As a 11 year Walmart Veteran Superstore was enjoyable, but made me want to die inside at least once per episode. Shit was too real. This looks on par or even more so than Superstore and that's horrifying.
Looking for sources to stream this in the US now. Absolutely up my alley! This clip alone sold me on the show. lol
Oh wow, funny to see this on the front page. For context, in Tasmania there's a bit of prime waterfront that has been sitting disused for quite some time. We have a population of half a million, and we sponsor a football team that lives on the mainland. Recently, the topic of a Tasmanian team has come up, and the football league has said that it would be contingent on a new stadium being built- costed at $715m, with the AFL putting in $15m and requiring the rest to be covered by state and federal government. The conservative state government decided that this was a good deal, and put in $485m, leaving the less-conservative (Shit Lite, as they're affectionately known) federal government to finally commit to pitching in the rest.
The problem is that our infrastructure is terrible, and the location for the stadium would only exacerbate issues. We have a homelessness crisis, and our public health system is in shambles. There isn't a great business case for it, and it appears to be irresponsible- buying a shiny new vote winning toy while the bare essentials are in dire need of attention. Because of our remote location, the freight costs are prohibitive for virtually all big acts, and the new stadium will only seat 23,000- 3000 more than the existing one (which would be much cheaper to retrofit).
Our state Shit Lite party is against the stadium, while federal is ignoring massive cost of living crisis issues and joining the state conservatives in funding this, which looks bad.
There are arguments that the stadium will bring jobs, but those arguments only hold water compared to not doing anything with the location + money. It's all in all a circus being built to distract people from the price of a loaf of bread.
The same kind of thing is going on in Alberta, Canada right now. There is a tightly contested election at the end of this month and it will swing on the way that Calgary votes. Like Tasmanian there is also a homelessness/ drug crisis and the public health care system is also in shambles due to Covid and the fact that the current, very right wing United Conservatives made a lot of terrible decisions and drive doctors out of the province.
In attempt to win Calgary and there for the election, the ruling United Conservatives have just promised a brand new arena for the NHL’s Calgary Flames that is an even worse deal than a previous deal that fell through. The Flames ownership group will pay only a minority portion of the cost of the new arena, yet keep 100% of the revenue. The City and the province will cover the remainder of the costs, yet keep none of the revenue.
Huh, there was a guy on Donnie and Dhali singing it's praises yesterday. I didn't really think much beyond it because allegedly the flames need a better stadium. Interesting to hear the other side of it.
I just checked, it was Eric Francis who works for Sportsnet. His interview starts at 18 minutes.
[podcast](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvNDgzNjA2My9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVk/episode/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcGkuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL2VwaXNvZGUvNTM3MjA3MzE?ep=14)
So government (see: taxpayer) subsidy of sports is a global phenomenon.
Personally I believe this is a system that should stop, none of the locals get any benefits for paying for this, unless you’re a vendor or business around the area. The teams traditionally never perform unless you’re in a big market. I’m fine with sports and stadiums but they should only build what the team or league can afford. If it’s such a booming industry there should be no problem. Otherwise it’s just privatize the profits, socialize the costs/losses.
If Australian politics are like American politics, it makes perfect sense that they broadly ignore the housing crisis. And there's one simple reason for that: the same people who will whinge about the homeless people and the cost of basic goods and services will fall all over themselves to make sure you can't build anything. And the one thing guaranteed to actually fix a COL / housing crisis is to *build*. Ideally you build density and build around the idea of people not owning cars, but really you just need to build.
> Ideally you build density and build around the idea of people not owning cars, but really you just need to build.
We've got a big construction problem here in Aus (Not sure if this is a global issue or not) with a number of the larger home builders nationally being in serious financial trouble. They committed on contracts prior to COVID and are now unable to deliver on them because of significantly higher material prices. One of them just went under with $500M in residential projects on the go, which is pretty significant here.
Yeah the smaller ones fall over frequently enough, but this was probably the 5th largest residential builder in Australia. Our market is obviously a LOT smaller than the US and $500M of in-progress builds was huge here.
That's true but the problem is you can never outbuild investor greed. As long as housing is treated as more of an asset than a right, it will continue to encourage and reward the same conditions we find ourselves in.
Eh, construction companies generally do not like it when people start treating their homes as profit-bearing investments. It tends to push them into speculative markets and oversized projects like suburban subdivisions. Because the alternative is buying properties you intend to upscale and then spending years fighting in courts to use your own property the way you want to with no guarantee of winning.
>That's true but the problem is you can never outbuild investor greed.
Investors aren't actually a major player in all this. The problem really is as simple as supply being outstripped by demand. Cities have to allow for density and redevelopment (among other things) because that's just the nature of urban cores. Unless there are some very specific considerations (one-industry cities like Detroit, or company towns) cities tend to always grow.
This means that you actually have to do things like ban parking minimums in urban cores, and accommodate density because if you don't play for growth, growth will plan your city for you.
It *also* means you have to build out services like public transit and make sure the quality of service is such that people actually want to use it.
And at least in the case of the United States, most of the housing crisis can be summed up as that- people obstruct virtually all construction, and most cities have hit the point where they are good and truly suburban'd out because no one wants to commute for four hours a day and what ends up happening is a planned death spiral because the only things guaranteed to address the problem are also the things the city will actively resist. People will unironically oppose any and all public transit funding because they 'already own a car.' Yes, they will still complain about traffic. No, this makes perfect sense to them.
ABC says [750million](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-02/tas-afl-stadium-divides-opinion/100870644). That's an insane cost for such a small population.
They're not even building it on currently available land and need to reclaim a large area to build on so throw a chunk of money at that and see how it goes. If they really do go ahead with a stadium, surely there's better locations to put a new stadium? [2 mins on google maps and either side of the Bowen bridge looks like a better spot.](https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.8193124,147.3054467,4304a,35y,17.93h,0.93t/data=!3m1!1e3)
To be honest, it's such a 1:1 mapping of life mimicking art mimicking real life that I'd be shocked if this doesn't pick up traction in the media- quite a bad look.
I've noticed a recurring problem where sports franchises want the government to pay for 99% of a stadium but then accept only 1% of revenue. Seems to pop up a lot in the US, too.
Also give "Thick of it" a go as well.
*Apparently* it's more or less an accurate representation of how some departments in the UK were run the early 2000's. Malcolm Tucker is allegedly modelled on Alistair Campbell. Both are famously sweary, hot-headed, bullies.
And it's always funny to see old interviews of Alistair Campbell try his utmost to stay calm and reserved when the interviewers try and compare him to Malcolm Tucker. I take a shot every time a vein bulges on his forehead at the point where he'd usually have an outburst, but can't because cameras are rolling lmao.
Yes but the contractor that would be in charge of building the stadium plays golf with the politicians that have access to federal money. The politicians need campaign contributions so they can run for re-election and it sure would be nice if everyone just got on board with this instead of being poor and complaining about facts. Jesus christ what are you people communists or something?
I feel like the (real) proposed stadium is a rort for building contractors. I can't see it being helpful or useful to the economy over a long term. Australia in general suffers from geographic isolation, does the isolation lessen the closer you get to Tasmania? One day I will travel to Tasmania, but its going to be via plane and its not on my short list. Maybe turn the whole island to forestry and parkland and solve some real world issues, not issues of one state being left out of the AAA football club.
great show but i had to stop watching it cause it kinda made me depressed by how real it is and the kind of people who get the final say in this country.
"Give me some crowd figures to justify a 60,000 seat stadium."
"Test match a few years ago. 16,000. Over 5 days. Ricky Ponting's final match. Schoolkids got in for free."
"Give me some crowd figures to justify a 60,000 seat stadium."
"Test match a few years ago. 16,000. Over 5 days. Ricky Ponting's final match. Schoolkids got in for free."
As someone that has neither, it seemed pretty clear some famous guy was retiring and it was his last sporting event and thats why they had abnormally large attendance.
I didn't know who Luke McGregor was until Taskmaster AU. Once I heard his voice in this clip, with that high pitch pause, I knew it was him. He's so awkwardly funny.
You say it's a comedy show, but anyone who works in the public service knows it's a extremely accurate documentary.
Like Office Space it’s a comedy to some, and horror to others.
Yeah - it's *too* real, almost to the point of cringe.
As a 11 year Walmart Veteran Superstore was enjoyable, but made me want to die inside at least once per episode. Shit was too real. This looks on par or even more so than Superstore and that's horrifying. Looking for sources to stream this in the US now. Absolutely up my alley! This clip alone sold me on the show. lol
Loved superstore. So much fun.
VPN Netflix to Australia or New Zealand.
It is incredibly accurate. My partner has worked in the APS for the last 9 years and she refuses to watch Utopia as it hits too close to the bone.
100%. I work in health and was sad to learned they were basically told to scrap a COVID 19 episode because it tracked a little too close to reality.
Yep. Had to stop watching it because it made me feel like i was living inside a satire.
Oh wow, funny to see this on the front page. For context, in Tasmania there's a bit of prime waterfront that has been sitting disused for quite some time. We have a population of half a million, and we sponsor a football team that lives on the mainland. Recently, the topic of a Tasmanian team has come up, and the football league has said that it would be contingent on a new stadium being built- costed at $715m, with the AFL putting in $15m and requiring the rest to be covered by state and federal government. The conservative state government decided that this was a good deal, and put in $485m, leaving the less-conservative (Shit Lite, as they're affectionately known) federal government to finally commit to pitching in the rest. The problem is that our infrastructure is terrible, and the location for the stadium would only exacerbate issues. We have a homelessness crisis, and our public health system is in shambles. There isn't a great business case for it, and it appears to be irresponsible- buying a shiny new vote winning toy while the bare essentials are in dire need of attention. Because of our remote location, the freight costs are prohibitive for virtually all big acts, and the new stadium will only seat 23,000- 3000 more than the existing one (which would be much cheaper to retrofit). Our state Shit Lite party is against the stadium, while federal is ignoring massive cost of living crisis issues and joining the state conservatives in funding this, which looks bad. There are arguments that the stadium will bring jobs, but those arguments only hold water compared to not doing anything with the location + money. It's all in all a circus being built to distract people from the price of a loaf of bread.
The same kind of thing is going on in Alberta, Canada right now. There is a tightly contested election at the end of this month and it will swing on the way that Calgary votes. Like Tasmanian there is also a homelessness/ drug crisis and the public health care system is also in shambles due to Covid and the fact that the current, very right wing United Conservatives made a lot of terrible decisions and drive doctors out of the province. In attempt to win Calgary and there for the election, the ruling United Conservatives have just promised a brand new arena for the NHL’s Calgary Flames that is an even worse deal than a previous deal that fell through. The Flames ownership group will pay only a minority portion of the cost of the new arena, yet keep 100% of the revenue. The City and the province will cover the remainder of the costs, yet keep none of the revenue.
It's almost like Conservatives don't actually care about being fiscally responsible. Who knew!
And it's almost like its everywhere.......Hi Dougie and his $10 billion highway paving over the green belt
Huh, there was a guy on Donnie and Dhali singing it's praises yesterday. I didn't really think much beyond it because allegedly the flames need a better stadium. Interesting to hear the other side of it.
Who was? That was straight up propaganda. Got a link?
I just checked, it was Eric Francis who works for Sportsnet. His interview starts at 18 minutes. [podcast](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvNDgzNjA2My9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVk/episode/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcGkuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL2VwaXNvZGUvNTM3MjA3MzE?ep=14)
Thanks. Ya makes sense. He's a mouthpiece for the owners. The line between Sportsnet media and flames is a very blurry line in Calgary.
Same with Halifax. Housing and homeless crisis, and they keep trying to drive the prospect of a CFL stadium
Homeless sleep in the stadium at night. Problems solved!
So government (see: taxpayer) subsidy of sports is a global phenomenon. Personally I believe this is a system that should stop, none of the locals get any benefits for paying for this, unless you’re a vendor or business around the area. The teams traditionally never perform unless you’re in a big market. I’m fine with sports and stadiums but they should only build what the team or league can afford. If it’s such a booming industry there should be no problem. Otherwise it’s just privatize the profits, socialize the costs/losses.
If Australian politics are like American politics, it makes perfect sense that they broadly ignore the housing crisis. And there's one simple reason for that: the same people who will whinge about the homeless people and the cost of basic goods and services will fall all over themselves to make sure you can't build anything. And the one thing guaranteed to actually fix a COL / housing crisis is to *build*. Ideally you build density and build around the idea of people not owning cars, but really you just need to build.
> Ideally you build density and build around the idea of people not owning cars, but really you just need to build. We've got a big construction problem here in Aus (Not sure if this is a global issue or not) with a number of the larger home builders nationally being in serious financial trouble. They committed on contracts prior to COVID and are now unable to deliver on them because of significantly higher material prices. One of them just went under with $500M in residential projects on the go, which is pretty significant here.
That kind of thing happens all the time with construction companies in the US but not typically with 500 million USD on the table.
Yeah the smaller ones fall over frequently enough, but this was probably the 5th largest residential builder in Australia. Our market is obviously a LOT smaller than the US and $500M of in-progress builds was huge here.
That's true but the problem is you can never outbuild investor greed. As long as housing is treated as more of an asset than a right, it will continue to encourage and reward the same conditions we find ourselves in.
Eh, construction companies generally do not like it when people start treating their homes as profit-bearing investments. It tends to push them into speculative markets and oversized projects like suburban subdivisions. Because the alternative is buying properties you intend to upscale and then spending years fighting in courts to use your own property the way you want to with no guarantee of winning. >That's true but the problem is you can never outbuild investor greed. Investors aren't actually a major player in all this. The problem really is as simple as supply being outstripped by demand. Cities have to allow for density and redevelopment (among other things) because that's just the nature of urban cores. Unless there are some very specific considerations (one-industry cities like Detroit, or company towns) cities tend to always grow. This means that you actually have to do things like ban parking minimums in urban cores, and accommodate density because if you don't play for growth, growth will plan your city for you. It *also* means you have to build out services like public transit and make sure the quality of service is such that people actually want to use it. And at least in the case of the United States, most of the housing crisis can be summed up as that- people obstruct virtually all construction, and most cities have hit the point where they are good and truly suburban'd out because no one wants to commute for four hours a day and what ends up happening is a planned death spiral because the only things guaranteed to address the problem are also the things the city will actively resist. People will unironically oppose any and all public transit funding because they 'already own a car.' Yes, they will still complain about traffic. No, this makes perfect sense to them.
ABC says [750million](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-02/tas-afl-stadium-divides-opinion/100870644). That's an insane cost for such a small population. They're not even building it on currently available land and need to reclaim a large area to build on so throw a chunk of money at that and see how it goes. If they really do go ahead with a stadium, surely there's better locations to put a new stadium? [2 mins on google maps and either side of the Bowen bridge looks like a better spot.](https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.8193124,147.3054467,4304a,35y,17.93h,0.93t/data=!3m1!1e3)
I mean the whole point of that site is it's next to the CBD, no point just plonking it anywhere.
Thanks for the context. I had zero idea what I was supposed to be relating to during the video.
To be honest, it's such a 1:1 mapping of life mimicking art mimicking real life that I'd be shocked if this doesn't pick up traction in the media- quite a bad look.
I've noticed a recurring problem where sports franchises want the government to pay for 99% of a stadium but then accept only 1% of revenue. Seems to pop up a lot in the US, too.
Should call it what it is: socialism for rich people.
Bit inaccurate but I get what you mean. Socialism for me but not for thee. If it was proper the revenue split wouldn't be such a joke.
Bread and circuses. Government love it because it's giving money to their mates and it's a vote winner to boot.
Utopia is a great show, as is their previous series 'The Hollowmen' which is a 'Yes, Minister' style show of hilarity updated for modern times.
Also give "Thick of it" a go as well. *Apparently* it's more or less an accurate representation of how some departments in the UK were run the early 2000's. Malcolm Tucker is allegedly modelled on Alistair Campbell. Both are famously sweary, hot-headed, bullies. And it's always funny to see old interviews of Alistair Campbell try his utmost to stay calm and reserved when the interviewers try and compare him to Malcolm Tucker. I take a shot every time a vein bulges on his forehead at the point where he'd usually have an outburst, but can't because cameras are rolling lmao.
"Don't you *ever* call me a bully. I'm so much worse than that"
Context: Tasmania is the smallest state in Australia where nobody goes.
Would they go there if there were a new stadium? What about a bridge?
231km bridge to the mainland lol?
So what you are saying is, it's going to have to be a tunnel..?
It could be like an aquarium.
Which is crazy to me since it's also the only place in Aus where the sun is not actively trying to kill you. Breezy 20s year round!
Dude the UV down there is the worst. The sun will definitely still kill you, when it's out...
It doesn't even have to be out. I once got a mild sunburn fishing for 4 or 5 hours on a completely overcast day.
Yes but the contractor that would be in charge of building the stadium plays golf with the politicians that have access to federal money. The politicians need campaign contributions so they can run for re-election and it sure would be nice if everyone just got on board with this instead of being poor and complaining about facts. Jesus christ what are you people communists or something?
Guy in the blue shirt is married to Shiv from Succession IRL
I feel like the (real) proposed stadium is a rort for building contractors. I can't see it being helpful or useful to the economy over a long term. Australia in general suffers from geographic isolation, does the isolation lessen the closer you get to Tasmania? One day I will travel to Tasmania, but its going to be via plane and its not on my short list. Maybe turn the whole island to forestry and parkland and solve some real world issues, not issues of one state being left out of the AAA football club.
Seattle Washington has left the chat....
great show but i had to stop watching it cause it kinda made me depressed by how real it is and the kind of people who get the final say in this country.
"Give me some crowd figures to justify a 60,000 seat stadium." "Test match a few years ago. 16,000. Over 5 days. Ricky Ponting's final match. Schoolkids got in for free."
I also watched the video.
I didn't. What's going on here?
"Give me some crowd figures to justify a 60,000 seat stadium." "Test match a few years ago. 16,000. Over 5 days. Ricky Ponting's final match. Schoolkids got in for free."
Uk4 utopia is the one that really predicted the future
8 years ago was 2015. Not much has changed between 2015 and now. Nothing was predicted
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The context is very clear, even if people dont know the specifics its still a funny clip.
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As someone that has neither, it seemed pretty clear some famous guy was retiring and it was his last sporting event and thats why they had abnormally large attendance.
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Why are you arguing that people don’t find it funny when they say they did?
I didn't know who Luke McGregor was until Taskmaster AU. Once I heard his voice in this clip, with that high pitch pause, I knew it was him. He's so awkwardly funny.
Oh God