You’ve got to hand it to the current government…
Well, you do! There’s no way they could pick it up themselves.
Anyway, I’ve noticed a certain phrase cropping up lately whenenver the Coalition is confronted with the idea that Newstart is so low that even economists think it should be raised. FFS, even John Howard thinks it’s not enough.
However, the current Turnbullies…
(You like that? I figure that if they think that “Unbelieva-Bill” is clever, why not hit them where they live and make them all go: “Oh no, someone’s come up with a name for us, we’re going to lose the next Newspoll now!”)
Moving on…
The current, Turnbullies simply reply, “Well, yes, it isn’t much but then it’s only meant to be a temporary safety net and THE BEST FORM OF WELFARE IS A JOB!”
Fuckin’ brilliant, I say. Needs to be rolled out faster than the cashless welfare card.
I mean, let’s look at how it can be used in other areas.
“Yes, hospitals are underfunded, but people aren’t meant to be in them for long and we think the best form of healthcare is not to get sick.”
How awesome is that? That’s a big tick for Health at election time. So where else might they have problems? Mm…
“Yes, some schools get no federal government funding but only poor people go to them, and we think the best way to get educated is to have enough money to go to an expensive school.”
Or what about asylum seekers?
“Yes, some people are drowning on their way to Australia but we think that they shouldn’t be in the water for long and besides the best way to protect themselves is to stay well clear of Australia.”
Oh wait, they’ve already used that one.
Ok, then how about:
“Yes, climate change may lead to the destruction of the planet but people aren’t meant to live forever and anyway we believe the best way to live is to make as much money as we can as quickly as we can and who cares about tomorrow…”
But I guest there’s an inherent danger. I mean what if the general public caught on and started saying things like:
“We know that it’d be hard on those losing their seats if we abolished Parliamentary Pensions, but we think that the best form of Parliamentary Pension is to actually serve the people so that you don’t get kicked out in the first place!”
Mm, I guess that’s the danger of extending it beyond those who have the misfortune to be unemployed. Once you start doing that, the next thing you know we’ll have the equivalent of the cashless welfare card for politicians’ expenses… Just to make sure that they don’t waste it on alcohol or other vices.
