Well said!!

I think bag checking is very responsible and it really doesn't bother me either. People are always nice about asking so that's the main thing.
I've never been short changed here so not sure what all that's about.

Sunshine Sarah

Bet he has a lovely cardigan though.

arkon, with all due respect, this is a simply ridiculous comparison to make. You're sitting on a 55-acre farm. Obviously it's going to cost a hell of a lot more to run than a 3x2 detached in Solihull, a 3x1 semi in Handsworth, or a 2x1 terrace house in Walsall.

99.9% of people on this forum will not be buying a property like yours, so for practical purposes your costs are totally irrelavant to the rest of us and can therefore be safely ignored.

Why you even thought that they'd be somehow applicable to other people on BEP in the first place, I'll never know.

BTW, the council tax that my wife and I currently pay for our 2x1 semi in the Black Country is more than double the amount that I paid for council rates on a 2x1 detached bungalow on a quarter acre block in suburban Western Australia.

Absolutely spot on post! I have stopped buying bananas and now buy fruit that is more affordable,eg I bought a kilo of grapes for just under $3 and watermelon the other day @ 48c a kilo and some small sweet apples @ $1.50 a kilo.

I love bananas, but yep sod 'em at that price. My banana money is going to buy me a few of those tonight as well

Thanks mate, I agree. I think attitude has a lot to do with it. People understand that they're doing something that's quite invasive, so they usually do their best to make you feel comfortable about it.

The security guard at Clearance Bargains is a jolly nice chap and always has a friendly smile for the punters, even when he's asking for their receipt and checking the goods they've just bought. I think that makes a world of difference.

I've only had it happen to me once, in a bottle shop about twelve years ago. The changeover was so slick that I didn't realise until I was outside and putting the change back in my wallet.

I had paid with a $50, and suddenly found myself $20 down.

I walked straight back into the shop and calmly pointed out that I had been given the wrong change. The guy must have known that I'd caught him out, because he was still standing at the counter with my $20 in his hand; he had been watching me as I walked a way, just to see if I'd realise I'd been gypped.

When I walked back in, he started talking immediately - so I knew that he knew why I was coming back. He was all bluff and bluster as he tried to reassure me that it was an honest mistake. But let's face it; if you already knew it was a mistake, why would you stand at the counter with an extra $20 in your hand, instead of running after the customer and catching them to return the money?

Dodgy bastard. I never went into that bottle shop again.

LOL!

Still, arkon could have grown fruit and veg if he'd wanted to. He had all the necessary farming equipment and acres of remarkably fertile land.

Bag checking can become very annoying if someone (like one new guy who didn't know me and had a bit of an attitude problem) makes you go through the procedure everytime or most times you shop there. Fortuantely most retailers are sensible and keep it as a random thing.

This idiot I just referred to, was even told by other staff at the bottle shop that I was a regular customer and had been for some years. Anyway this guy, if you can believe this, asked me on one occaision, to open my bag as I was just outside the door (I hadn't bought anything, I had just been browsing with a mind to see what was on special for the weekend).

Anyway as my bag was empty, I tossed it too him. He still demanded I open it even though there was obviously nothing in it, no cans or bottles, which would of course been noticeable by their shape and weight. My conclusion was he was just being a prick.

As for short changing, this does happen from time to time, but what's even more a problem here it seems, is goods scanning at the wrong prices (around 13% of the time it has been estimated. So make sure you watch the scanner and double check the docket for any discrepancies.

Source.

According to this article, Australia's import tariffs are pretty low - certainly much lower than those of the US and many other nations:
Put simply, Australia's import tariffs are very low (this guy refers to them as "minimal") but they can afford to be, since Australia's imports are relatively low when considered against other nations of comparable size.

He points out that this is due to two main factors: (a) high quality control, and (b) competitive, low cost agricultural production of essentials that would otherwise be imported on a large scale.

Australia doesn't have high tariffs because she doesn't need them; her strict quality standards ensure that only the best fruit and veg are allowed to enter the country.

By contrast, the USA is one of the most protectionist nations on the face of the planet; Australian products are hit with tariffs as high as 30% (source) when they reach Stateside!

No idea about the state of chickens.

[QUOTE=Vash the Stampede.


Australia doesn't have high tariffs because she doesn't need them; her strict quality standards ensure that only the best fruit and veg are allowed to enter the country.
[/QUOTE]

Have to dispute this. It's been adequately documented that many imported fruit and veges (especially from China) contain chemical agents not allowed to be used by Aussie fruit and vege growers. Also some Chinese produce is grown using human faeces as a form of manure. Chinese garlic, is bleached to get it's white appearance.

Great isn't it? I just wish our garlic growers could commercially produce their excellent and tasty produce all year round

Quality control isn't the same as chemical testing; it's more to do with diseases, freshness and taste.

It is a well-known (and greatly resented) that foreign imports aren't subjected to the same restrictions as locally-grown food in that regard; if a product's chemicals and growing methods can't be shown to have a detrimental effect on human health, the product is usually allowed to enter the country. I wish it wasn't so, but it is.

Still, it helps to keep the "Australia is a protectionist backwater" mob off our backs, so at least there's some benefit.

Yes.

Do you not know that the British Government has been subsidising the growers of bananas in the countries we get them from in the form of compensation for the slave trade?
The EU also pays banana subsidies ....
http://agritrade.cta.int/bananas/executive_brief.htm
Some info there.

Australia doesn't subsidise it's banana growers as far as I know, although I may be wrong.

This is why bananas cost so little in the UK.

I don't know about the grapes, but aren't you in Queensland, Arkon? If you are, you could always buy a couple of banana trees yourself. I don't think grapes would grow too well there though .

Technically you may be correct, but in the minds of the vast majority of everyday consumers I would suggest that "quality control" would include the methods of production and pesticides and other agents used.

We are a simple people Vash. We watch Ray Martin for goodnessake

No, Australia doesn't subsidise her banana growers.

Nor does she subsidise her farmers (unlike the UK, the USA, France, and many other nations.)

Nor does she subsidise her airlines (unlike the USA, Malaysia, and many other nations.) The UK effectively subsidises her airlines by exempting them from tax on aircraft fuel (source.)

By contrast, airlines in Australia (whether foreign or local) pay a government excise on their fuel. This helps to explain why British airlines are able to offer cheaper fares; they're being subsidised by the government to the tune of £9.2 billion a year - with taxpayers' money picking up the slack.

While many things are certainly more expensive in Australia as a result of higher production costs and wages, we can at least take pride in the fact that our industries and businesses survive on their own merits, without the constant stream of taxpayer-funded government handouts that you find elsewhere in the world.

It's a common misconception.

LOL!

That's karma-worthy!

But...

Absolutely Vash. I realise bananas are expensive here, so I just don't buy as many. I can't understand the moaning about it tbh. I'd grow some if I was in Queensland, but I'm not.... so I'll grow my own veggies and apples instead.

I'll send him some for you.