Fair suck of the sav, Tony

January 27, 2014
Written by: Kaye Lee
37 Replies

When you get all of your advice from the business sector of the community, it is hardly surprising that profit becomes your foremost goal and privatisation and deregulation the means to achieve it. But who amongst these advisers considers the greater good? Who will offer protection from corporate greed and safety to our most vulnerable? Who is courageous enough to look at the long term consequences of decisions? Who will decide what is fair?

Australia had the highest per capita CO2 emissions in 2012 at 18.8 tonnes. In the US, emissions per capita were 16.4 tonnes, and just behind came oil-rich Saudi Arabia with per capita emissions of 16.2 tonnes. The EU and China – both major emitters in absolute terms – had much smaller per capita emissions, at 7.4 and 7.1 tonnes respectively.

While Australia’s domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represent some 1.5% of the global total, its global carbon footprint – the total amount of carbon it pushes out into the global economy – is much bigger.

Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter. By adding emissions from exported coal to our domestic emissions, Australia’s carbon footprint trebles. Its coal exports alone currently contribute at least another 3.3% of global emissions.

In aggregate, therefore, Australia is at present the source of at least 4.8% of total global emissions. That’s without considering natural gas exports.

The proposed “mega coal mines” in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, producing for export, will be responsible for an estimated 705 million tonnes of CO2 per year and would turn that region alone into the world’s seventh largest contributor of emissions.

Countries such as Australia, Canada, the Russian Federation, and Saudi Arabia fail to accept any responsibility for the emissions caused by the fossil fuels they export. They also ignore the carbon footprint of manufactured goods they import from other countries like China. To say our contribution is miniscule is a deliberately contrived falsehood.

Is it fair for us to try to gain a competitive advantage in the market by ignoring action on climate change and leaving it to others?

The Abbott government is preparing Australians for an overhaul of the welfare system, with Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews indicating too many depend on the government for their incomes. Mr Andrews said the review shows that more than five million Australians, or about one in five, now receive income support payments.

In his 2009 book, Battlelines, Mr Abbott wrote that one of the Howard government’s most significant achievements was “slowing the rise in the number of people claiming the disability pension”. Mr Andrews suggests that the difference in indexation between Newstart and pensions leads to a “perverse incentive for people to get onto the DSP”.

Parenting payments and the disability support pension were two areas of welfare that “would be sensible to review again”, Mr Andrews told the ABC.

Cassandra Goldie, chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service, whilst admitting a very small proportion of people did not do the right thing, rejected the idea that the disability support pension was an easy “rort” to sign up to. She said the previous Labor government had made it even more difficult for people to get disability pensions, and as a result more people were going on the Newstart unemployment payment of $36 a day.

“The disability support pension is now extremely hard to get on to,” she said. “It’s confined to people who are subject to rigorous testing.”

Mr Andrews flagged the idea of preventing welfare recipients from refusing to take a job on the grounds that it was more than 90 minutes travel from their home and said it was his “inclination” to consider splitting the Newstart unemployment benefit into different “tiers”, which could apply to the payment rate or the conditions attached to receiving it.

Is it fair to be targeting the poorest sector of our community whilst announcing an amnesty for wealthy tax evaders who hide their income offshore? Is it fair to reduce welfare to our most disadvantaged whilst providing billions of dollars of corporate welfare to mining companies, banks and private health insurers?

Is it fair to maintain generous tax breaks for around 16,000 wealthier Australians while cutting tax concessions for 3.6 million workers on lower incomes and scrapping the planned increase in the superannuation guarantee? The superannuation policy change announced by the Coalition costs the budget even more money – mostly via the huge concessions granted to higher income earners – while doing little to relieve the strain on the aged pension, since those most likely to require the pension in old age will receive an even smaller share of the superannuation concessions.

The continuation of the existing superannuation rules by Hockey would significantly exacerbate inequities in the superannuation system, since under the flat (15 per cent) tax an even greater share of tax concessions – a direct hit on the budget – will flow to those on higher incomes, whilst lower income earners will receive next to no tax benefit.

Is it fair to ask us to tighten our belts whilst paying for a Paid Parental leave Scheme which will see wealthy women paid almost five times as much ($2885 a week) as low income earners to stay at home for 6 months with their babies?

Is it fair to ask us to pay polluters bribes rather than them paying for the destruction they cause?

Is it fair to lock up asylum seekers and to leave the burden to other countries?

Fair suck of the sav, Tony. It’s time you got, as you are wont to say, fair dinkum!

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nickthiwerspoonJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:06 am

Reblogged this on Nick Thiwerspoon.

Terry2January 27, 2014 at 11:24 am

I see that the government has made another one of its ‘thought bubble’ announcements and immediately , when questioned, says that it cannot go into any detail as policy development is still underway. In this case it is the perennial “work for the dole” project, evidently requiring the unemployed to work for at least three months for their Newstart entitlement.

This, it seems, may be linked to Greg Hunt’s 15,000 strong Green Army made up of dole recipients who will range across the land planting trees and removing weeds, but this is not clear as there is, as always, no detail with this announcement.

I know several people who are on Newstart and who would dearly love to have regular employment and who are not fussy what they do as long as it is within their physical capabilities. The trouble with this brain-fart is that it is not necessarily going to lead to permanent employment and is merely another slap at those seeking worthwhile employment.

Surely, if we can provide three months work in an area where there is evident demand why can we not progressively move that work-for-the-dole into full time paid work – even if we use the Newstart payments to initially subsidise the wage to a liveable level ?

Phillip A MayerJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:30 am

Abbott & Co are nothing more than social vandals – How about taxing the rich and wealthy profiteers!?

Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:38 am

I am also concerned about the work for the dole for many reasons.

“JOBLESS Australians will be forced to work for free collecting rubbish, maintaining parks and volunteering in aged care homes, as the federal government expands its work-for-the-dole scheme this year.”

My 91 year old mother has alzheimers and lives in a nursing home. It takes a special type of person to deal with people with dementia and forcing people into this area would be detrimental to both the residents and those who do not have the skills to cope with it.

It is also open to abuse by employers who, with free staff available, may use them rather than actually employing someone to do the job.

Using resources to train people and then hook up the unemployed with employers seeking staff would be a far better way to go one would think. Isn’t that what Centrelink used to do?

scotchmisteryJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:51 am

Goodness Kaye Lee, surely you aren’t suggesting Aussie employers would ever do that? OMG that’s an appalling thing to say about a human being, that they would take advantage of someone in social distress in that way, oh my stars it can’t be true…

Where is BIG Gina when you need a comment?

scotchmisteryJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:51 am

Was just revisiting that pic at the top, and realised just how comfy our PM appears to be with that big snag in his mouth.

diannaartJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:56 am

Kaye Lee

Apart from that pic of Abbott now seared into my memory – yet another visual I was better off without. Sorry about whinge, will get on with my actual comment inspired by your post.

With the charge by the Feds against the unemployed and the disabled, one wonders why the Age Pension has escaped the fiduciary gaze. Self funded retirees also receive benefits from the Age Pension scheme. Someone has to foot the bill for the PPL and big business not exactly paying for this, as Abbott & Hockey have claimed:

…. First there are a series of offsets where the new plan replaces the old schemes and cuts out double dipping. These are genuine savings.

Then Abbott and Hockey impose a 1.5 per cent levy on taxable company incomes of $5 million or more, which will affect about 3200 companies who represent the bulk of company tax raised.

But the levy will be offset by a 1.5 per cent fall in company tax so profit-wise there is no effect on large corporations (and small companies win because they do not pay the levy).

But then comes Tony and Joe’s sleight of hand attack on retirees. Many big corporate taxpayers, like banks, pay around three quarters of their profits out in dividends and there is constant pressure from retirees for companies to payout more, especially now interest rates on bank deposits have been reduced. Most dividends (but not all) are fully franked because they come out of tax paid profits.

So a superannuation fund obtains a franking credit equal to the tax paid by the company. Those franking credits are currently calculated at a tax rate of 30 cents in the dollar. When the Abbott-Hockey plan is introduced the franking credits will be calculated on the basis of 28.5 cent in the dollar. They are worth less and so the retirees and those saving to pay for retirement cop the bill because Abbott and Hockey have simply swapped a tax for a levy aiming to lower the franking credit.

It is a clear attack on the older generation to benefit the up and coming generation.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/8/19/economy/retirees-will-pay-paid-parental-leave-scheme

Self-funded retirees, no matter their wealth, are entitled to and receive the Pensioner’s Concession Card, also a percentage of retirees receive a part pension. I am making the assumption that an attack on the Age Pension is in the too-hard basket – at present.

Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:11 pm

An Oxfam report last week said Australia’s wealthiest 1 per cent of households had had a rise in income second only to their peers in the US between 1980 and 2012.

The wealthiest households’ share of income almost doubled in the past three decades, the second biggest increase in a group of 12 wealthy countries.

It is not just the super rich who have been doing disproportionately well: the incomes of the wealthiest 10 per cent of the population rose by 60 per cent in the two decades to 2010. In comparison, Productivity Commission research shows lower-paid worker’s income rose by 40 per cent in the same period.

Overseas leaders are realising that an ever-widening income gap is a serious problem. US President Barack Obama has dubbed the income gap the ”defining issue of our time”, the British and Japanese governments are pushing for wage rises for some of the lowest-paid workers in an attempt to stir their economies from slumber.

It is a message that International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde was hammering home in Davos.

“Business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum should remember that in far too many countries the benefits of growth are being enjoyed by far too few people. This is not a recipe for stability and sustainability,” she said.

It is telling to contrast this with comments by Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the same event. He avoided endorsing calls for a focus on inequality above and beyond economic growth, saying: ”As always, stronger economic growth is the key to addressing almost every global problem.” What is more, several of the Coalition’s first moves since taking government have clearly been in the interests of the wealthy.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/advance-australia-fair-maybe-not-20140126-31gpz.html#ixzz2rYMynhFo

RussJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:16 pm

Sorry, Diana, but many self-funded retirees are not entitled to the Pensioner Concession Card, and you don’t have to be particularly wealthy to miss out. What I would suggest, though, is that the Age Pension is not included in this review because its recipients are a significant base of Liberal votes.

John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:28 pm

I'M ALL FOR KEVIN ANDREWS "WORK FOR THE DOLE" !

Hold on, hold on.

First I apologise for the upper case.

And second, before reading further read this and then come back here :

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/refugee-group-crowd-sources-raise-funds-fares/2151055/

Here in Queensland unemployed do not get public transport concessions …. they pay the full rate as though they were working.

And secondly the target recipients of Kevin Andrews scheme are most likely the same ones who voted for the Abbott gang ….. you all know them as the skin head racists types who no one wants to employ anyway.

So I say ….. go for it big Kevvie, get stuck into them.

diannaartJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:35 pm

Russ

Well spotted – all self-funded retirees are entitled to the Seniors Health Care Card – provided they meet a means test.

Eligibility for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card is available for people who have attained their Age Pension Age and have an adjusted taxable income not exceeding $50,000 per annum for Single Person or $80,000 per annum combined for a ‘couple living together.’ The adjusted taxable income limit for a ‘couple separated by illness’ is $100,000 per annum. These income limits are fixed in legislation and not subject to any form of indexation.

Self funded retirees still want Pensioner Concession Cards

Plus Victoria offers a Seniors Card for anyone over 60 and working less than 35 hours a week.

As for why retirees compose significant support for the Libs – may as well ask why so many low-income people favoured the Abbott government over Labor – voting against their own interests is a trick that worked for the Republicans and surely as night follows day, is working for Australia’s neo-cons. However, point taken – many older people still believe that the LNP is the safest government for Australia, despite the fact the LNP have only been governing for 1% of Australia for over 20 years.

The best we can do, as citizens for a fair and equitable country, is to remain informed as possible.

Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:00 pm

I wonder what portion of slow wage, is used travelling 90 minutes to that job. I do wonder the extra cost of having children cared for, for those three hours, cost the parent.

I suspect there will be very little of the wage left over for other essentials.

Yes, it cost wage earners to travel. Both money and time.

Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:03 pm

I do hope the government makes extensive police checks, before letting them loose on the vulnerable in society.

We have enough abuse, from workers in the age and child industries now. Without letting all and sundry in.

Where is the army coming from, to supervise these people?

Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:06 pm

Does one realize, even helping an elderly person to sit up, can remove the skin from their body, where one takes hold.

Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:12 pm

Once again, this government ignores all that Labor did over the last two terms of government. One was their continuous fiscal consolidation, that tightened up all areas of government services. The Labor government were not wasteful spenders, or in any way, big government.

Yes, Labor sadly made it harder, much harder to get on any benefits. The stats so, they have not grown, but have constricted.

Problem for this government, they based all their actions on fraudulent figures. They claim situation that just do not exist.

There is little fat to be found. This government has to cut services, and in spite of the lies they put abroad, they know this.

Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:29 pm

leighton8,

a quote from that article makes a very good point

“If you or someone you love needs care, do you want the choices to involve a nursing home or home care paying poverty wages, with the attendant high turnover? ”

How about people who are forced to be there to get the dole and who will only be there for 3 months max? Everything this government does goes against what the rest of the world is doing, or at least what they are being advised to do. Blocking wage rises to aged care and childcare workers is yet another example of their lack of forethought and consequence.

John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:38 pm

@Kaye Lee

For the most part people who do go and work there will do their best and learn.

Blocking wage rises and stripping Super from low income though, is ideology, and that will hurt Abbot's gang.

But in the long run it will hurt low wage employees …. who I hope will be educated enough, over time, to understand … right up until the day they retire.

And keep voting for the political party who has their best interests at heart.

Something that Labor has forgotten how to sell / inform.

khtaghJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:42 pm

This is step one towards Gina’s free slaves for all Lieberal businesses, the time is fast approaching where all the left will have to make some serious decisions, to take what is being dished out to us & just capitulate or actually get up off our arses & do something. We could change the status quo within 1 week if we wanted to. It is much simpler than you might think & although I will be there it is even more effective than the march in March. Here is how we do it. We pull out the keystone.
If just half of all green & Labor voters went to the bank next week & drew out all their money the banks would go into meltdown, this intern would start a run on the banks & would snowball, once the rich think they will miss out panic will set in. The truth is your money is not there, it is not safe, it is not secure, it is an illusion, it is not even a house of cards its a house of $5.00 bills.
We can jump up & down all we like, write blogs send letters complain till you are blue in the face, nothing will change, unfortunately the Lieberals have perfected the art of ignorance/arrogance, there is only one thing they take notice of money! & their want to have as much as they can in their own back pockets. Money=power, take away their money, you destroy their power, nothing hurts a Lieberal more than taking money off them, it is their Achilles heel. Gina would eat a mountain of weight watchers meals to save herself paying $1.00 more in tax.
We are being treated with total & utter contempt by Abbott & his band of rorting crooks, we have the power, we just have to make up our minds if we want to use it or not, I don’t know about you but I have had more than a gut full of this bunch of corporate thieves & the tame puppets with their puppet master Murdoch. Using this method we can even bring Murdoch down.

leighton8January 27, 2014 at 1:20 pm

And a lot of what this current Abbott Government is suggesting, advocating, following is coming from US conservative (and worse) think-tanks …. and decisions taken or comtemplated by the conservative dominated Supreme Court in that country ….

John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 3:05 pm

Its Monday … the first day of a new week.

And I am happy.

Thats not to say that I am not happy most of the time.

Its just that I can see the mistakes of the Abbott gang (and affiliates across Australia) and more and more Aussies are too.

The earth is slowly moving and the Abbott gang are oblivious to it.

They think it is some pornographic thing that Aussies are experiencing.

Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 3:37 pm

I have never known a run on the banks to turn out well and I would never condone violence of any description or see it as a solution to anything. Pornography embarrasses me so I guess that comes closest to what I feel. I know feelings are running high and frustration is mounting but the best way to deal with our current situation is to get the truth out there. Murdoch does not control the world. There are so many information sources that ignorance should not be an excuse. The G20 presidency will be a wonderful opportunity for world leaders to bring some pressure to bear and for the world press to expose Abbott who is increasingly being recognised as a dangerous anachronism.

abbienoiraudeJanuary 27, 2014 at 4:32 pm

A fellow called John Foley wrote on The Conservation;
“It’s their logic is to make us so afraid of becoming one of the unfortunates on welfare that we’ll take whatever pittance the bosses offer up to us. Its been ongoing and is a little more subtle than workchoices. But in the end we all finish up worse off, unless you’re one on Tones mates.”
It never occurred to me before that the LNP NEED to vilify and keep a group down…for that way the lower paid and even the middle income earners will join the call of ‘bludger’ and ‘get the bastards’ so that they are afraid enough not to ask for a pay rise or better work conditions.
Keep a group as an ‘example’ so beaten down, so lowly that those even a little higher than them will fight NOT to be THEM!

It disgusts me, but finally I ‘get’ it. I didn’t understand how or why a “christian” person who had a privileged and opportunistic upbringing and education could vilify those who cannot compete, have a voice, or any power. Now I know. It does not make it easier….It just helps me ‘understand’ the mindset and the Orwellian aims of this Govt. Goddam them.

Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 4:46 pm

“Self-funded retirees, no matter their wealth, are entitled to and receive the Pensioner’s Concession Card, also a percentage of retirees receive a part pension. I am making the assumption that an attack on the Age Pension is in the too-hard basket – at present.”

Under Howard, these were the ones that gained. Gained in my opinion, at the expense of those whose lack of income, allowed then the full pension.

I seem to recall the argument at the time, that it was not fair, that those who amassed enough to live on, in their own age, missed out on a reward from the government. Yes, they expected to be rewarded for not needing the pension.

Yes, the benefits that go to many, because of age alone need to be rescinded. Every last one of them.

If one can afford to pay their fair tax, should. It should not depend on age, but ability to pay. Why should a young family, on the same income as a retired person, pay more tax?

Another of Howard’s beauties.

The concession card no longer gets the benefits it did in the past. It has been replaced by the Seniors Card, that is not means tested, and given to people still working.

Once upon a time, business would give concessions to those with Pension Concession Card. This no longer occurs. When one asks why, the answer is, well they are given to single mothers, you know. Yes, I do. I was one once. Was not by choice either.

The card I now have, has aged with it. Yes, impossible to confuse one with the other. Then when one says, do you know, most that have the Senior Card earn much more that those on a full pension, and in fact are not retired. They just shrug their shoulders, look at me, as if I am mad. Maybe I am.

I refuse to obtain the Seniors Card. I hate it so much.

I choose to go without, as I believe the card to be a Howard con.

The self funded retiree did very well under Howard. Too well in MHO.

I can see what Rudd, then Gillard gave us being quickly wounded back, while the benefits that go to self funded retiree grow. After all, they need to be rewarded for their thrift during their lifetimes.

Not like the other lazy bastards that qualify for a full pension. Yes, we will quickly learn our place once again,.

pete1099sJanuary 27, 2014 at 5:09 pm

I wondered why Australia Day did not excite me yesterday. I watched he movie Galipoli today and realized that we are still fighting the same battles that were fought many years ago. We and our environment are part of the dispensable commodity that our politician’s can use to better their position. ANZAC’S fought side by side to protect freedom and our country. I am sure that Australians that have given their lives for Australia would be disgusted in what is being allowed to happen here.

That is why I do not feel the pride of being Australian. What I grew up to believe Australian is all about is different to what Australia is today.

Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 4:42 pm

Capitalism is built on that very principle abbie. Keep people in debt and working hard so they won’t upset the apple cart and risk their jobs. That is why they must get rid of unions, the only united protection that the workers have. Don’t upset Gina or you will be out of work or better still deported. My daughter wrote an essay on this topic if you are interested.

Gregory TJanuary 27, 2014 at 6:24 pm

I enjoyed the sentence “The Abbott government is preparing Australians for an overhaul of the welfare system, with Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews indicating too many depend on the government for their incomes.” I could name a quite a few politicians, that appear to be relying on the government for their income and the rorts they seem to think they have an entitlement to, with the PM at the top of the list. But then again, it costs a lot more to maintain a born to rule lifestyle then live at the bottom and in some cases in a cardboard box.

Alma RaeJanuary 27, 2014 at 5:26 pm

These guys are just plain evil. If they were truly thick they wouldn’t be running Australia – so they must be evil. QED

John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 7:00 pm

John Sinclair that majestic conservation fighter, who fought Joh over sandming on Fraser Island has been awarded an OAM …. and well deserved and about time.

He was on Channel 10 here in Brisbane and he said :

"There are no winners when it comes to conservation, once it has gone we have all lost."

Liz HodgesJanuary 27, 2014 at 6:17 pm

I am soooo furious! Mr Abbott, do u honestly think that I or anyone else in their right mind would prefer to be on the disability support pension , trying to eke out a living and raise children on a pissy $400 per week; as opposed to earning $1500 per week on my pre-disability wages!!??? Every day i am hoping that medications or new treatments will be found to treat my disease, so that i can go back to work and actually create a future for myself and my children. So that i can go back and purchase all of the things that i lost or had to sell when i became ill. You are a complete fwitt if you believe that a person’s goal in life is to “rort” the system and live comfortably on Centrelink benefits! Shame on you!!!

destituteJanuary 27, 2014 at 9:02 pm

I’m a self funded retiree and I earn a few hundred dollars too much to qualify for a health concession card and, believe me, I’m not rich. In fact, I’m really struggling now.

xiaoechoJanuary 28, 2014 at 4:23 am

That photo is priceless

Billy moirJanuary 28, 2014 at 8:24 am

I think you misread the rabbott’s idea of fair which may not be what he said was fair or what you heard was fair. Any welfare to the rich will add jobs, jobs, jobs and taking from the many will sound like saving, saving, saving if you can hide the costs. It is not people like you he is fooling, or your readers, it is those incisive people who believe in simple slogans and those who have no need of evidence for and are enraged by the evil of evidence against.

Fed upJanuary 28, 2014 at 8:54 am

Yes, we are well back in the concept of deserving and undeserving poor.

Of course, the deserving poor are those who accept their plight.

The undeserving are those, that believe they are entitled to a fair go, that being poor is not their statue in life. Yes, they demand better than they have.

cassilva48January 28, 2014 at 12:06 pm

Kaye Lee: When did ‘fairness’ ever become a priority in politics? No revolution was ever won on the basis of fairness, justice perhaps, but never fairness, when one starts demanding fairness the resounding response is stop winging. The Pensioner Card entitles user to a more or less 10% discount, big deal,anyone these days can negotiate a 10% discount.

The 85 Richest People In The World Have As Much Wealth As The 3.5 Billion Poorest
27 comments, 4 called-out Comment Now
Follow Comments
As the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam International has released a new report called, “Working for the Few,” that contains some startling statistics on what it calls the “growing tide of inequality.”

The report states:

Almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population.
The wealth of the one percent richest people in the world amounts to $110 trillion. That’s 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world’s population.
The bottom half of the world’s population owns the same as the richest 85 people in the world.
Seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last 30 years.
The richest one percent increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data between 1980 and 2012.
In the US, the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom 90 percent became poorer.
Asserting that some economic inequality is necessary to foster growth, it also warns that extreme levels of wealth concentration “threaten to exclude hundreds of millions of people from realizing the benefits of their talents and hard work.”

Trevor VivianJanuary 28, 2014 at 5:43 pm

well wots one to do in the face of political intrangience, Try this for size folks..
When Bjelke was head of the corrupted q’land gov’t a lot of people preserved their arses by leaving instaed of being jailed( thats the favoured method of shuddupa your face of ALL govt’s) so as to diminish the jailed person’s voice of discontent and ability to organise in a meanfull way toward the future they see..But I digress already..
Wot did people in Q’land do?
Them that had the foresight and deposited their fear in the trash can at the entrance organised themselves through quiet discussion (outta the sight of the authorities) and soon realised that there was a way to engage in the political process..
They also realised that to fight the Bjelke corrupt system was folly and would endander their lives, families and financial where with all (thats why lots left and the ones I met In Australias secret state capital Darwin wore the badge of Political refugee with pride).
oh fuk ive digressed again. On message son.
These hardy souls in Queensland organised at their level of LOCAL GOVERNMENT as there was nought else that was accesible.
Of course the corrupt Bjelke regime saw some of this but its interest was its main game and those in local government held an insubordinate position to state government according to the orthodoxy of that time.
When the final outcome came and Bjelke spent his time rigging juries to avoid his time in jail the people who had patiently invested their time at the level of local governmennt found themselves in positions of REAL influence.
This story has never really been explored cause everyone wants to focus on the supposed main game.
And now to PM Abbott and how to effectively make the future that he is hell bent on fuking up for all but his mates(percieved,real or imaginary).
Any ideas folks or just more outrage. The man ABBOTT and his cronies are capital C, **nts( sorry for the french italics but my outrage burns beyond the rational at times and iv’e already been censored for strong uncivil language by Michael Taylor.
but i digress again..fuk,fuk,fuk.
I need to learn from tony time how to stay on message.. Oh well off the the local liberal party headquarters to join Tone’s Time. yeah and on the way I’ll visit the hospital for a frontal lobotomy. over and out.

Buff McMenisFebruary 1, 2014 at 7:19 pm

I saw the photograph, did a double-take, considered it and then laughed. I have a dirty mind. But then I read the article … and wept :'( It’s all much, much too much to bear these days, isn’t it?

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nickthiwerspoonJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:06 am

Reblogged this on Nick Thiwerspoon.
Terry2January 27, 2014 at 11:24 am

I see that the government has made another one of its ‘thought bubble’ announcements and immediately , when questioned, says that it cannot go into any detail as policy development is still underway. In this case it is the perennial “work for the dole” project, evidently requiring the unemployed to work for at least three months for their Newstart entitlement.

This, it seems, may be linked to Greg Hunt’s 15,000 strong Green Army made up of dole recipients who will range across the land planting trees and removing weeds, but this is not clear as there is, as always, no detail with this announcement.

I know several people who are on Newstart and who would dearly love to have regular employment and who are not fussy what they do as long as it is within their physical capabilities. The trouble with this brain-fart is that it is not necessarily going to lead to permanent employment and is merely another slap at those seeking worthwhile employment.

Surely, if we can provide three months work in an area where there is evident demand why can we not progressively move that work-for-the-dole into full time paid work – even if we use the Newstart payments to initially subsidise the wage to a liveable level ?
Phillip A MayerJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:30 am

Abbott & Co are nothing more than social vandals – How about taxing the rich and wealthy profiteers!?
Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:38 am

I am also concerned about the work for the dole for many reasons.

“JOBLESS Australians will be forced to work for free collecting rubbish, maintaining parks and volunteering in aged care homes, as the federal government expands its work-for-the-dole scheme this year.”

My 91 year old mother has alzheimers and lives in a nursing home. It takes a special type of person to deal with people with dementia and forcing people into this area would be detrimental to both the residents and those who do not have the skills to cope with it.

It is also open to abuse by employers who, with free staff available, may use them rather than actually employing someone to do the job.

Using resources to train people and then hook up the unemployed with employers seeking staff would be a far better way to go one would think. Isn’t that what Centrelink used to do?
scotchmisteryJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:51 am

Goodness Kaye Lee, surely you aren’t suggesting Aussie employers would ever do that? OMG that’s an appalling thing to say about a human being, that they would take advantage of someone in social distress in that way, oh my stars it can’t be true…

Where is BIG Gina when you need a comment?
scotchmisteryJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:51 am

Was just revisiting that pic at the top, and realised just how comfy our PM appears to be with that big snag in his mouth.
diannaartJanuary 27, 2014 at 11:56 am

Kaye Lee

Apart from that pic of Abbott now seared into my memory – yet another visual I was better off without. Sorry about whinge, will get on with my actual comment inspired by your post.

With the charge by the Feds against the unemployed and the disabled, one wonders why the Age Pension has escaped the fiduciary gaze. Self funded retirees also receive benefits from the Age Pension scheme. Someone has to foot the bill for the PPL and big business not exactly paying for this, as Abbott & Hockey have claimed:

…. First there are a series of offsets where the new plan replaces the old schemes and cuts out double dipping. These are genuine savings.

Then Abbott and Hockey impose a 1.5 per cent levy on taxable company incomes of $5 million or more, which will affect about 3200 companies who represent the bulk of company tax raised.

But the levy will be offset by a 1.5 per cent fall in company tax so profit-wise there is no effect on large corporations (and small companies win because they do not pay the levy).

But then comes Tony and Joe’s sleight of hand attack on retirees. Many big corporate taxpayers, like banks, pay around three quarters of their profits out in dividends and there is constant pressure from retirees for companies to payout more, especially now interest rates on bank deposits have been reduced. Most dividends (but not all) are fully franked because they come out of tax paid profits.

So a superannuation fund obtains a franking credit equal to the tax paid by the company. Those franking credits are currently calculated at a tax rate of 30 cents in the dollar. When the Abbott-Hockey plan is introduced the franking credits will be calculated on the basis of 28.5 cent in the dollar. They are worth less and so the retirees and those saving to pay for retirement cop the bill because Abbott and Hockey have simply swapped a tax for a levy aiming to lower the franking credit.

It is a clear attack on the older generation to benefit the up and coming generation.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/8/19/economy/retirees-will-pay-paid-parental-leave-scheme

Self-funded retirees, no matter their wealth, are entitled to and receive the Pensioner’s Concession Card, also a percentage of retirees receive a part pension. I am making the assumption that an attack on the Age Pension is in the too-hard basket – at present.
Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:11 pm

An Oxfam report last week said Australia’s wealthiest 1 per cent of households had had a rise in income second only to their peers in the US between 1980 and 2012.

The wealthiest households’ share of income almost doubled in the past three decades, the second biggest increase in a group of 12 wealthy countries.

It is not just the super rich who have been doing disproportionately well: the incomes of the wealthiest 10 per cent of the population rose by 60 per cent in the two decades to 2010. In comparison, Productivity Commission research shows lower-paid worker’s income rose by 40 per cent in the same period.

Overseas leaders are realising that an ever-widening income gap is a serious problem. US President Barack Obama has dubbed the income gap the ”defining issue of our time”, the British and Japanese governments are pushing for wage rises for some of the lowest-paid workers in an attempt to stir their economies from slumber.

It is a message that International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde was hammering home in Davos.

“Business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum should remember that in far too many countries the benefits of growth are being enjoyed by far too few people. This is not a recipe for stability and sustainability,” she said.

It is telling to contrast this with comments by Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the same event. He avoided endorsing calls for a focus on inequality above and beyond economic growth, saying: ”As always, stronger economic growth is the key to addressing almost every global problem.” What is more, several of the Coalition’s first moves since taking government have clearly been in the interests of the wealthy.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/advance-australia-fair-maybe-not-20140126-31gpz.html#ixzz2rYMynhFo
RussJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:16 pm

Sorry, Diana, but many self-funded retirees are not entitled to the Pensioner Concession Card, and you don’t have to be particularly wealthy to miss out. What I would suggest, though, is that the Age Pension is not included in this review because its recipients are a significant base of Liberal votes.
John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:28 pm

<

I'M ALL FOR KEVIN ANDREWS "WORK FOR THE DOLE" !

Hold on, hold on.

First I apologise for the upper case.

And second, before reading further read this and then come back here :

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/refugee-group-crowd-sources-raise-funds-fares/2151055/

Here in Queensland unemployed do not get public transport concessions …. they pay the full rate as though they were working.

And secondly the target recipients of Kevin Andrews scheme are most likely the same ones who voted for the Abbott gang ….. you all know them as the skin head racists types who no one wants to employ anyway.

So I say ….. go for it big Kevvie, get stuck into them.
diannaartJanuary 27, 2014 at 12:35 pm

Russ

Well spotted – all self-funded retirees are entitled to the Seniors Health Care Card – provided they meet a means test.

Eligibility for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card is available for people who have attained their Age Pension Age and have an adjusted taxable income not exceeding $50,000 per annum for Single Person or $80,000 per annum combined for a ‘couple living together.’ The adjusted taxable income limit for a ‘couple separated by illness’ is $100,000 per annum. These income limits are fixed in legislation and not subject to any form of indexation.

Self funded retirees still want Pensioner Concession Cards

Plus Victoria offers a Seniors Card for anyone over 60 and working less than 35 hours a week.

As for why retirees compose significant support for the Libs – may as well ask why so many low-income people favoured the Abbott government over Labor – voting against their own interests is a trick that worked for the Republicans and surely as night follows day, is working for Australia’s neo-cons. However, point taken – many older people still believe that the LNP is the safest government for Australia, despite the fact the LNP have only been governing for 1% of Australia for over 20 years.

The best we can do, as citizens for a fair and equitable country, is to remain informed as possible.
Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:00 pm

I wonder what portion of slow wage, is used travelling 90 minutes to that job. I do wonder the extra cost of having children cared for, for those three hours, cost the parent.

I suspect there will be very little of the wage left over for other essentials.

Yes, it cost wage earners to travel. Both money and time.
Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:03 pm

I do hope the government makes extensive police checks, before letting them loose on the vulnerable in society.

We have enough abuse, from workers in the age and child industries now. Without letting all and sundry in.

Where is the army coming from, to supervise these people?
Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:06 pm

Does one realize, even helping an elderly person to sit up, can remove the skin from their body, where one takes hold.
Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:12 pm

Once again, this government ignores all that Labor did over the last two terms of government. One was their continuous fiscal consolidation, that tightened up all areas of government services. The Labor government were not wasteful spenders, or in any way, big government.

Yes, Labor sadly made it harder, much harder to get on any benefits. The stats so, they have not grown, but have constricted.

Problem for this government, they based all their actions on fraudulent figures. They claim situation that just do not exist.

There is little fat to be found. This government has to cut services, and in spite of the lies they put abroad, they know this.
Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:29 pm

leighton8,

a quote from that article makes a very good point

“If you or someone you love needs care, do you want the choices to involve a nursing home or home care paying poverty wages, with the attendant high turnover? ”

How about people who are forced to be there to get the dole and who will only be there for 3 months max? Everything this government does goes against what the rest of the world is doing, or at least what they are being advised to do. Blocking wage rises to aged care and childcare workers is yet another example of their lack of forethought and consequence.
John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:38 pm

<

@Kaye Lee

For the most part people who do go and work there will do their best and learn.

Blocking wage rises and stripping Super from low income though, is ideology, and that will hurt Abbot's gang.

But in the long run it will hurt low wage employees …. who I hope will be educated enough, over time, to understand … right up until the day they retire.

And keep voting for the political party who has their best interests at heart.

Something that Labor has forgotten how to sell / inform.
khtaghJanuary 27, 2014 at 1:42 pm

This is step one towards Gina’s free slaves for all Lieberal businesses, the time is fast approaching where all the left will have to make some serious decisions, to take what is being dished out to us & just capitulate or actually get up off our arses & do something. We could change the status quo within 1 week if we wanted to. It is much simpler than you might think & although I will be there it is even more effective than the march in March. Here is how we do it. We pull out the keystone.
If just half of all green & Labor voters went to the bank next week & drew out all their money the banks would go into meltdown, this intern would start a run on the banks & would snowball, once the rich think they will miss out panic will set in. The truth is your money is not there, it is not safe, it is not secure, it is an illusion, it is not even a house of cards its a house of $5.00 bills.
We can jump up & down all we like, write blogs send letters complain till you are blue in the face, nothing will change, unfortunately the Lieberals have perfected the art of ignorance/arrogance, there is only one thing they take notice of money! & their want to have as much as they can in their own back pockets. Money=power, take away their money, you destroy their power, nothing hurts a Lieberal more than taking money off them, it is their Achilles heel. Gina would eat a mountain of weight watchers meals to save herself paying $1.00 more in tax.
We are being treated with total & utter contempt by Abbott & his band of rorting crooks, we have the power, we just have to make up our minds if we want to use it or not, I don’t know about you but I have had more than a gut full of this bunch of corporate thieves & the tame puppets with their puppet master Murdoch. Using this method we can even bring Murdoch down.
leighton8January 27, 2014 at 1:20 pm

And a lot of what this current Abbott Government is suggesting, advocating, following is coming from US conservative (and worse) think-tanks …. and decisions taken or comtemplated by the conservative dominated Supreme Court in that country ….
John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 3:05 pm

<

Its Monday … the first day of a new week.

And I am happy.

Thats not to say that I am not happy most of the time.

Its just that I can see the mistakes of the Abbott gang (and affiliates across Australia) and more and more Aussies are too.

The earth is slowly moving and the Abbott gang are oblivious to it.

They think it is some pornographic thing that Aussies are experiencing.
Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 3:37 pm

I have never known a run on the banks to turn out well and I would never condone violence of any description or see it as a solution to anything. Pornography embarrasses me so I guess that comes closest to what I feel. I know feelings are running high and frustration is mounting but the best way to deal with our current situation is to get the truth out there. Murdoch does not control the world. There are so many information sources that ignorance should not be an excuse. The G20 presidency will be a wonderful opportunity for world leaders to bring some pressure to bear and for the world press to expose Abbott who is increasingly being recognised as a dangerous anachronism.
abbienoiraudeJanuary 27, 2014 at 4:32 pm

A fellow called John Foley wrote on The Conservation;
“It’s their logic is to make us so afraid of becoming one of the unfortunates on welfare that we’ll take whatever pittance the bosses offer up to us. Its been ongoing and is a little more subtle than workchoices. But in the end we all finish up worse off, unless you’re one on Tones mates.”
It never occurred to me before that the LNP NEED to vilify and keep a group down…for that way the lower paid and even the middle income earners will join the call of ‘bludger’ and ‘get the bastards’ so that they are afraid enough not to ask for a pay rise or better work conditions.
Keep a group as an ‘example’ so beaten down, so lowly that those even a little higher than them will fight NOT to be THEM!

It disgusts me, but finally I ‘get’ it. I didn’t understand how or why a “christian” person who had a privileged and opportunistic upbringing and education could vilify those who cannot compete, have a voice, or any power. Now I know. It does not make it easier….It just helps me ‘understand’ the mindset and the Orwellian aims of this Govt. Goddam them.
Fed upJanuary 27, 2014 at 4:46 pm

“Self-funded retirees, no matter their wealth, are entitled to and receive the Pensioner’s Concession Card, also a percentage of retirees receive a part pension. I am making the assumption that an attack on the Age Pension is in the too-hard basket – at present.”

Under Howard, these were the ones that gained. Gained in my opinion, at the expense of those whose lack of income, allowed then the full pension.

I seem to recall the argument at the time, that it was not fair, that those who amassed enough to live on, in their own age, missed out on a reward from the government. Yes, they expected to be rewarded for not needing the pension.

Yes, the benefits that go to many, because of age alone need to be rescinded. Every last one of them.

If one can afford to pay their fair tax, should. It should not depend on age, but ability to pay. Why should a young family, on the same income as a retired person, pay more tax?

Another of Howard’s beauties.

The concession card no longer gets the benefits it did in the past. It has been replaced by the Seniors Card, that is not means tested, and given to people still working.

Once upon a time, business would give concessions to those with Pension Concession Card. This no longer occurs. When one asks why, the answer is, well they are given to single mothers, you know. Yes, I do. I was one once. Was not by choice either.

The card I now have, has aged with it. Yes, impossible to confuse one with the other. Then when one says, do you know, most that have the Senior Card earn much more that those on a full pension, and in fact are not retired. They just shrug their shoulders, look at me, as if I am mad. Maybe I am.

I refuse to obtain the Seniors Card. I hate it so much.

I choose to go without, as I believe the card to be a Howard con.

The self funded retiree did very well under Howard. Too well in MHO.

I can see what Rudd, then Gillard gave us being quickly wounded back, while the benefits that go to self funded retiree grow. After all, they need to be rewarded for their thrift during their lifetimes.

Not like the other lazy bastards that qualify for a full pension. Yes, we will quickly learn our place once again,.
pete1099sJanuary 27, 2014 at 5:09 pm

I wondered why Australia Day did not excite me yesterday. I watched he movie Galipoli today and realized that we are still fighting the same battles that were fought many years ago. We and our environment are part of the dispensable commodity that our politician’s can use to better their position. ANZAC’S fought side by side to protect freedom and our country. I am sure that Australians that have given their lives for Australia would be disgusted in what is being allowed to happen here.

That is why I do not feel the pride of being Australian. What I grew up to believe Australian is all about is different to what Australia is today.
Kaye LeeJanuary 27, 2014 at 4:42 pm

Capitalism is built on that very principle abbie. Keep people in debt and working hard so they won’t upset the apple cart and risk their jobs. That is why they must get rid of unions, the only united protection that the workers have. Don’t upset Gina or you will be out of work or better still deported. My daughter wrote an essay on this topic if you are interested.
Gregory TJanuary 27, 2014 at 6:24 pm

I enjoyed the sentence “The Abbott government is preparing Australians for an overhaul of the welfare system, with Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews indicating too many depend on the government for their incomes.” I could name a quite a few politicians, that appear to be relying on the government for their income and the rorts they seem to think they have an entitlement to, with the PM at the top of the list. But then again, it costs a lot more to maintain a born to rule lifestyle then live at the bottom and in some cases in a cardboard box.
Alma RaeJanuary 27, 2014 at 5:26 pm

These guys are just plain evil. If they were truly thick they wouldn’t be running Australia – so they must be evil. QED
John FraserJanuary 27, 2014 at 7:00 pm

<

John Sinclair that majestic conservation fighter, who fought Joh over sandming on Fraser Island has been awarded an OAM …. and well deserved and about time.

He was on Channel 10 here in Brisbane and he said :

"There are no winners when it comes to conservation, once it has gone we have all lost."
Liz HodgesJanuary 27, 2014 at 6:17 pm

I am soooo furious! Mr Abbott, do u honestly think that I or anyone else in their right mind would prefer to be on the disability support pension , trying to eke out a living and raise children on a pissy $400 per week; as opposed to earning $1500 per week on my pre-disability wages!!??? Every day i am hoping that medications or new treatments will be found to treat my disease, so that i can go back to work and actually create a future for myself and my children. So that i can go back and purchase all of the things that i lost or had to sell when i became ill. You are a complete fwitt if you believe that a person’s goal in life is to “rort” the system and live comfortably on Centrelink benefits! Shame on you!!!
destituteJanuary 27, 2014 at 9:02 pm

I’m a self funded retiree and I earn a few hundred dollars too much to qualify for a health concession card and, believe me, I’m not rich. In fact, I’m really struggling now.
xiaoechoJanuary 28, 2014 at 4:23 am

That photo is priceless
Billy moirJanuary 28, 2014 at 8:24 am

I think you misread the rabbott’s idea of fair which may not be what he said was fair or what you heard was fair. Any welfare to the rich will add jobs, jobs, jobs and taking from the many will sound like saving, saving, saving if you can hide the costs. It is not people like you he is fooling, or your readers, it is those incisive people who believe in simple slogans and those who have no need of evidence for and are enraged by the evil of evidence against.
Fed upJanuary 28, 2014 at 8:54 am

Yes, we are well back in the concept of deserving and undeserving poor.

Of course, the deserving poor are those who accept their plight.

The undeserving are those, that believe they are entitled to a fair go, that being poor is not their statue in life. Yes, they demand better than they have.
cassilva48January 28, 2014 at 12:06 pm

Kaye Lee: When did ‘fairness’ ever become a priority in politics? No revolution was ever won on the basis of fairness, justice perhaps, but never fairness, when one starts demanding fairness the resounding response is stop winging. The Pensioner Card entitles user to a more or less 10% discount, big deal,anyone these days can negotiate a 10% discount.

The 85 Richest People In The World Have As Much Wealth As The 3.5 Billion Poorest
27 comments, 4 called-out Comment Now
Follow Comments
As the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam International has released a new report called, “Working for the Few,” that contains some startling statistics on what it calls the “growing tide of inequality.”

The report states:

Almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population.
The wealth of the one percent richest people in the world amounts to $110 trillion. That’s 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world’s population.
The bottom half of the world’s population owns the same as the richest 85 people in the world.
Seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last 30 years.
The richest one percent increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data between 1980 and 2012.
In the US, the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom 90 percent became poorer.
Asserting that some economic inequality is necessary to foster growth, it also warns that extreme levels of wealth concentration “threaten to exclude hundreds of millions of people from realizing the benefits of their talents and hard work.”
Trevor VivianJanuary 28, 2014 at 5:43 pm

well wots one to do in the face of political intrangience, Try this for size folks..
When Bjelke was head of the corrupted q’land gov’t a lot of people preserved their arses by leaving instaed of being jailed( thats the favoured method of shuddupa your face of ALL govt’s) so as to diminish the jailed person’s voice of discontent and ability to organise in a meanfull way toward the future they see..But I digress already..
Wot did people in Q’land do?
Them that had the foresight and deposited their fear in the trash can at the entrance organised themselves through quiet discussion (outta the sight of the authorities) and soon realised that there was a way to engage in the political process..
They also realised that to fight the Bjelke corrupt system was folly and would endander their lives, families and financial where with all (thats why lots left and the ones I met In Australias secret state capital Darwin wore the badge of Political refugee with pride).
oh fuk ive digressed again. On message son.
These hardy souls in Queensland organised at their level of LOCAL GOVERNMENT as there was nought else that was accesible.
Of course the corrupt Bjelke regime saw some of this but its interest was its main game and those in local government held an insubordinate position to state government according to the orthodoxy of that time.
When the final outcome came and Bjelke spent his time rigging juries to avoid his time in jail the people who had patiently invested their time at the level of local governmennt found themselves in positions of REAL influence.
This story has never really been explored cause everyone wants to focus on the supposed main game.
And now to PM Abbott and how to effectively make the future that he is hell bent on fuking up for all but his mates(percieved,real or imaginary).
Any ideas folks or just more outrage. The man ABBOTT and his cronies are capital C, **nts( sorry for the french italics but my outrage burns beyond the rational at times and iv’e already been censored for strong uncivil language by Michael Taylor.
but i digress again..fuk,fuk,fuk.
I need to learn from tony time how to stay on message.. Oh well off the the local liberal party headquarters to join Tone’s Time. yeah and on the way I’ll visit the hospital for a frontal lobotomy. over and out.
Buff McMenisFebruary 1, 2014 at 7:19 pm

I saw the photograph, did a double-take, considered it and then laughed. I have a dirty mind. But then I read the article … and wept :'( It’s all much, much too much to bear these days, isn’t it?
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