I don’t think the problem is banks charging fees. In fact, I don’t really have an issue with the banks taking 1% of the sale. The issue is that merchants don’t realise that counting cash and taking it to the bank etc actually costs more than 1% anyway. Electronic payments are actually cheaper than all that, they already give you a total and handle the bank end.

I can think of a couple of places in Perth who have gone totally cashless. They only accept Eftpos/credit cards.

I can’t comment on this case at all, but I will say that my father in law was totally scammed out of $19k and NAB blocked the transfer. NAB literally saved my in-laws from losing nearly $20k. The scammers were very convincing, they basically got remote access to his PC and from there accessed his online banking.

So, offset this story with a good one for NAB.

Perth also had one, but it closed down 20 years ago. Two businesses have since occupied the building, but both have died.

You can see how the building would have looked with the angular awnings etc. but they were made boring after the Ettamogah closed down.

Huh. Well this went from “something to look into next week” to “Oops, it’s finished already”.
Looks like there wasn’t much interest this year.

Theoretically, “they” in this story includes us. According to the definition in the bill, aussie.zone counts as social media.
And I personally have zero interest in dealing with government IDs. So, I hope they figure out a way of doing verification before you get as far as the sites themselves. Because while we’ll be bound by this legislation, I can’t see any other instance out there caring in the slightest about it - why would they? So it’ll do diddly-squat.

Put the left shoes on eBay. Investigate whoever bids on them. 👍

In Melbourne: The Cow in the tree in Docklands always brightened my day. I don’t know that it’s high art exactly, but it brings joy and that’s more than good enough for me.

In Perth: I’ve always loved this triangle thing:

I might buck the trend a little here: I did spend my early money on a house. However, I never travelled the world in those days. I have always regretted it.

If we’re talking $100k in the 90’s when I was actually 20-30, I could put $70k on a house, rent it out, set up with the rental income and $15k of my money covering the first year or so of payments.

Take the remaining $15k and go on an epic backpacking adventure around the globe.

$100k these days wouldn’t be enough to do this, though.

The question is what would you spend it on. Not what you did spend it on. 😆

School holidays and nobody to look after the kids. Arranged to come into work at midday so I could cover the morning.

I’ve brought them into town, bought them movie tickets and then lunch before ditching them. They ate lunch and made their way to the cinema. When the movie finishes, they’ll make their own way home and get ready for swimming lessons. Mum will get home around 4 to take them to the pool. They’re basically out in the city and independent of adult supervision for four hours.

So I’m at work now and the kids are in their first movie session ever with no adult present. They’re making core memories right now. The first movie I saw with no grown up in the cinema with me was Flight of the Navigator - I remember it vividly.

I was convinced she’d done it a month ago. I did not hear the defense testimony of the past few weeks though - so I didn’t have the complete picture.

I am surprised. Not that she did it, but that the defense testimony hadn’t swung the jury to “Not guilty”.

Oooh - and this is how I learned the news. I’ve been super busy today and just checked the site briefly.

San Francisco and New York are both crazy expensive. I was paying over 🇺🇸 $200 a night for a hotel in San Francisco over 10 years ago. Not sure whether any other place in the USA compares on crazy prices.

Oooh yeah, according to Choice, only the kids sunscreen was 50+

But Cancer Council are running an independent test on their line. What do you think when two organizations you trust say different things?

Then there’s what they’re replacing that with, which is dedicated tablets that sit in the trolley.

I have never seen this. I’ve just got the app on the phone.

So I’ve volunteered to spend the night overseeing an unknown number of kids on music camp.

*Numbers may change dependent on enrollment

Overnight stay in dorm room with year 5/6 boys from xxxxxxxxxxxxxx primary

Now that I’m staring at the email and imaging what this is going to entail, I can see why they struggle to find parents willing to do it. I think I need to accept that I’m going to get five hours sleep that night if I’m lucky. Set aside time on the Sunday for a good nap.

I clicked the article, expecting my jimmies to be rustled.

Offences covered by the legislation will include assaults, stealing and robbery, property damage, dangerous and reckless driving, racial harassment, inciting racial hatred and depictions of Nazi symbols and salutes.

I … have no issues with that. Morons filming themselves driving 200km/h down the road are one of my pet peeves. You’re not cool idiot, you’re risking the lives of dozens of people in an attempt to seek approval.

Why the hell would you do that? Who’s going to risk dealing with police and spending a day in court over some $5 item?

Even if you play the “whoops must have forgotten that” card and they believe you, you’ll be put onto the “Check this shopper every time” list and negate the entire advantage of the scheme.

Hard disagree. It’s awesome with a full shop. Scan item, put in trolley. Repeat 40-50 times. Then, tap a couple of buttons on my phone, scan a QR code at the gate and just leave. No hassle with checkouts - even self checkouts. The only bit that slows me down is putting fruit & vegies on the scale, but I get most of those elsewhere, so it isn’t too terrible.