Glass half empty for Michael:
“My family went to Melbourne two years ago and they were shocked at the filth in the CBD and won’t be back again. Reports of violent gangs are not a good look either. The more recent culture of police brutality on their own population and the indoctrination of their school kids would put Melbourne in firmly in the unliveable bin in my book.
“Adelaide is not where the food and wine is centred. It was a dull and boring hole to escape to the food and wine areas or to fly out. Brisbane cannot boast about our failing public health system where the ambulances are ramped up to 19 vehicles waiting.”.
Liz wasn’t surprised:
“A semi-forced move to Melbourne a few years ago and I’m still regretting it, for numerous reasons. I simply don’t understand the whole ‘coffee capital’ hype, I’ve had numerous bad coffees in Melbourne including at one of the ‘best’ coffee shops in the city.”
A bashing from Biggles:
“I can’t believe Melbourne is in the top 100 liveable cities, let alone the top 10. I drove through it for the first time in 12 years at Easter with my teenage son, en route Sydney to Tasmania. Stopped at my old houses in North Fitzroy and Port Melbourne. It was my son’s first time in Melbourne and he simply said ‘Dad, I can’t believe you lived in such a dump’.”
Andrew’s answer:
“The Andrews government has squandered out tourism advantage. It cancelled the longest running, most successful tourism branding worldwide — the Jigsaw campaign: ‘You’ll love every price of Victoria’. It closed down the successful Tourism Victoria and replaced it with a faceless brandless amalgam of disparate bodies, an incorporated body with the premier the sole shareholder. Dan thought he knew more about tourism marketing than the experts. Well now Victoria reaps what it sows.”
Go west, urged Brendan the Frustrated:
“Only a passing mention of Perth also ranking above Melbourne. Surely this would have been more balanced if the description was that Melbourne was beaten by two other Australian cities: Adelaide and Perth.
“Melbourne got top marks for culture education and infrastructure, but Brisbane and Adelaide placed higher for healthcare. Perth also scored maximum on healthcare and Infrastructure, but again not a mention.”
Brightkev nailed it:
“Wow, doesn’t having Auckland up at the top hurt.”
Ivan’s tally:
“Melbourne is number one in Australia for the most dimwitted Labor politicians.”
Perth James pondered:
“Never understood why it was ranked so high previously. Lived there many years ago but never more. As I tell remaining family, Melbourne is a grey city – the buildings are grey, the sky is always grey, the weather is grey and the people are miserable and ‘grey’. And their little dingy back lanes are grey too. Melbourne people are inveterate whingers. Whether you come across them in their home city, travelling or whatever, you can always be sure they will be complaining about something.”
Emanuel too:
“We get five seasons, enough sunshine, enough rain, clear skies, skifields, no humidity, diverse food, tolerant – all far better than Perth; will be even better when the current government goes away.”
Chrissy complained:
“What other Australian city can lay claim to two drug injecting centres and all that accompanies them.”
What goes around, warned Mal:
“June 17 2020: Dan Andrews. ‘I don’t mean to be offensive to South Australians but why would anyone want to go there’.”
Brad (the quiet Australian)’s summary:
“Melbourne – the satellite city for Beijing. The world’s most liveable city? Nowhere near it. Traffic problems, inconsistent road signage, public transport is a joke and so are the 40km/h high street speed limits. Fittings are attached to lamp posts with hose clamps and the whole joint needs a coat of paint.
“Credit where it is due though – Melbourne does have one fantastic feature: The road to Sydney.”
MFH had a meltdown:
“Auckland? You have to be joking. The traffic congestion there is beyond bad. The motorways are a joke. Two lanes in either direction, at a standstill at peak hours or when there is a smash. The train line out through Dominion Road to the airport promised by Ardern 4 years ago canned. The Mill Road widening to ease congestion out to South Auckland canned. Instead they are talking about a bridge for cyclists and walkers to cross the harbour. You have to be joking.
“Then there are the regular sewerage spills into the Waitemata Harbour because the infrastructure is crumbling. Crime in South Auckland – out of control. Regular shootings. Gangs running the place. Don’t get me started on the weather. Summer lasts for about 3 weeks. Winter goes on forever. Rain every day for 3 months, the sun never appears.
“Prices sky high. Over $2/litre for petrol. Council rates in Auckland about to be hiked 24pc over the next few years. They were already unaffordable. House prices in Auckland out of control. $1.3million now the average house price. That won’t buy you much either.
So how was this ‘liveability’ index calculated? I would love to know.”
Redler said:
“Please don’t praise up Adelaide, those of us who live there would rather keep it a secret. We don’t want to get flooded with Victorian refugees.”
Michael waxed rhetorical:
“Is there anything more ugly than the graffiti that lines the rail track into Melbourne from Ballarat? Is there anything more bleak than the suburbs around Werribee? Is there anything more intimidating than the number of police pulling over motorists as one drives around Melbourne?”
Matt’s parting shot:
“The coffee capital? There is nothing so boring as a coffee bore.”
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The culture wars may not end tomorrow, but there are strong indications they reached their peak during protests against statues of colonial identities, wrote James Marriott. Husband of Jill observed:
“Perhaps the revulsion that is growing at the juvenility of social media as it has recently become will be the agent for the change that Mr Marriott is hoping for. However, other than several hints in Marriott’s language, the ‘supreme’ irony is missed that progressives have been able to be progressive because societies, by incremental economic improvement, have increasingly subsidised their angst.
“One is compelled to think that once the progressive efforts to cripple the supply of golden eggs reaches some tipping point the rest of us will be able to get on with providing for our families and others and being content with less.”
Money talks, said Gavin:
“Woke culture will only end when it goes broke. People will stop going to university because the degree is worthless and puts you in debt. Woke Hollywood snowflake movies don’t sell. Leftist news media business model fails when rating plummet and they are no longer profitable.
“Companies like Gillette market themselves with a woke identity and alienate half their customer base. Young adult women sue hospitals for brainwashing them into gender transitioning surgery as a confused teenager based on misdiagnosis as gender dysphoria. “Companies hiring policy based on gender quotas above meritocracy leads to a below average workforce and profits slump. Go woke go broke. It is inevitable and it is the only thing that will be the downfall of woke victimhood culture.”
Jimothy’s theorem:
“Wokeness arises likely whenever a certain proportion of our young people are good at language, bad at mathematics, and ignorant of team-based, goal-focused physical labour.
while ever we have enough such young people we will have wokeness.
Jimothy’s jibberish:
“The worst part is the deparadigming of epistemology. This has arisen due to the specious and sophistric overthrow (circa 1962) of positivism broadly understood, replacing it with a reified postmodernism of relativistic and standpoint epistemologies, fracturing any possibility of debate-to-conclusion.”
Bruce was bored:
“I am 76, so have seen a lot. Always been an arch conservative, though I would say patriot. Supported our involvement in Vietnam – volunteered to go there but it never happened. Worked in a very males-only industry and still do, though now as a lecturer passing on my knowledge.
“I have seen so many fads come and go from Menzies to Morrison, including duds such as Caldwell and the latest, Albanese. Now I know it will pass and so will I.”
Cat’s contention:
“Humans need to struggle and tend to invent problems in the absence of real ones. This particular ‘culture war’ has been exacerbated by decades of social comfort and affluence. The upcoming world war will soon put an end to it.”
Interloper’s idea:
“I suspect there are too many media outlets whose business model depends on stoking the culture wars.”
StephenM said:
“New ideas, daft or otherwise, uttered at dawn have the capacity to travel to the four corners of the world by lunchtime. They are the most important contests that we can have. A wrong direction caused by bad ideas has led many countries into ruin.”
Asinine, said Andrew:
“The worst part about the so-called ‘culture wars’ is that they’re dumb. It’s ‘my side, right or wrong’, rather than looking at an event or an occasion and deciding whether you agree with it or not. Where does it finish with someone like Trump, an intolerant bigot whose major political modus operandi is to look at what his opponents are saying, and then do the opposite. “So the ‘culture wars’ have brought us conservatives supporting protectionism, something that previous generations of conservatives railed against. (It’s) about supporting your team, not what you believe in. This is dumbing down debate at all levels.”
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A decade ago, Cameron Stewart had a scoop about how we didn’t have a single seaworthy submarine. Today, he revealed how all six of the navy’s Collins-class submarines will be completely rebuilt to extend their life for another decade in the face of growing Chinese hegemony. Alan’s advice:
“Refit the Collins class and then go to Plan B. That is, tear up the French attack class deal, wrong sub from the wrong country at the wrong price (way too much) being delivered at the wrong time (way too long). There are far better and more cost effective options from what I have read and seen.”
Great, said Gatsby:
“Agree, we need additional subs ASAP, within 3-4 years, even if they’re less capable.
Most importantly, we need to begin developing a nuclear deterrent urgently.”
Roger was rapt:
“Incredible how quickly Peter Dutton is bringing coherency, order, decisiveness and calm to the Defence portfolio after a trail of incompetents from both sides of politics. One by one, he knocks over the obstacles – ADF high command and Defence department wokeness, underdone US operational integration, inadequate top end facilities, the sub gap, recognition of the needs of, and support for ADF personnel.
“And all part of a calm, coherent, and realistic narrative yet reflecting the urgency of the actual context in which we live.”
Blue Leader’s bit:
“It is amazing how many Australians would vote for the virtual disarming of our nation. And how many, given our recent very cold and very windy, appalling weather, would vote to stay home and stay very cold when both solar and wind are not operating AT ALL and the current coal-fired power stations are dismantled, with almost nothing to replace them apart from BIG batteries (estimated to last about 10-15 mins max) and a shed load of very large and very thirsty diesel generators!”
David drilled down:
“I think you will find Pyne and South Australia have a lot to answer for. Let’s get back to procurement being based on merit.”
Barbara wondered:
“What does Mal have to say to justify his and Chris Pyne’s French subs blunder? Surely he’s keen to get on his ABC again, to tell us how much more he knows about everything than anyone else does. Trouble is Mal didn’t stop at diesel subs. He’s hellbent on stuffing our electricity generation capability too.”
Craig’s question:
“Why don’t we just have a nuclear industry? We sell the uranium. Fixes energy needs and no need to re-engineer French subs that were built to be nuclear. Nuclear subs are superior in every way.
“We already have a nuclear reactor in Sydney. We just need the politicians to grow some.
New technology and the fact that we are not subject to earthquakes makes them the safest option for us in the future.”
Graham explained:
“Because we signed a bipartisan moratorium that sits in Parliament House. Only a referendum will change it, and it would come up with a NO answer, they already have done the stats time and time again. And the US will never allow us to have nuclear power, subs or weapons. We are a security risk, with our ties to China.
“If every nation went nuclear to solve their power needs we would run out of uranium in 50 years, and back to square one. It is not a renewable. It is finite and once its gone, its gone. There is roughly 2 billion years lifetime left on Earth before we all go up in a big solar flare. That’s a long time to be in the dark.”
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Each Friday the cream of your views on the news rises and we honour the voices that made the debate great. To boost your chances of being featured, please be pertinent, pithy and preferably make a point. Solid arguments, original ideas, sparkling prose, rapier wit and rhetorical flourishes may count in your favour. Civility is essential. Comments may be edited for length.
Don’t be gulled by Iran’s apologists – this is a terrorist state
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Coalition take note: WA Libs know what to do with net zero
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Coffee machines ground to a halt and a million man buns were snipped off in mourning as Melbourne lost its “most liveable city” status, slipping back to eighth in the world, behind Adelaide and Perth in The Economist’s annual rankings. Adelaide stormed into third in the world behind Auckland and Osaka. Robert’s take: