Now for some constructive criticism
There is no point in complaining at poor performance if you fail to offer some constructive advice.
I am aware that we are believed to live in a democratic society, and that the government we get is one which a majority has elected.
I am also aware that there is a wide range of opinion as to the extent to which the government should control/manage our lives via their decisions on the economy and laws in general.
No government will ever be universally embraced, but it should at least aim to provide as high a level as possible of both freedom and relevant control.
It is never going to satisfy all of us, all of the time, but it needs, in conjunction with the powers devolved to the states and territories, to have certain continuing guidelines.
Every human being has certain basic needs, and it should be the task of the government to do as much as possible to ensure those needs are met.
- We all require a home, with some degree of certainty that we will not be arbitrarily evicted.
- We all require assistance to maintain a reasonable state of health.
- We are all entitled to as extensive an education as our abilities and desires seek.
- We are all entitled to freedom of choice in a wide variety of areas, with the proviso that our freedom must not adversely impact on others.
- We all require help with transport at some stage in our lives and using renewable energy is the only way to go!
So – how are we fairing with the current government?
In too many regards – not so well!
Let’s just examine the points mentioned above and see if we can help:
Accommodation
Why are States/Territories selling off housing and not replacing it?
The population is growing and housing shortages push up prices, excluding too many from owning their own home.
Another factor is negative gearing, which allows people to use property as an investment tool, while keeping house prices out of the range of many. For one or two properties, fair enough, but housing becoming a major investment is not a good idea.
We need a (low) limit on the number of properties on which negative gearing claims can be allowed.
Health
We are the envy of giants like the USA for our Medicare.
Yes – it is true that there are long waits for elective surgery, but there are ways of gaming the system. I took out private health cover the year I turned 70, which reduced the additional cost for a new subscriber, and subsequently have had two hip replacements and a total reverse shoulder replacement (> $20,000 + each from the Health fund) plus a few other minor surgery items – and I then cancelled the private cover.
However, other factors controlling our health are many and include food, medications, work and our family structure.
Not all of these are necessarily as well considered as they could/should be.
Education
If people want to pay private school fees for their children’s education, that is their choice, but, since most of us pay taxes, which go in part to cover State/Territory costs of providing educational facilities, taxpayers should not be required to subsidise school fees for those who have made that choice.
Ideally, tertiary and TAFE education should be available to all, with a much less expensive HECS system than we currently have.
Research must be encouraged and universities should be assisted to form hubs which can develop the research outcomes.
Current treatment of universities is absolutely appalling. What are we, if we are not stimulating all who can add to our corporate knowledge and R & D?
Freedom of choice
This is where legislation comes in, and IMHO it should be limited to controlling anti-social behaviour.
Issues like abortion, contraception, LGBTIQ+ rights, etc, are ones where the individual should have the choice, preferably with minimal interventions and from the earliest age which seems reasonable.
Energy
The damage which developed nations have done to Earth and its resources has become very clear and will be from hard to impossible to reverse.
Long before this we should have been working on making much more efficient use of the massive availability in so much of the world of natural sources of energy.
Where are our factories making electric cars? Where are our electric cars???? Why are not new suburbs being built with provision for solar, and other renewable energy sources, to be used in providing and storing energy?
Why do we have an unreliable electricity network?
Why is greed allowed to damage so many lives?
And why are we not being good neighbours to those poorer countries which lack our resources?
Government does not stop at our borders, and our right to leave and return to our country of citizenship must not be taken away from us.
On the other hand, we have an obligation, as individuals, to not harm those with whom we share this world.
This is not being a ‘leftie’, a Greenie or some other derogatory epithet.
We as a country have enormous benefits which we need to share with others who lack our resources or expertise.
I am 85, retired, with a taxable income of $40,000 plus small contributions from my superannuation and the Age Pension.
I am no longer interested in travel, I donate to many organisations which share my views on social responsibilities and caring for others and I am so sad that we are having to endure poor government by people who really seem to have no worthwhile value systems.
I so hope that we choose better at the next election!
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10 comments
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RosemaryJ36 -
NancyRant
Return to home pageOne must be wary of the Australian Electoral Commission, it happens to be “a non-audited government-funded entity.”
I disagree with the tertiary education section.
I believe we should go back to the days when it was free – that makes it truly accessible to all. No HECS at all.
Instead of HECS, we should have a tax system with more brackets not less so that those who earn more from their degree/s pay more, those who earn less, pay less. That’s not a perfect system because people don’t always work in the field they study. But it’s much better than the current system and it would balance out more evenly, swings and roundabouts style.
RosemaryJ36, one of the best articles I have read that really tells us, me especially, of how much the people of Australia have lost in terms of government provision to the people…since the day the treacherous John Howard had become Prime Minister back in 1996.
An enormous amount of Australia’s annual GDP is zipping across to the USA, especially since their Arms and Weapons manufacturing corporations had entered Australia.
Effectively Australia’s governance under an L/NP party as its leadership government may well be regarded as a huge new State of the USA.
By the way, the USA deficit has a national debt of some 78-79 Trillion dollars, and that debt burden continues to increase since their annual GDP is no longer sufficient to keep the lights on (so to speak) in the USA.
The current Australian government revenues were amply sufficient back before 1996, now Australi’s debt burden is surging toward a Trillion dollars, yet not a care by this L/NP government in leadership.
Notwithstanding the suddenly arisen hatred directed by the USA (and suddenly this L/NP government) toward China, If you export over US$2 trillion of manufactures, that starts to matter. … ‘ China’s exports to the US in August were 20% higher than a year earlier, while its imports were only 1.8% higher, despite US President Donald Trump’s vaunted trade deal.13 Sept 2020
China’s imports from Australia had become hugely substantial; thus, it has become Australia’s major trading partner.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-09/federal-budget-2020-debt-deficit-blowout-explained/12741472#:~:text=Debt%2C%20debt%20and%20more%20debt&text=
While Japan has the highest debt to GDP ratio worldwide, it is also a country with a highly developed economy. So, representing the debt as a percentage of the GDP isn’t the only indicator to be considered when ranking national debt by country. Other important factors include economic growth, inflation, budget deficit, government spending, and the interest rates on the debt. That means that countries with the worst public debt are those whose economies cannot meet their financial obligations.
The John Howard era had increased the volume of Australia’s imported goods of Arms and Weapons, the since downgraded F-35 is just one example was Howard’s signing a contract with the USA yet, no F-35 had rolled off the production line, essentially resulting in the purchase of 72 X F-35 birds in the bush… through his newest best mate, George W Bush.
Though the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was conceived as a relatively affordable fifth-generation aircraft, it’s generally acknowledged as the world’s most expensive weapons platform. Flying the F-35 currently costs $36,000 per hour, and it has a projected lifetime cost of $1.7 trillion.5 Mar 2021
I shudder and tremble for Australia’s futures on behalf of all its dealings with the L/NP much-loved USA.
Travelled through Port Augusta recently. Windmills are popping up everywhere. Trucks with single blades made my journey a slow one, but hey, Im not complaining.
The old power station in Port Augusta caused one huge problem with residents: powdery dust was everywhere.
To cut a long story short… vote Libs last!
I agree with almost all of what you said. The only thing I really object to is your “gaming” of private health. You can call it that if you like but joining at an advanced age, having multiple surgeries worth many thousands of dollars and then leaving comes awfully close to “bludging” on people who have have had private insurance for some time.
Great article, as usual, RodemaryJ36! One thing you mentioned that I thought was a bit awkward, this flucking lying bunch of losers did not have a vast majotrity in their win, it was only a seat or two–& yet “they” (?) govern like they own the place! As for the failed from marketing dickhead who likes to think he is in charge, the less said the better!
Ann Bradley – you are right.
Medibank universal healthcare intoduced by Whitlam in 1975.
Limited by Fraser in 1976 to paying customers only.
Reinstated as Medicare by Hawke in 1984.
Medibank continued as govt-owned private health insurance provider until it was privatised by Wingnuts Abbott (Oh, Canadia) in 2014.
That the author gamed the system in retirement in order to receive free/affordable treatment deemed a basic human right by Labor FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO is an indictment of LNP’s boner for privatisation*.
Whitlam’s 1975 Anti-Discrimination Act should have closed the gender wage gap, yet women are still earning only 87% of male wage (on average).
In 2005, Merde-och paid me one-third of the MEAA award for two 5000-word projects for secondary schools (research, copy, images).
Penny Dreadfuls’ raddled dominatrix traded LNP favours for hostile takeovers, abuse of staff, industrial relations & editorial standards, and the determined wiping out of journo job market, yet I see no “AUSTRALIAN JOBS FIRST!” rhetoric from Lib(g)Nat fuck buddies. Only #BLACKCOALJOBSMATTER, eh, Canavan?
*See ‘tertiary education’
*Also ‘utilities’, ‘aged care’, ’employment’…you get the picture