Chlorine is to disinfect the water, fluoride is to prevent tooth decay. Fluoridated toothpaste is widely available, and it's recently been found that relatively low levels of fluoride in the water have an adverse effect on IQ.

To be clear and so there are no misunderstandings here, I am aggressively pro-vax. I also strongly support a sugar tax.

Yes, but they don't have an excuse.

They seem to be under the misguided impression that this will resolve the birth rate crisis. The smut example may have an effect if it were part of a broader crackdown on porn, but targeting homosexuality won't resolve anything and just make people miserable.

And China is a majority atheist country so the state really has no excuse for this blatant bigotry.

I have been deeply opposed to the social media laws. Then I went back deleting my posts on another site and noticed I supported such a policy. I understand the reasoning behind it and I just was angry at the prospect of needing to give Google my ID.

However, including YouTube in the ban is beyond ridiculous. May as well ban Netflix and Sky News at that point.

Then there's the new age-checking on porn which is absolutely wild. Firstly it was passed without new legislation, but more importantly it is deeply invasive in how it's to be enforced. I see the reasoning behind this too, but it's as if they're trying to stop even determined users from accessing it and once you get to that level it's crossing a line.

I should really change to Bank Australia at some point, but I can't be bothered unless Visa cracks and allows LGBT content again (currently on Mastercard).

The HAFF was passed unamended after being delayed for 6 months, and the actual housing it was supposed to build was delayed further by the uncertainty. The Greens blocked it with ridiculous demands like increasing the funding to address housing stress instead of the homelessness it was supposed to, an unconstitutional national rent-freeze, or reforms to capital gains and negative gearing that lost Labor two elections before they promised not to change it.

The Greens see Labor's pragmatism as evil. They see Labor as fundamentally evil just like the LNP.

As for Palestine. Yes it was popular and yes it was just symbolic, but it has the potential to piss off the Americans and doing that consumes a lot of domestic political capital (because of American influence in Australia). Australia is more subordinate to America than most thanks to the LNP being willing and eager to sell out our sovereignty, we can't really break rank alone on Israel, never mind how many time's Labor has had to publicly condemn Hamas making cutting off military aid to Israel a domestic political nightmare.

Once Ireland stops arms trade with Israel, then Australia could plausibly consider doing it. Until then it would 100% get Labor couped.

Palaszczuk taxed the coal mining companies and balanced the state budget. And keep in mind this was in Queensland, the most conservative state in the country.

Rudd ... there is so much I could say. One of Gillard's first acts after replacing Rudd was to drop the taxes on mining, she then put in a carbon tax that even an idiot could come up with a scare campaign against, said carbon tax only lasted a few years and permanently poisoned the idea of a price on carbon. This is not even mentioning the CIA cables discussing whether they should replace Rudd with Gillard because Rudd didn't want to automatically join America in a war for Taiwan.

He promised it before winning the state election, but I guess the prospect of a balanced budget is too much for him to turn up.

Good for Queensland. Good for Queensland.

Maybe to start with America can stop doing "economic coercion against democracies" itself.

You need to win election to fight capitalism. Could you even imagine Australia voting for Adam Bandt to be PM? Incrementalism is not evil, and sure beats the alternative of going scorched earth and handing us another decade of the LNP. This isn't America, we can't beat the LNP on turnout.

Still, slower speeds in local neighborhoods makes a lot of sense. In Victoria it's 50km/h which is way too high even for normal cars.

Bakers Delight donated to them.

Probably more companies to, but Bakers Delight has been the most inconvenient. I haven't been able to find good bread anywhere else (or indeed, even at Bakers Delight these days).