Are We In A Labour Shortage?

I keep hearing that Australia has a labour shortage, that there are jobs out there just for the taking. The rhetoric is so red hot that I'm surprised I haven't heard that old favourite about 'the crops rotting in the field'. Maybe their saving that one for spring. So are we in a labour shortage?

The answer seems to be yes and no, lets have a look at some figures.

Unemployment Rate

3.9%

Underemployment

5.7%

Those two figures are very interesting, together they add up to 9.6%, which means that 1 in 10 people are not working or want a better job. When I say a better job, what I mean is people who are working jobs that are below what they are trained or qualified for. 

To be fair the last time the unemployment rate was that low was June 1974, 48 years ago!

But 3.9% is still an amazing amount of people unemployed, 548,100 to be exact. That means that every 0.1% is 14,000 people and every 1% of unemployment is 140,000 people. 

So even low unemployment is far from no unemployment. At 2% unemployment the government will start to talk about Australia having 'Full Employment' because that was often the 'average' unemployment rate in the Full Employment of the 1960's. But they neglect to mention that long term unemployment back then was 3 months, since the 1980's it has been 12 months. 3 months unemployment can be stressful, 12 months you can loss your wife and your house. 

The situation is further complicated by wage increases, this week the minimum hourly rate went to $21.38, making a 38 hour weekly wage $812.44, that's $42,000 a year. Which is a very high minimum wage. The median annual wage is $62,400 and at $91,000 you are considered to be a high wage earner. In the mining industry the average wage is $138,000. 

According to this article , there are currently thousands of mining jobs being advertised that have not been filled. Of course even if those jobs were all filled today it wouldn't be for another month before they would be added to the statistics. In May 60,400 jobs were added to the economy, but at the same time 7,800 more people ended up unemployed. 

The reason that this boon has arrived is because of an unexpected bonus from Covid, immigration nearly ceased during 2020-21. This has meant that employers have had to recruit Australian workers instead of importing workers. It has also meant that they have had to pay those workers more to attract and keep them. The labour shortage may be true in some industries, but it might just be that they exist because of the Covid restrictions that have either recently ended or that continue in places like Victoria. Which means as these are lifted, so will the labour shortage.   

If immigration is restricted then we may be heading towards low unemployment and a real labour shortage. 

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The One Hundred and Eleventh Month

A month which shows that I need to write more, I have had a total of 2,710 visitors. My worst day was the 23rd May when I had 19 visitors and my best day was the 8th June when I had an amazing 580.

United States

1.34K

Australia

583

France

344

Russia

92

Bulgaria

63

Canada

57

Germany

49

Netherlands

26

Sweden

10

Nigeria

8

United Kingdom

7

Belgium

5

Ireland

4

India

4

New Zealand

4

Philippines

4

Brazil

3

Israel

3

Lithuania

3

Other

102

Hate: The Underappreciated Emotion

Hate is vilified, it is declared to be unlawful and something that good people do not succumb to.   

Ironically hate is hated!

Why is a normal human emotion hated?

Is it possible that it can be eradicated?

The short answer is no, so what is hate?

My Heinemann Australian Dictionary (1976) defines it as:

Hate

To have a passionate or strong dislike for someone or something

Seems pretty straightforward, but as we will see it's not quite as straightforward as it first appears.  Increasingly in popular culture and in law, hate has come to have a very broad definition. It even has multiple names, Sexism, Racism, Homophobic, Islamophobic amongst other terms. But in the end they are all called hate, even when the words used make no sense. Someone who is phobic has a fear, being scared doesn't mean that you automatically hate. One can lead to the other but they are not automatic. But as most people have noticed, words mean what Liberalism want them to mean. Which leads me to another feature, which is how all kinds of activities are described as hate. Critics and criticisms, opinions, advice, names, nasty names have all been described as hate. The list of things that are supposed to be hate just keep growing. 

But something that you may have noticed is that the things that they hate they continue to hate. They hate me as well as you, they hate the things that we love and the things that we want. Yet that seems to be alright. Why is it alright for them to hate but for no one else?

Because they believe that they are creating a new and better world with new and better people. People who are beyond feeling human emotions like hate. They are not simply new, they are new and better. People who have been perfected, people who will be able to get along with anyone and everyone. They will exist within a society without conflict, because perfect people do not lower themselves to such things. If you think that is ridiculous then you might not be a Liberal. But rest assured they do believe that.

Which means that hate gets in the way of creating these perfect people. Which leads to another thing that they believe, that what we say influences what we think. I'm sure you have been told at some point in your life that 'you can't say that!', which actually means 'your not allowed to think that'. So if they can stop people from saying 'hateful' things then they can stop people from thinking 'hateful' things. Of course in reality it is the other way around, we say things because we think them first, it can't work any other way. But in one way what they say is true, people censor themselves, we all know it, we even do it ourselves. So stopping people from saying particular things makes those things unpopular to say. However Liberals also find it frustrating as no matter how unpopular these things are people do keep saying them. Don't these people know they have lost?

What Liberals think they are seeing and what is really happening are two different things. Liberals believe that human nature is changing, that people are becoming less 'hateful'. But in reality what is happening is fashion. Speech like clothes go in and out of fashion, today it is unfashionable but that will not always be true, human nature will take care of that. 

But at the core of the issue is the that entire concept that hate is wrong, even a crime, is bizarre and wrong.  There are things that you should hate, you should hate those who prey upon the weak, treason, disloyalty and lies. Hate is not something that is alien to our nature, it is a firm part of our nature and it will not be dislodge by mere fashion.

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Some Thoughts On The Australian Election, 2022

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population clock:

'On 24 May 2022 at 09:16:47 PM (Canberra time), the resident population of Australia is projected to be:  

25, 896, 010

Last Saturday the number of people enrolled to vote was:

17, 228, 900

The number who actually voted was:

12, 756, 111

The Australian Labor Party won office with this number of first preference votes:

3,972,105   

They currently have 75 seats out of a Parliament of 151 seats, with 76 seats they would have a majority within the House of Representatives. In this election they won 32.8% of the first preference votes out of those who voted. 23% of those enrolled to vote and 15.33% of all Australians.

In a country were it is compulsory to vote, 4.5 million did not even bother., of those who did turn out to vote 644, 677 voted informally, which means that they filled out the ballot incorrectly so their vote was not counted. There is 5,000,000 people who didn't vote. 

On the Right we put a lot of faith in One Nation, Pauline Hanson's Party and the United Australia Party, together they got around 1.1 million votes, 589,896 for One Nation, 499,631 for the United Australia Party. Unlike Labor and the Liberals who's share of the vote went down both parties votes went up. After the past two years it was disappointing to not see a bigger share go to them.

The system is rigged to support the major political parties, in the past it was considered to be against the national interest for a minority government to exist. This view was held by most Australians and by the major political parties. But over the last thirty years the share of people who vote for the major parties has declined. Today people want minority governments and the system isn't designed for that, which means that people are becoming more disenchanted with the entire process.

The Liberal government was punished for the last two years, for it's lies and it's pretending to be on our side when it wasn't, for shutting the country down over Covid. The current narrative is that the election was about climate change, well for some electorates that was true. 7 of the 10 richest electorates voted for more action on climate change. But the issue has brought down two Prime Ministers before, because the issue is simple in concept but it is very complex and costly in reality. No one has been able to square that circle and I believe that on that score nothing has changed. 

Unfortunately whether the Liberals or Labor win an election the Uniparty always wins!

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Comparing The Two Doctor Strange Movies

A week ago I went to see the most recent Doctor Strange movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and I was disappointed. Now I'm a man in my fifties so why did I go and see it in the first place? 

Lets be honest the movie wasn't made for me. I saw it because the original Doctor Strange was brilliant, it was entertaining, thoughtful and insightful. I rewatched it this week and I enjoyed it even more. I was afraid that some of the stink from the more recent movie would rub off on it, glad to say that that did not happen. From now on I will call them Strange I and Strange II to distinguish between the two movies. 

I had been looking forward to Strange II since Strange I told us that Doctor Strange would return. But I had heard some disquieting things and I decided to put those feelings aside and see Strange II anyway. Right from the start things felt different, the original started off more like a drama, Doctor Strange is a surgeon, a real person, in Strange II he attends the interracial marriage of the women he loves and her husband is a 'fan' of Doctor Strange. He leaves the wedding to fight a monster, this could have been in any superhero movie, with any superhero fighting. Right here is the difference between the two movies, Strange I is about a man who feels real, Strange II is about a superhero who doesn't feel real.

Strange I is about a man who becomes a magic user in a world filled with Superheros and it succeeds because at all times it feels real. Like it is something that could actually happen. Which is achieved by making the movie into a drama, which includes mysticism, comedy, action and Superheros. However it never allows those things to take away from the story, instead each of these elements adds to the story. Each part is built upon what has came before it. To be honest I find it difficult to find fault with this movie, my one complaint was that it moves too fast, but with multiple viewings it no longer has that problem. I would not have made the Sorcerer Supreme a White women, I would have kept them as an Asian man, but Tilda Swinton is excellent, bald head and all. In fact I like the entire cast, the villain has a good reason for acting and for believing what he does, the script is very underrated and the special effects are amazing.

I wish I could say these things about Strange II, alright the special effects are still amazing, but thats about it. I didn't even like the actors who reappear from the first movie as much. I didn't hate them, nor did I hate the actors who appeared for the first time here. However the story and script is no where as good as they should be, which means that the actors, old and new don't have the material to work with. In fact the movie exists as if the first movie doesn't exist. At the end of Strange I a new villain reveals himself, with a great backstory and motivation which is all ignored. Instead we get a new villain who wreaks havoc because she wants to be a mother. She is the best character in the movie, but her motivation is demented because her children don't exist in our version of the multiverse, but do in others. I liked how she was defeated as it made sense and it was unexpected. The rest was really a case of 'whatever', it filled in a few hours but I will never watch it again. It was just another generic Superhero movie, something that Strange I was not. 

What makes this even more ridiculous was that Doctor Strange is not even that important in his own movie. Sure you can say his character did this or that, but really he is along for the ride, that is not what I paid my money to see. 

When I checked around the 9th May both movies were rated on IMBD as 7.5 out of 10, which for a new big budget movie is terrible. A week late Strange II has lost.1 and is now at 7.4, below Strange I. My prediction is that Strange II will settle at 6.3

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The One Hundred And Tenth Month

This month has been quite a good one and it all started with reading a bizarre job description on SEEK, which I wrote about in Lets play a game, whats the job title? Which had nearly as many people check it out as viewed the blog last month. I was encouraged to start an Upon Hope telegram group, which I have done, I post each day using older articles from the site, from the Youtube Melbourne Traditionalists and The Melbourne Traditionalists on Podbean. 

On telegram I have had thousands of views, my top article has 4504 views, my worst two both have 11, it's really all over the place. 

On Youtube I have reached 250 subscribers, but it has done nothing to increase my viewer numbers. For a long time I was around 220 and for a time I even lost subscribers, so to see it up is good but I must admit it doesn't make much sense. 

On Podbean I have 16 followers, for awhile I was getting about half listening to a post, recently it is about a quarter. As always these sites give you raw numbers but they don't tell you much.

On Subscribestar I have 4 subscribestars and 1 inactive, so I am right on the cusp of possibly losing that support. When I joined I needed 5 subscribestars before my account was considered active, I'm not sure what happens if I go under 5, I keep waiting for that to happen. But if you would like to get my content early you can sign up for $1, or more if your feeling generous.

My best day this month was the 21st April when I had an amazing 920 views!

My worst was the 5th May when I had only 31 views, this past month I have had 4,510 viewers.

This is also an unusual month as my Australian visitors have outnumber my American visitors, I think this is the fifth time that has happened in nine years.

Australia	2,475
United States	1,428
New Zealand	64
Germany	61
United Kingdom	58
Russia	55
Canada	35
France	35
Singapore	20
Netherlands	19
Poland	14
India	11
Taiwan	11
Belgium	9
Indonesia	9
Italy	8
Turkey	7
Brazil	6
Hungary	5
Other	176

Australia

2.48K

United States

1.43K

New Zealand

64

Germany

61

United Kingdom

58

Russia

55

Canada

35

France

35

Singapore

20

Netherlands

19

Poland

14

India

11

Taiwan

11

Belgium

9

Indonesia

9

Italy

8

Turkey

7

Brazil

6

Hungary

5

Other

176

The Northman - A Movie Review

I haven't been to the movies in over a year, but I kept hearing good things about The Northman and when I found out it was leaving Australian cinemas this week I decided to get off my bum and see it. This movie cost $60m to make, which means for it to be considered a success it needed to make 160m. So far it's made about $40m. Which is a shame as it's well worth seeing.

I love historical movies, I love seeing how people lived in different times and in different places. But I also want it to really feel like it is a different time and place. I don't want to see current attitudes, clothes or hairstyles. I want to be transported to another time and place. I often have to compromise, to accept the things that are given and to ignore the things that are too much like today. With this movie you don't have too. It is the movie the Vikings themselves would have made. 

The modern world does not intrude into this story and that is the great strength of this movie. It looks and feels like that period of history, it's attitudes are of that time. Here we have a movie were everyone is White and were the main character takes part in a slave raid. It does not pander to modern attitudes. Instead it takes the past seriously and shows us something that we would never see or be a part of. 

The other thing that I really liked was how Norse mythology and mysticism was a big part of the film. It is an extremely Pagan film, even if it starts with the legend AD 895. It shows a pagan world view uncompromisingly, it's glory and it's brutality. There are parts were it is unclear if something is really happening or not, but that fits perfectly. Because this is a saga, an epic tale that is historical and mythical at the same time. 

So do I have any complaints?

Actually most relate to the female cast, Anya Taylor-Joy  is both beautiful and extremely odd looking. In The Critical Drinkers review of the movie he asked if she was an alien. Although her acting is great. 

Nicole Kidman can also act, but her face is an abomination to man and God!

You really can have too much plastic surgery and she is well beyond that point. It was the one thing that took me out of the movie.

Thirdly, why does the Valkyrie have braces on her teeth?

Last is that it can be hard to understand what is being said at times, sometimes they speak English, at others very accented English and at others in Old Norse. 

Okay none of these are a deal breaker and none of it relates to the plot or action. This movie looks amazing and it is well worth two hours of your life, check it out!

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