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Post by avra on Sept 23, 2004 18:31:01 GMT 11
Ah ok...
Yeah, cause when I turned 21 I stayed on my parents card... even though I wasnt actually a student at that time but hey, who's telling.... But then I applied for my own one because of me being in Melb and family in Tassie it was too hard when you only get a maximum of 2 cards....
Actually, my brother is 23, having be working fulltime for 2 years and he's still on my family's card..... Weird.. government departments suck.. pfft!
I'm feeling pretty lucky atm with HECS.. well, comparitively... as even though I'm doing med, for the first 2 years, only 25% of the subjects are counted as Band 3 ($6283), and the rest are Band 2 ($5367), so that makes it a tad cheaper than I thought it would be... But then again, I ain't paying upfront, and I've got 4.5 years of this.. so I'm going to have a whopping HECS debt at the end of it. I just aint thinking about the numbers now.....'
I still think the $20,000/yr sounds a little bit steep. I most certainly wont have paid $90,000 back by the time it all gets paid off. Btw, a HECS debt doesnt actually get charged interest.. it just gets indexed to inflation, which is like a really tiny percentage really... like 2%?
What uni are you at anyway? Up to $10,000 for Band 2? YIEK!
Actually, on second thoughts, if you are enrolled in a course before January 1st 2005, then the HECS fee increases dont apply to you...
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Post by Rilla on Sept 23, 2004 18:42:45 GMT 11
Maybe we should just stick to talking about the weather. It's a bit overcast down here today. It rained last night, but we need the rain, really...  It's raining and grey and rather cold where i am. And after yesterdays 26degrees too... *notice how i am tactfully not saying anything argumentive* |
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Post by Cat-Eyes on Sept 23, 2004 18:53:02 GMT 11
It really annoyed me this morning on the radio this stupid ad they had on.
It was a Labour ad, but regardless of what you think or feel about them, you've gotta admit it's a stupid ad.
It went something like this:
"Have you seen the new Liberal ad? They're complaining about when Mark Latham was mayor he raised pool admission by 20%"
"Pool admission? That's all they can talk about?"
"Especially when John Howard is the highest taxing government ever. He's put a user-pays tax on blah blah blah not to mention the 10% GST"
Were the makers of this ad sleeping through the last election? This term was always going to be a highly taxed one, no matter who won, because the entire last election was about taxes!! There was the GST versus that other thing that Beazley was going on about that I don't even know if it had a name... Of course Howard introduced a 10% GST, we were redoing the tax system cause the old one was shot, and it was his election promise! I'd be more annoyed if he DIDN'T introduce the GST and the shot up tax system had been left!
And it's not like I mean this to be a shot at Labour, it was just an amazingly stupid ad. I'd be annoyed at it no matter who ran it.
All i can say is: idiots...
Cat - cool, calm, collected and hoping no one takes offence.
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Post by Rilla on Sept 23, 2004 19:17:53 GMT 11
*admires Cat's cool, calm and collected-ness*
*decides to wait until she is a bit older to try and understand political things*
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Post by Elspeth on Sept 23, 2004 21:30:30 GMT 11
I wouldn't bother, Rilla. It would probably only annoy the living pants out of you. Hehe - pants. Er, sorry. Anyway, to my point: politics - we'd be better off without it.
I hope the weather's a bit nicer tomorrow.
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Post by Miska on Sept 24, 2004 11:24:57 GMT 11
as far as i can tell as soon as u finish ur degree and earn ovver the 'low income' threshold hecs does get charged interest...and its like backup interest...so its lots...i go to usyd..and they indipendently raised their fees...so we had 2 increases..one which i was charge and the other (which hopefully ) didnt include me...tho they are thinkin of raising again...well i calculated... and 10,00maybe a bit high but with 25% off im paying 7600...so *shrugs* i dont no...i just think tis way to expensive...hell we're studnets! we dont have any money!
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Post by Clare on Sept 24, 2004 12:24:06 GMT 11
Labour, Liberal, Colin Firth - Let the Chaser Decide!
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Post by avra on Sept 24, 2004 13:15:31 GMT 11
Seriously, HECS is not charged interest.
It's adjusted annually according to changes in the cost of living (as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI)) and this is currently at 2.4%.
As far as I was aware, before the changes recently made, universities weren't allowed to change their fees like that. It's only in 2005 that they are allowed to set them themselves within a predefined range, whereas up until then, the fees are a set cost. Sure, they go up every year, but that's because prices go up in general. Band 2 will be going up from $5367 to $5479 in 2005.
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Post by Raineth on Sept 24, 2004 15:25:25 GMT 11
Labour, Liberal, Colin Firth - Let the Chaser Decide! We watched the Chaser last night, we love those guys. I love their 'Mal' award and how graciously Natasha Stott-Despoija received it. |
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Post by Elspeth on Sept 24, 2004 16:54:38 GMT 11
Yep, Avvy's right about the HECS thing. The good news is that the income threshold went up $10,000 dollars this year, so you might not have to start paying it back straight away. I definitely don't get charged interest, but the debt is adjusted each year according to the CPI. One year, it actually went down, which was a bit of a bonus.  However, I do recall hearing something about interest and HECS... The best thing would be to double-check with the ATO website (don't ring the call centre - it's in India, or something, and they give out-of-date information). |
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Post by Miska on Sept 24, 2004 18:34:55 GMT 11
i was under the impression that as soon as u could pay off hecs (as in u earn enough money to) u then get chraged interest if u dont pay it...cos it is a loan... now since im not on hecs thats jsut wat ive understood from others who are on it nad 10+yrs later still tryin to pay it off
as for the fee increase...when nelsons reveiw was being considered, usyd was allowed to independantly increase their fees. cos the gov stopped funding... so they did! then they did it again when neslons review was passed...so everyone at usyd had their fees increased at least once drmatically
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Lol
Guildmember
Every thing possible to be believed is an image of truth.
Posts: 1,070
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Post by Lol on Sept 24, 2004 20:39:22 GMT 11
Wow, what a thread. I was hanging around on the Robin Hobb website when the Iraq war started and just had to leave after a while. There were people there from all over the world and it got very nasty... A friend said recently that she was more concerned about Bush not getting in than Howard not getting in because he had the potential to do so much more damage. I can really see her point. Anyway, I'm with Kayt, Buneater and the rest of 'em on this one. RIP higher education.  Lol |
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Post by Blindmouse on Sept 24, 2004 22:02:05 GMT 11
Hey guys I know people get heated up about politics, and everyone here's been trying desperately not to be offensive while being passionate. But either way, can I just say kudos to everyone here for being interested enough to contest the issue? I'm a born and bred left-winger, but I'd far rather live in the kind of democracy which contains people with oppinions that just make me want to shake them, than one where most everybody agreed with me. And all power to the Greens, this election! I'm insufferably proud that since moving in with me, my housemate has decided to vote Green for the first time - although she's still not sure which major party she's going to swing to. And the fact the Greens got in over the Democrats with her might have something to do with the Dem's weird anti-abortion stance at the moment... BTW, why are people saying they won't vote Greens for the House of Representatives? Sure they probably won't get in, but that's why we have preferences. You can still make sure your vote ultimately goes to Labour instead of Liberal, without cutting out Greens or Democrats. I don't have much of an opinion about the private schools funding thing. I spent most of highschool at TAFE, so... And I have to admit to my shame, that despite the fact that the whole higher education funding thing has been a huge issue at my uni, due to Monash being the first uni to institute Howard's HECS increases, I've never, despite reading the union emails and info packs that came out about it, been able to get straight in my head what the changes were. As far as loyalties to the major parties go... I'm not particularly fond of the Labour party, but grace save me from Howard for another term. I don't think there's all that much point judging any of the parties on the basis of their ads. Every political ad I've ever seen has been a joke. Do you remember the Democrats' ads last election, the dogs barking? It made me cringe. And the GST ads with the chains? Excuse me while I stare in blank-faced disbelief. blindmouse |
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Post by Elspeth on Sept 24, 2004 22:07:26 GMT 11
The political ads are growing more and more puerile. It's quite insulting. It seems as though our government is following the American trend of 'dumbing down' - as though we're all so stupid we need to be talked down to and generally treated as though we're about six so we'll understand what this election is all about. Grrr... The fact is, I'm so disinterested in this election that I didn't even know when the Election Day actually was...  |
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Post by Raineth on Sept 25, 2004 14:20:36 GMT 11
I think its so wrong of them to spend so much money on ads and it also amazes me how after spending that much money on an ad it still ends up woeful.
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Post by Cat-Eyes on Sept 25, 2004 15:48:02 GMT 11
I knew there was something I was going to watch on Thursday!! I was so annoyed when they cancelled CNNN! But I'm always out on Thursdays so we used to tape it. It was AWESOME!
Cat
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Squarmi
Guildmember
Friendships more lasting than love and more legal than stalking.
Posts: 1,811
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Post by Squarmi on Sept 25, 2004 16:05:37 GMT 11
The fact is, I'm so disinterested in this election that I didn't even know when the Election Day actually was... |
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Post by Cat-Eyes on Sept 25, 2004 16:28:14 GMT 11
I know cause it's my primary school fete.  |
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Post by Miska on Sept 25, 2004 16:39:30 GMT 11
i still dont really no it... but meh... ill be reminded on the day!  i hate the flyers u get in the mail!!! pfft. so annoying and waste of paper....i hate election time!
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Post by Elspeth on Sept 26, 2004 21:00:07 GMT 11
When my brother and I were still living at home with my parents, we used to get letters address to Mr C and Mrs K [insert surname here]. They assumed we were married because we were living at the same address! It was quite unsettling.  |
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Lucy
Guildmember
[x=chunkymonkey24]
Posts: 1,241
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Post by Lucy on Sept 27, 2004 6:59:54 GMT 11
Well, I like the Lib Dems, as I think they're (seemingly)as truthful as a political party will get - they actually admit that they will raise taxes, not just say, well we'll spend a lot more money on *aaalllll* of these thing...but you won't have to pay us any more - no of course not, we'll just magic the money. So, in a way I respect the LibDems for that! And their "mission statement" (if you want to call it that!) is this:
"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives."
Which I think is good/nice, even if it's a load of bs.
Oh, and Charles Kennedy looks like a little kid...which I find funny, and adds a sense of hunour to the whole thing...in my books anyway!
Plus, no one here is going to vote Labour, it would just be so wrong!
Plus, I voted for the Green party last time, so there you go. Muddled!
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Post by Raineth on Oct 9, 2004 14:48:45 GMT 11
Ooops I noticed that I forgot the "First " bit in the "Family First" party. Well i'm not too worried, any party that says 'Lesbians are witches and should be burnt at the stake' is stark-raving mad anyway in my view.
I hope you've voted on this poll if you're going to because I'm going to end it tonight.
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Post by Cat-Eyes on Oct 9, 2004 23:00:13 GMT 11
The greens totally confuse me. I mean, they were trying to give me this entire newspaper called Green Times and I'm like "How is giving me a newspaper i'm going to throw away going to a) save the trees and b) get you a seat?!"
Silly people... And the guy handing them out was like trying to block me from going to the train to give me the damn thing...
Cat
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Post by Raineth on Oct 10, 2004 14:27:38 GMT 11
Well paper generally comes from pine plantations anyway.
I am devastated by the return of the coalition to govt. How can people think that a prime minister who lies as he breathes and conducts such a dishonest campaign is fit to lead our country.
I just have to say this:
INTEREST RATES ARE SET BY THE RESERVE BANK NOT THE GOVERNMENT! ! ! They would have been just as honest saying "in the last 8 years we have had the best weather. Don't put Labor in, the weather will get worse."
Well we don't really need to worry, life won't be that much worse for us. It will be just worse for all minorities, and Iraqi's who under Sadam atleast knew what behaviour to avoid to stay safe but know just get killed randomly by 'good' U.S troops.
It doesn't seem to matter to us that we waged war illegally on a pretense which now is totally out in the open. Iraq had NO WMD's and no connection to Al Qaeida. But who cares it doesn't directly effect you or me. Where thousands of miles away from dying Iraqi's.
As for refugees who survive acts like torture in their home countries and knock on our door hoping we will save their lives. Well silly them for thinking we would help when we could treat them like criminals and put them in an open-ended prison sentence.
Good on us AUSTRALIA, WE GOT THE GOVERNMENT WE DESERVE.
disgusted Raineth
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Post by Rilla on Oct 10, 2004 14:41:07 GMT 11
What she said!
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SNOOPY!!!!
i hate the flyers u get in the mail!!! pfft. so annoying and waste of paper....i hate election time!
