Apparently, in Aus… “Taxation on alcohol / cigarettes is known as a ”sin tax”, the general theory is; people who smoke & drink regularly will be a bigger burden on a taxpayer funded health system (cigarettes are awful for your body, & alcohol is known to make people have accidents), which is, in part, why high taxes are paid on them.” – source

Essentially its a tax on the poor.

When I worked at a liquor store in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, the type of characters that came in to buy cheap booze ranged from neo-Nazis to hyper-marginalised Indigenous Australians. I didn’t want to serve either of them. The neo-Nazi because, screw them, and the Indigenous Australians who would visit every dole day I didn’t want to serve because they were just trying to cope – within a system that didn’t acknowledge them as human until a few decades ago.

A 6 pack of VB costs $18 in Melbourne. In Auckland, it is half that price.
Just saying.

Apart from the overpriced sins, Melbourne is a pretty nice city. Of course, at the end of the day its still in Australia, land of racism. Walking around, trying to find old cameras from thrift stores, I saw golliwogs and racist statues everywhere, yes even in the “progressive” parts. Newspapers and media outlets are rife with coded language, using racial hysteria to generate buzz. One front page article literally said that police were hunting African and Islander youth. They’re not even discreet about the racism.

Initially this post was just meant to be me sharing images of my trip, but I had to get that off my chest.

Pix taken on Canon Prima 5 with Agfa Vistplus 200 and Cinestill50d