It's good to see that Julia Gillard's government is at least in part behaving like a Labor Party. I was heartened to hear the news that in this budget they will be reducing what's being referred to as 'middle class welfare' and that rich pricks will no longer be able to avoid paying tax by ferreting money away into 'family trusts'.
At the present time 6.5 million Australians rely on Centrelink for income or family payments, that's about 1 in 4 of our total population, and although those on Disability Support pension receive more money per fortnight than those on unemployment benefits most have to survive on about $26.00 per day. After putting aside $15 per week (minimum) for utilities, there's precious little for travel, food, clothing and entertainment!
Tony Abbot should take a break from romancing miners, clear the red dust out of his ears and have a good hard listen to the sound of real battlers and believe me it's not couples earning a combined salary of $120,000 per year, who are generally financially and psychologically better off because they are sharing rent/mortgage payments and utility costs. How can he reasonably call these people 'battlers' when 6.5 million survive on 10% of that? Added to that, the price of living has risen by 7.5% in the past year, making it even more difficult for low income earners to survive.
Although I applaud Labor's budget measures to assist long term unemployed and those over the age of 50 to gain work, I'm wondering what they can do to change the perception of employers who still need to be convinced that older folk are worth while employing. My final question about this 'welfare to work' strategy is, given the most job growth seen in the past decade has been in health care and social assistance, construction, professional, scientific and technical services, public administration & safety and retail trade, how are older or disabled people to be accommodated within this schema, given they have deteriorating limbs and sometimes complex health issues?
At the present time 6.5 million Australians rely on Centrelink for income or family payments, that's about 1 in 4 of our total population, and although those on Disability Support pension receive more money per fortnight than those on unemployment benefits most have to survive on about $26.00 per day. After putting aside $15 per week (minimum) for utilities, there's precious little for travel, food, clothing and entertainment!
Tony Abbot should take a break from romancing miners, clear the red dust out of his ears and have a good hard listen to the sound of real battlers and believe me it's not couples earning a combined salary of $120,000 per year, who are generally financially and psychologically better off because they are sharing rent/mortgage payments and utility costs. How can he reasonably call these people 'battlers' when 6.5 million survive on 10% of that? Added to that, the price of living has risen by 7.5% in the past year, making it even more difficult for low income earners to survive.
Although I applaud Labor's budget measures to assist long term unemployed and those over the age of 50 to gain work, I'm wondering what they can do to change the perception of employers who still need to be convinced that older folk are worth while employing. My final question about this 'welfare to work' strategy is, given the most job growth seen in the past decade has been in health care and social assistance, construction, professional, scientific and technical services, public administration & safety and retail trade, how are older or disabled people to be accommodated within this schema, given they have deteriorating limbs and sometimes complex health issues?
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