All sounds a perfect legitimate use of sick leave to me. Your point?

Point being a mentioned. Surprise at your claim not to be aware of own entitlements and secondary a response to what sounded an element of disdain to some of those who do take it even if not outwardly sick.

Why? I don't need to remember every part of my contract - its a big contract. Do you? My contract actually states that if I use sick days on a Monday or Friday I must provide a doctors note. I guess to prevent long weekends.

Disdain is your language not mine. I am a little surprised to hear that using sick days for holidays is systematic and an accepted practice in Australia Post.

As does every contract I've had in Australia. And adjacent to a public holiday, Or two consecutive days. It's why I often reject arguments that sick leave is defacto annual leave and can be considered as such.

In my experience, opportunistic sick leave would be much easier to take in the UK...for instance, in my last job there we could self certify up to SEVEN consecutive business days!

Throwing a "sicky" was a long established part of Australian working culture although I suspect somewhat on the wane over recent years with the importation of labour "not knowing the ropes", in a manner of speaking.

On a more serious note, yes of course I know my sick entitlements. Never used to take them for years until learnt better.

Instead of bringing a doctor's note as a child may be expected to do at primary school, we had the first two days free with additional days being accepted if witnessed in a statutory statement filled in by chemist, policeman etc, etc. Besides being treated as adults it frees up doctors surgeries to enable the treatment of those who are really unwell.

Or in the case of WA the Lieberals just go on adding to the debt where no political cycle will be able to clear for a very long time.

The state debt in WA is worrying but at least we're getting some decent infrastructure from it - unlike the debt left by the previous federal socialist government - which was mainly spent on welfare mumbo jumbo policies

Good time to be in Australia's most corrupt industry: construction. Must be rorts aplenty out there, with all that sweet taxpayers' money sloshing around for Liberal vanity projects.

You could afford to run your business from one state and FIFO to another. Pick up the usual kickbacks and it's a gravy train all the way to the bank.

I'd say construction was far from the most corrupt. There's that nice little earner of being a politician, not to mention union leaders.............

We are, at tremendous cost to which I generally approve. I mean who in their right minds is going to pay costs similar or more to world class cities to move to Perth?
Time Perth bit the bullet and became a city of note instead of sitting on it's laurels which win few of the people Perth would wish to attract anyway.

My concern would be the gravity of the economic situation within the nation to which this present government like the past hasn't the faintest idea/or more like wiliness to solve.

The hope that the over blown housing market and high immigration will replace the mining boom is a disaster in the making.

A shame a once in a lifetime opportunity blown to oblivion with little idea of the next move. Some may well say scandalous.

It goes far deeper than that. It will likely ruin a large segment of the nation. Banks are running at 60% of loans on unproductive mortgages and only 40% on productive business loans. Some 25% of money loaned is from abroad as Australians don't tend to save which will mean higher payments with the lowering dollar.

I am not aware of any other country in the world with such a enormous exposure to housing. With the government banks/financial industry and real estate in an unholy trinity the pain will likely be very severe.

UK is up there

So is the US. NZ too

Canada is one that does come to mind. Vancouver being home to some of the most inflated real estate in the world. That nation like Australia, one of I think only three that maintain the costly negative gearing fiasco that puts speculators above home makers to the point during times of cheap credit of pushing them out of the market in vast numbers.

At least US does not have excessive house prices and is increasingly popular with young Aussie professionals as a place to get ahead in both career and quality home purchase rather than Australia.

Not to mention those being built with the sole purpose of selling to overseas investors regardless of quality. Neither side seems to care of the ongoing abuse of established purchases either by foreigners and the trinity of government, developers and banks will be a hard one to move.

Basically, NG is not a good idea (and I've benefited from it until recently) but I don't think that it is the root of high house prices as many see it

It's a factor, but there are many factors - lots of places have very high house prices without NG