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Yet another horror story that evidences the horrific mess the building industry is in - due substantially to poor regulation and corrupt or seriously ineffective regulators. There are tens if not hundreds of thousands of similar stories. A Building license is now seemingly a license to extort...

And yes, I experienced problems. I had to owner-build to complete my home after a dodgy builder ripped me off for over $200,000 and abandoned the job at roofing stage because I refused to pay more unlawful invoices. QBCC were useless. I was refused non-completion insurance because the contract...

Building regulation in Australia needs urgent reform. Building standards are falling, and too many builders are ripping off clients with shoddy work and overcharging, and regulators are doing NOTHING. The law is a mess. In Queensland, for example, the law says the landowner is solely...

The system IS going belly up, because of people not being able to afford a fully paid-off home to retire in. Good luck with the ''I'm okay and they should be'' attitude when that happens. When we discuss 30% renting and vast numbers still paying off a mortgage, we are generally referring to...

Well, it's now been announced that research shows that housing costs are going to ''blow up the retirement system, with more than 30% of retirees having to rent and vast numbers still paying off a mortgage in retirement. What is the point of this nonsense ''superannuation is for retirement''...

I think a lot are misled to believe that piling money into super yields huge benefits but are never told the truth about the importance of saving outside super for a home, further education, investment, future medical and dental needs, etc. I know my daughter was given terrible advice about...

If the system was genuinely intended to facilitate using super for retirement I might agree, but it isn't. People who save or put money into super are penalized - unless they are wealthy. Denial of pension and concessions leaves many who tried to self-fund their retirement worse off than those...

Maybe it's a problem because retirees need to spend their money. They don't want to accumulating more and more and many couldn't no matter how much they wanted to. They need money to live on. But they also need interest income to keep up with the cost of living increases because the buying...

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've called their support line five times and finally gave up. The app just does not work!

I don't think it's awful living in la la land and being totally deluded. It's probably quite comfortable, until you are forced by some event or realization to acknowledge reality. Then the shock will be totally devastating. And it's coming to all the poor deluded soon. They will learn that what...

I agree. I also worked with computers and programming for decades and I have never seen worse software than that used by the Australian government for critical tasks. I can't even log in to MyGovID without it incorrectly claiming - over and over again - that I have not identified myself...

When alcohol restrictions were put in place, police were ordered to lie about the cause of accidents and claim they were alcohol-related when they weren't. I suspect the same is happening now to make speed a convenient scapegoat and justify a change that won't fix anything. Slow speeds can be as...

This is good news for Australians who self-publish. Booktopia proved far better for buyers than Amazon and I was constantly advising people to buy from them in preference to Amazon. I hope the new owner is very successful.

The ''box'' is a total turnoff for me. I want to buy the meat I want, when I want it. I have no interest in somebody else deciding what meat I should be eating. And the ''make your own'' is too expensive and limited in what you can choose and what information is available. I want per kg prices...

My daughter-in-law passed away from breast cancer that spread to the brain. She left my son with 4 children under 8. The year before her passing was hell for all of us. The year after was far worse. Thankfully, my son has managed to raise the children on his own, with help and support from...

And one more thing. While Fred and Mary Battler are unable to draw from super to fund a house deposit, Jack Rich is able to draw from super to buy an investment property to rent to Fred and Mary Battler at a crippling rent rate, claiming not just superannuation tax concessions but also all the...

And thank you for your thoughtful reply. But the fact is that there are a great many out there who DO have super (because it is compulsory for their employer to pay it) and yet have not been able to save a home deposit. Or have suffered a crisis and lost their savings or investments. One...

Good for you. I could tell a very different story but one that shows equal discipline and common sense - and a bit of luck - and has a similar ending. But that's not everyone's story. There are folk who go into business and don't succeed and lose everything. There are folk who divorce and lose a...

Increased automation and computerization is making cars more dangerous. We have noted that drivers are starting to rely on the car to tell them when they are too close to an obstacle or there is a vehicle in their blind spot, instead of taking sensible precautions and developing driver skill...

Can we please stop parroting nonsense without thinking and actually apply some logic? Option 1: Let Bob and Mary (aged 30) access $200K of their super as a deposit on a modest home. Accommodation costs reduce over the next 37 years due to not paying ever-increasing rent. They CAN, if they...