Derek McKinnon

This chart is absolutely striking one, there is absolutely no sustained recovery in new business investment outside of the I.T sector. Which is an AI and data centre story. Chart: ABC News via @MarkoMatvikov

Per capita real GDP growth was negative 0.13 per cent in the March quarter of 2026. Ten out of the fifteen full quarters under the Albanese government has experienced a fall in per capita real economic output. ipa.org.au/publications-i…

Imagine you are an accountant, and just finished university. You have two options for your future. 1) Private practise, helping companies meet tax law and flourish as best they can. You also get paid well. 2) The government revenue service where you objective is to attack the successful people in your country. You also get paid badly. Good accountants go one way, bad accountants go the other.

If I were to share with you the astounding punitive and confiscatory taxes that were levied on me (from both the provincial and federal governments) for an error that was made out of ignorance, it would leave you speechless. I'll say more in due time but the tax authorities are truly a mixture of the worst imaginable Orwellian and Kafkaesque monster. They are robbing us blind. USA, here we come! God bless the United States, the last land of the free.

The Great British Delusion

@optus_help @Optus @Optus. 2 hours, 1 minute and 7 seconds on this phone call to get a phone added to my business account. Including the first two calls , it has probably just cost me $300 in wages to add one $60 a month mobile phone plan to my existing 18.

@Optus. So when I reluctantly changed my arrangement about 18 months ago with Optus and signed on to a contract, I asked what were the negatives of getting a contract. They told me none. Today I was told I can't connect my new phone plan to the existing shared data plan, because the old phones are under contract. So Optus lied to me 18 months ago. @Optus, is it policy to lie to customers?

@Optus. So I want to give you more money by adding an extra phone number to our business account. I'm now at 40 minutes on hold. The time expected to answer me has now increased from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. So 1 hour and 10 minutes at best.... for me to give you more money????? You to realise that this is costing me more in wages than you will get per month? But that's OK, it's given me time to start talking to you competitors about what they can offer.

@elladeonRH @NickJFreitas The online world has problems.

@derek_mck @NickJFreitas I saw the comments on YT, and (unfortunately) it was just a slam on a new grad. Like, 1900 comments all hating on her. :(

The math don't math.

@elladeonRH @NickJFreitas Yeah, I appreciate it could come across that way, but that's not the way I interpreted it. To me, it was a comment about the maths.

@derek_mck @NickJFreitas "Men can, just not women," Nick Freitas probably. What's sad is that he has daughters.

As a German living in Australia the fact that Australia has twice as many public sector workers than France is hilarious.

The single best thing a parent or school can do to improve emotional regulation skills in children is to radically increase how much adventurous/risky play they get. It’s literally free, works immediately and you don’t have to convince kids to do it. Instead we have a whole infrastructure of expensive professions using classroom based instruction to “teach” kids how to regulate emotions. It’s bonkers.

@delia_burgess Nah, but I do find the efficiency movement in Australia leads to less and less human communication. What happens when we get to the point we never talk to anyone?

@derek_mck yeah not sure if you’ve been to an Israeli supermarket. def not that.

israeli supermarkets are so fkn inefficient why no self check out? low tech vibes in high tech society

I also started an online chat, but your online system didn't work, and then after 50 minutes a guys finally started talking to me on the phone. Then told me he was pre-paid and I would have to start the entire process again for post paid. I gave up. Hung up on him and shut down the online chat. Even before this call I dread ringing Optus. I appreciate you have setup systems to minimize your cost, but if your customers can't actually get stuff done with you in any reasonable time frame, we are going to go somewhere else. @Optus. I spend $600 a month with you and apparently you don't want any more of my money.

Hey, Derek. Sorry to hear about the extended wait time experienced whilst getting in touch to add another service to your account with us. Whilst wait times can vary depending on volume, we aim to assist as soon as we can. We understand that time is valuable, and you may not have the time to wait for a Business Expert at this particular point in time. Our Business Experts are available on → 1300 723 016 (Mon to Fri 9:00am - 7:00pm AEST and Sat to Sun 9:00am - 5:00pm AEST). They are also available 24/7 via the Message Us platform available via your My Optus App and My Account online. If you choose to contact us via the My Optus App, this will allow you to receive notifications once an Agent has responded, meaning you can go about things in the interim. We certainly appreciate your holdings with us, and apologise for the undue frustration caused by the current wait times, and appreciate your patience. - Dillon

@RichardHanania Childcare is cheap. It is the high house prices which makes life difficult for new parents.

This is kind of paranoid stupidity probably does as much damage to birthrates as high costs of childcare.

@JEChalmers Look at the breakdown. It is all AI Data centres.

BREAKING: New numbers released by the ABS today show private sector investment is soaring under the Albanese Government. Capital expenditure has far exceeded market expectations, with billions more being poured into productive investments. New private capital expenditure (capex) grew very strongly at 6.5% in the March quarter – more than six times the median market expectation. It means capex is up 14.6% through the year. This is good news for Australian businesses and good news for our economy.

You are showing your lack of knowledge. Originally private providers spent their own money and there were virtually no restrictions. Allowed a lot of freedom and creative thinking. Showed the old CES up massively. So the bureaucrats couldn't allow that, so they shut it down.

@derek_mck @CaptainMeow123 @CarpetWormKnows @ausstockchick Private providers are not 'spending their own money', they discharge public contracts. So, therefore, it makes a lot of sense to have a clear system to avoid rorting. The problem with the Employment Fund now is providers don't use it because it doesn't attract outcome payments.

Oh here we go. Tax the productive and make it easier for the non productive… That’s… socialism! #auspol