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Bludger politics: the Paxtons don’t live here anymore

Leo Shanahan

by Leo Shanahan

21 Apr 11:04am

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Filed under: Election 2010, Tony Abbott, Unemployment, Welfare, Western Australia

172 comments

As Prime Minister Rudd was dancing around morning television selling his health deal with the states, Opposition leader Tony Abbott remerged from wherever he’s been hiding to lob a little policy smoke bomb.

According to The Australian today, Mr Abbott told a meeting with senior resource industry executives in Perth, he would like to see dole payments stopped to able bodied people under 30, in a bid to fill skill shortages in Western Australia and other mining areas crying out for labour.

The proposal has not been endorsed as party policy, but it does signal the direction the Liberal leader may take in debates about skill shortages and welfare during the election campaign.

Besides appealing to an old-fashioned instinct in the Australian electorate to name and shame bludgers, it doesn’t seem to make a great deal of sense in either policy or politics.

Never one prone to an overstatement, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes has called the proposal “Hansonesque”. But he probably isn’t too far off the mark when he told The Oz: “You can’t just get any old Joe off the street and plonk them into a mine, and think that’s going to mean they can work.”

How exactly would the authorities implement such a scheme? Wait behind the Centrelink desk for some young person to collect their dole, jump out, put them in irons and arrow pyjamas and send them across the Nullarbor?  Upon arrival prisoners would be hosed down with West Coast cooler, issued with an Eagles jersey, a tape of Danny Green’s greatest fights and have the option of having their hair shaved or having blond rinse put through it.

But jokes about West Australians aside, Australia has changed a lot from the days you could offer the Paxton kids a job on an island, have them reject it and then throw up your hands: “this country is stuffed mate, stuffed!”

Australia’s current unemployment rate is 5.3%, and that is in the face of a global economic crisis. Back when the Paxton politics was in, the unemployment rate was nearly double that, and the restrictions and terms for receiving welfare were a lot less stringent.
In Australian culture the bludger is a pariah, and now that’s not only reflected in sentiment but welfare policy.

The irony of this of course it that Mr Abbott has only himself and the Howard legacy to thank. Reforms under Howard - and Abbott as one time employment services minister - did force more people into work and saved the Government billions of dollars in restricting payments and abolishing the old CES (something that Malcolm Turnbull correctly pointed out made our current PM’s wife very rich).

There’s just not that much political capital in bashing the bludgers anymore because really there aren’t that many of them left. If you want to live off the miniscule amount that is the current dole payment, then go for it, but obviously most people have decided getting a job makes more sense.

Anyone who can’t get a job in a mine or related field in the current work environment who actually wants one, perhaps shouldn’t be doing for their own safety.

Going down this path for the Liberals is the political equivalent of Channel 9 bringing back Hey Hey It’s Saturday, and that is already confusing me because it’s on a Wednesday

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172 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Lisa says:

      11:34am | 21/04/10

      I think it might be just to try and get some focus away from the gloating PM, not much else really. Although I don’t think it is such a bad idea, bit hard to comment on when there is no detail, it’s just a thought he has put oudt there to gauge public opinion.

      Reply

    • Voxpop says:

      03:39pm | 21/04/10

      Just another brain fart from the mad monk.  He will distance himself from this in the coming weeks.  Any further info on his grand maternity leave plan??  He gets the desired dog whistle result by just putting this kind of shit out there and then gets a free pass by saying it’s not a formulated policy.  The party faithful lap it up - I bet it’s going over a treat with the rabid shock jock radio rednecks.

    • Rail Worker says:

      06:12pm | 21/04/10

      Voxpop, it bit like Rudd with his AsiaPacific version of the EEC or maybe his “I’ll take Iran to the Hague and have them charged”  or “I’ll take Japan to court” or “I’ll stop Nuclear proliferation” or “I want a seat on the UN”  or the 2020 summit or the biggest brain fart yet from Rudd the ETS. 

      As Lisa states he put it out there for discussion and you may be surprised but a I would think most people would agree that it is preferential to have people EARNING money than it is to handing it to them.  Sadly there are many people that would prefer the latter and they may need a greater incentive to find work.

      Seriously Voxpop would you prefer migrant workers brought in from the Pacific Is to pick fruit when there are able bodied Australians capable of doing the work but choose to stay on the dole??

    • Seano says:

      06:19pm | 21/04/10

      “I bet it’s going over a treat with the rabid shock jock radio rednecks. “

      I bet it is too. But I wonder why he keeps blowing the dog whistle because IMO it only appeals to the converted, all I can see that he’s actually achieving is to find different ways to alienate large segments of the voting public.

    • Ben81 says:

      10:46pm | 21/04/10

      Alright so far we’ve had ‘dog whistle’ twice, ‘rednecks’, and ‘mad monk’, and that’s only from the first lot of comments!

      Oh man if this was a drinking game of armchair political analyst cliches i’d be half cut before I even touched the scroll wheel on my mouse!

    • H of SA says:

      11:37am | 21/04/10

      I noted on the Oz website that the report of Tony saying this sounded a lot like an April Fool’s day newstory. Its just a bizzare thing to say and as you point out, kind of irrelevant.

      Reply

    • Sherlock says:

      12:39pm | 21/04/10

      As a conservative I’ have to agree it’s a rather dumb thing for Abbot to say. Perhaps it could be watered down to those under 30 to be given increased encouragement and assistance to relocate to areas with labour shortages.

      I think that might resonate more with the electorate who would then have even more reason to treat the unemployed with disdain.

    • Paul2 says:

      02:27pm | 21/04/10

      Maybe if Abbott were to clarify by anouncing that the Government would support training initiatives to fill vacancies in these areas….But that won’t happen.

      I had hopes he wouldn’t resort to dog whistle conservative politics.  He doesn’t need to so why is he doing it?

    • H of SA says:

      04:41pm | 21/04/10

      Agree with you both, coming at it from more of an angle of - get youngsters back to the country - rather than an angle of punish the bludgers would have been better.

      It would have also been a case of the coalition offering something to grab our attention in terms of “difference”

    • Noguaranteeofsanity says:

      11:38am | 21/04/10

      What a great idea, take the most disadvantaged young people who are unable to find work and likely to be unskilled, pack them up and force them to move away from their friends and families to the other side of the country to work in a industry without any training, that regularly uses explosives and possibly involves uranium… Certainly sounds like sane and well thought out policy and I cant see anything going wrong there!

      While Im sure these small mining towns would have no trouble accommodating and coping with possibly tens of thousands of poor, economically disadvantaged youth from across the country. It certainly would do wonders for real estate and rental prices in these towns.

      However, if enacted, they should apply this policy not only to those who are under 30, many of whom have employment and are productive members of society, but also include the most unproductive welfare recipients of all, those who receive the aged pension.  Aged pensioners do not work and are not expected to be looking for work, yet they all simply sit around, bludging all day on their porches, expecting us tax payers to pick up the bill, including all of their health care costs and aged pension concessions!  I say give granny and grandpa a canary, load them up with explosives or put them behind the wheel of a 40 ton truck and send them down the mines, to make them work for a living instead!

      Reply

    • Mardi says:

      12:19pm | 21/04/10

      Noguaranteeofsanity - You are disgusting, someone should give you a canary.
      You are obviously one of those under 30 dole bludgers.

    • Jenna says:

      12:51pm | 21/04/10

      Mardi, learn to understand sarcasm.

    • Peter says:

      12:54pm | 21/04/10

      Noguaranteeofsanity - Surely a citizen that has paid taxes for a large proportion of their lives and contributed to this country is entitled to a little something from the government. I would love to sponsor my parents by giving them all of my taxes so that my taxes do not go to those unwilling to work.

      As for moving from families I left my hometown seven years ago because I did not like the employment opportunities presented to me there. I did not expect the government to pay for me so that I can be close to mum and dad.

      I would love to keep going but I have to get back to work.

    • Noguaranteeofsanity says:

      12:54pm | 21/04/10

      Mardi, ever heard of satire or sarcasm?  Regardless, it was Abbot’s idea to send the welfare dependent down a mine shaft and not my own.

      By the way, Im also over 30 and not on the dole.

    • JimH says:

      02:33pm | 21/04/10

      Old age pensioners have paid taxes for their lives. There is a difference. I work with street kids, and make no mistake, there is a culture among many of them that once they hit 16 years-old, they pretend to look for work every now and then, get their Centrelink payments, then simply buy smokes, drugs and alcohol. They end up moving in together in a government flat etc. pooling their money and the cycle goes on. They have no incentive to work and see it as such. If welfare is such small fry, with such low unemployment levels, then why is it a billion dollar industry for which hardworking taxpayers foot the bill?

    • john says:

      02:44pm | 21/04/10

      Its kinda obvious you do nothing of the kind, JimH.

      You can only receive youth allowance if you are studying or in training.
      And its paid to your parents until you are 18.

    • Noguaranteeofsanity says:

      03:13pm | 21/04/10

      Seems people need to get out a dictionary and look up the definition of sarcasm and satire, if they think even for a moment, that i was being serious about forcing older Australians to work in a mine for their pensions.  I’m not sure which is worse, Abbot’s comment or people taking my own seriously.

      On a more serious note, Jim, it seems you do not even trust these street kids that you work with to spend the small amount of money they receive in welfare payments wisely, claiming they waste it on drugs and alcohol.  Yet you want to offer them a presumably higher paying mining job, that also gives them access to heavy machinery and explosives?

    • Theodore Dalrymple says:

      06:06pm | 21/04/10

      Ahhh…satire and sarcasm.  I can do that.

      I say we let everyone who does not want to work and wishes to smoke away their godforsaken lives in a marijuana/alcohol induced dream should go for it.  Good luck to them.  Surely we cannot expect our underprivilieged traumatised youth to show initiative and determination and courage in looking for opportunities outside of their comfort zone.  Goodness no, they would all expire and that would constitute a crime against humanity.  Don’t we have a charter of human rights yet which entrenches the right of everyone to sit on their proverbial and play X Box all day?  It is an outrage!

    • cynic says:

      07:37pm | 21/04/10

      Heard of fly in-fly out nit wit! Qantas even do fifo for Qld bludgers to work in our mines!

    • Pilby Crow says:

      03:45am | 22/04/10

      I’m amazed that so many people seem to think that this is a workable policy and even more amazed that a supposedly intelligent man has proposed such a hare brained idea. Do people on the east coast or down south think that you just send some under thirty unskilled bloke up to the mines and our skills shortage troubles are over??

      Firstly Mines employ people with legitimate qualifications and behavioral characteristics that are suitable for work in a difficult and dangerous industry. Employees work long hours and work in difficult environments.
      Try applying for a job in a mine (lots of people do you know) It is NOT easy to get work as you will see from many people who have usually worked hard to obtain skills themselves will tell you. 
      Safety is a priority for the workers ( although most of the mining companies tend talk the talk, but wont walk the walk). I have been in positions where unskilled people place everyone at risk. I once asked my supervisor to sack someone before he seriously hurt himself or someone else. I was laughed off and that young man suffered two severe injuries in the space of 4 months and will never work again. ( I guess he is safe from Tony at least)
      Rents in places where Mining is booming are astronomical. It has taken years where i work for the goverment to sell land for housing and then it is snapped up by builders and developers and housing prices continue to rise. Why would any Mining company want to provide a wage with subsidised housing t o an unskilled someone who is potentially a safety risk, potentially wont like the work any way and will probably get there first 6 months pay anfd bugger of back to their mates and family and live like a king for a year or so, then back on the dole to start again until they are over 30? 
      Nobody likes the so called dole bludger , least of all me, a bloody hardworking bloke who has never touched a dole cheque in over 35 years of working life. I’ve moved many times and taken on all sorts of jobs to get around and I’m sitting pretty at the moment due to my skills. For all that, I understand some people will never be fully employed and will need something to fall back on. I would rather see my substantial taxation payments doing just that, rather than the government or opposition coming up with hare brained schemes designed to influence all the. holier than thou ” I’ve worked my whole life and always worked” blah blah citizens who come out of the woodwork when these things are proposed.

    • Hay, NSW townie says:

      11:41am | 21/04/10

      Abbott has a point…. A city only recycles things that are produced elsewhere..A city gets money to import by selling exports..If a “city” does not get resources from “the rural areas” the sytem including the “city” collapse

      We are having a population debate and a group of unemployed mostly single under 30’s want to guild the lilley about leaving the mostly overpopulated city..to go out get a job and live somewhere that needs people. Tony is on a winner here.

      Reply

    • pipper says:

      02:02pm | 21/04/10

      Hay, NSW townie , while I can understand your love of the country, many people do not want to live there, if they did the country would be over populated. Us city dwellers love living where we are already. No one should be forced to live where they don’t want to. Abbotts will turn under 30’s Australians into boat people all trying to flee the country to get back to the city

    • Hay, NSW townie says:

      02:24pm | 21/04/10

      @piper ...re the country being over populated ..if you have a bit of a drive out here I think you will discover their is a lot of room and hospitals, schools, etc ..as I said city’s only recycle products the country produces, stop feeding the city it will die. Which is what will happen if everybody takes up the urban lifestyle.

    • David says:

      04:13pm | 21/04/10

      ‘A city only recycles things that are produced elsehwere’

      What a vacuous understandinf of the conepts ‘recycle’ and ‘produce’. So your car that you drive, where was this produced? Some outback town? Sure it is manufactured using materials produced from a variety of locations, probably around the world, but hardlt recycled.

      I suggest you go for a drive and find a bookstore, buy a dictionary.

      Also, what the hell does the population debate have to do with this “policy” brain fart from Abbott? Something that can be gleaned from this vague approach to welfare reform is we are as usual shown how little faith Tony has in market forces. Already mines are offering immense salaries for work, far and above the current welfare these people would receive.

    • Hay, NSW townie says:

      05:04pm | 21/04/10

      @David…..where was the car produced ? probably from Iron ore from the Pilbara that was shipped to Japan that was processed and manufactured and came back as a car..you realy need to learn the concept of primary production !

      Where does what you eat come from ?
      A wheat farm located at Flinders Street Melbourne ?
      Where does every thing the city manufacturers, eats and powers come from ? ....Somewhere Else !

    • Andrew Goff says:

      07:37pm | 21/04/10

      Oh FFS.

      It is people like you, Hay, who give country people a bad name. My family is from rural Victoria, and they would first laugh at your funny joke, then realise you were being serious and get quite worried.
      For starters, you mean “produce” not recycle.

      Cities have what is called a “service” economy (as well as secondary production). Melbourne, for example, provides 60,000 IT industry jobs which deliver services all over the world, Education (largely for those foreigners who build cars… although note that Ford, Toyota, and Holden all have >2000 person factories as well as their head offices in Melbourne), medical research (competing with Boston as the best in the world), transportation and shipping, and financial services. The other Aussies cities will tell varied but similar stories.

      Without the cities you would have no electricity, no medicine, no way to ship the iron overseas (to cities) to build cars (or even farm equipment).

      Yes, without primary resources a city collapses. And without effective cities, the country areas collapse. This is nothing new, humanity figured it out about 6000 years ago.

      Finally, I would ask you: if your rural area had no jobs, would you find it acceptable to be told to move to the city and take a job as a manicurist? So why should someone with the opposite point of view be asked to make the same sacrifice?

    • Jeff says:

      11:44am | 21/04/10

      I think waving a job paying $80,000 - $100,000 under the nose of a young unemployed person is a great idea. Sure it’s not gong to be the right fit for everyone but it will be a path out of the welfare cycle for some. That’s got to be a good thing for them and the county.

      Reply

    • David says:

      04:15pm | 21/04/10

      Pretty sure they’re waving them under our noses already by simply existing, advertising and recruiting. Cutting current welfare would only marginally improve the appeal of these jobs if appraoched from a simple incentive model.

    • Pilby says:

      03:52am | 22/04/10

      Do you really think the Mining companies will be waving that much money a round if the poor old dole bludger has no choice of taking a job or starving Jeff? Its just workchoices but with no choice. An attempt to assist our poor struggling mining companies in reducing their costs. It always amazes me how they cannot afford pay rises in most cases but will double their prices if circumstances allow them to.

    • Christian Real says:

      11:56am | 21/04/10

      Once again Tony abbott is making a policy announcement without the endorsement of party policy by his Liberal/National party colleagues.
      Where is the teamwork?, or is Tony Abbott going to be a one man band?
      It appears that there is a lack of consultation with the rest of the Liberal/National party that he is Leader of, and therefore there can be no real no teamwork or input into ideas for policies being put forward.
      For what reason is Tony Abbott reluctant to discuss policies with his Opposition party?, this in fact makes him a bad Leader, and the Ministers and Senators in his party may just as well pack up and go home, as he appears more content to run everything by himself.

      Reply

    • Kerry says:

      12:01pm | 21/04/10

      Abbott has said you fool “it isn’t a policy announcement,” he was putting it out there to gauge public opinion on the issue. Rudd changed his Health policy day by day for weeks, do you think he was consulting everyday with his Ministers first. And it isn’t even a funded policy.

    • Jeff says:

      12:02pm | 21/04/10

      I think you’ll find it wasn’t a policy announcement Christian. He’s putting an idea out there, that’s his style.  Unlike the Labor party ministers who don’t seem to be able to sneeze without running it past Mr Rudd first. The idea shouldn’t be shot down with fear and loathing before a good debate is had.

    • Mike says:

      12:38pm | 21/04/10

      Your obviously another Rudd devotee, this morning Rudd said this is just “policy on the run by Abbott” lol it’s not even policy, and he isn’t in the right position to talk about “policy on the run” after what we have just witnessed.

    • Joan says:

      01:13pm | 21/04/10

      Well Rudd`s policy is work till you drop for 70 year olds while mollycoddling under thirty year olds - now a bunch of sooks wailing they might have to work, scarey bubbas afraid to face the wild west. Not a patch on the pioneers who made Australia what it is today not a patch on the asylum seekers daring to face death to reach these shores.

    • Joan says:

      01:11pm | 21/04/10

      Well Rudd`s policy is work till you drop for 70 year olds while mollycoddling under thirty year olds - now a bunch of sooks wailing they might have to work, scarey bubbas afraid to face the wild west. Not a patch on the pioneers who made Australia what it is today not a patch on the asylum seekers daring to face death to reach these shores.

    • Rob r Charteris says:

      01:28pm | 21/04/10

      Here we have more populist politics from the king of spin. What more can you expect from no substance Tony Baloney,,,, the imp from the northern suburbs. The liberals become more and more out of touch with every passing day. They probably have focus groups and thought bubbles to come up with these ideas and pop them out at this meeting and or that meeting, to try and gauge a response. Signs that they have completely no idea…. no idea at all. The mad monk is starting to sounds like Chairman Moa…. next we’ll have our lil red books.

    • Mike says:

      01:37pm | 21/04/10

      Rob r Charteris - ummmm? are you sure your not mixing Abbott up with Rudd?

    • Shimmy says:

      01:50pm | 21/04/10

      Joan thats not Rudds Policy its Abbotts!! Mr Rudd lifted the working age to 67, Mr Abbott wants to lift it till 70 years of age. Abbotts idea is to work us from school to the grave.

    • iansand says:

      03:33pm | 21/04/10

      Tony Ablurt saying the first thing that comes into his head…  What if his finance spokesman did that?  He would be sacked.

      Oh.

    • Seano says:

      06:15pm | 21/04/10

      “Once again Tony abbott is making a policy announcement without the endorsement of party policy by his Liberal/National party colleagues”

      Abbott doesn’t need a shadow cabinent he needs a muzzle.

    • James1 says:

      12:23pm | 22/04/10

      I like Joan’s idea.  Replace the asylum seekers awaiting processing in camps with the dole bludgers.

    • Hamish says:

      11:54am | 21/04/10

      The unemployment rate is only based on people who are actually looking for work, or who should be looking for work. People on disability support pensions, carers pensions, etc are not necessarily included, so 5.3% is not that low. Basically over 1 in 20 people who are employable i.e. have no disbility which affects their ability to work are unemployed and most likely receiving the dole.

      The question is: should able-bodied people in their twenties have a God-given right to other people’s money?

      If someone is on welfare in their mid-twenties when are they ever not going to be on it?

      Reply

    • Paul2 says:

      02:31pm | 21/04/10

      A lot of people were shuffled off to disability support when the dole criteria was tightened.

    • Hamish says:

      02:53pm | 21/04/10

      Yeah I know - makes the unemployment rate look much better…

    • David says:

      04:25pm | 21/04/10

      Not sure if anyone has a ‘God-given right’ to anything including yours to dictate how everyone else’s money is spent.

      ‘If someone is on welfare in their mid-twenties when are they ever not going to be on it?’

      So by this statement I have no choice but to assume you think if someone goes on welfare before the age of 30 they will never get a job. What kind of absurd realm of reality do you live in? It is entirely possible for someone to be on welfare in between jobs during their 20s and never have to deal with centrelink again until they retire.

      Seriously, the world is dynamic, variable and ever changing as moment to moment progresses and the complex chaos that constitutes the sum of human life on Earth moved forward through time. I know it is scary but try not to think in absolute terms, sometimes it isn’t black or white, there could be a shade of grey or even a red, blue, yellow are any combination of these.

      While you may not consider 5.3% to be low, it is low in a historical sense, it is also low in a contemporary sense when you compare the Australian rate to other western economies. Perhaps try a perspective that isn’t reliant on avoiding critiquing your base assumptions about how the world should be and move to how the world is.

    • Hamish says:

      04:43pm | 21/04/10

      David,

      I’m not talking about frictional unemployment where someone may be on the dole for a short period of time between jobs. If someone is a long-term unemployed person in their twenties then their chances of ever finding long-term employment are minimal. Do you disagree?

      What about my own money David? Do I get a say on how that is used? If you’re happy to give able-bodied people in their twenties your money, that’s fine, but I don’t think the government should force me to.

      Re your point about other western economies, you are right, we do have a lower unemployment rate than many european countries and even lower than the US at the moment, but that means nothing really. Their economies are shot. They’re the elephant in the global economic room. One of the primary reasons european economies are so bad are the ludicrously generous cradle-to-grave welfare provisions.

      Is your last point arguing that I should be happy for able-bodied people in their twenties to be given our tax money because that’s how the world ‘is’?

    • Pamela says:

      11:58am | 21/04/10

      Bring back work for the dole I say.

      Reply

    • Warren says:

      12:03pm | 21/04/10

      Pamela: You know that Work for the Dole still exists, right? It is largely unchanged (fiddling round the edges, but all long term unemployed people have to participate in it, or lose their benefits).

    • SarahJaneJones says:

      12:17pm | 21/04/10

      I’m a student, and youth allowance is pretty much same amount as the dole (I’m fairly certain, could be wrong.) My housemates study engineering and geology, high contact hours means they have no time for a job so they are on youth allowance. Their standard of living is extremely low. Pretty much all their money goes into food, public transport, rent and bills. One of them has been cramming his feet into shoes 2 sizes too small he borrowed from a mate cause he can’t afford new shoes.

      My point is, living off the dole isn’t really a very good lifestyle at all. I think you would find most people on it are genuinely looking for work and want to be employed. Anyone who genuinely wants to live off the dole forever is condemning themselves to a very low standard of living and they are welcome to it frankly. They clearly have huge motivational/personal issues if they want to live like that for any long period of time. You aren’t funding them to live a life of having fun, you are just funding food, shelter and transport which I think everyone, regardless of their issues should be able to have

      Reply

    • bella starkey says:

      01:52pm | 21/04/10

      youth allowance is tiny in comparison to the dole, but the dole is still a pittance

    • Mum says:

      08:54am | 22/04/10

      Disability support payment and parenting payment single are where the money is at. They are $600 a fortnight with generous allowances for earning on the side before it is cut 20c in the dollar - the dole is about $450 and you can earn $60 before you get your payment cut 50c in the dollar. You’d have to be insane to WANT to be on the dole.

    • Ginger says:

      12:19pm | 21/04/10

      I think there is some merit to this- I also think it’s the first meritious thing to have come out of Tony’s mouth in….. well forever.
      I vote for a counterpunch considering some of the positives of his idea.

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      12:48pm | 21/04/10

      What positives? Families torn apart and higher crime. It’s not like there’s a large sement of the population bludging on the dole anymore because you have to work for it.

    • acker says:

      12:24pm | 21/04/10

      I suppose one big disadvantage Abbott will have in this thread is perhaps a lot of “the Punch” posters, are under 30 - on the dole - in a city - living with mum ..and do not want to leave the boob !

      Reply

    • Big A says:

      01:15pm | 21/04/10

      Here here !!! Couldn’t have said it better myself…. The current generation (my eldest son is one of them) believe we OWE them. However once he was forced to fend for himself (he didn’t want to move when we did) he has turned into a fine young man that is entering the armed services (his choice) has a home and finally some self respect. Whilst mummy babied him he was unbearable to live with.

    • Super D says:

      12:25pm | 21/04/10

      I thought Hansonesque was normally reserved as a euphemism for racist.

      I think Abbott’s ideas are worth exploring.  There is a lot of demand for skilled workers in the mining industry but there is also a lot of demand for unskilled / semi-skilled workers.  I reckon just about anyone could grasp the skills required to hose down an iron ore train in less than an hour.  A lot of jobs like truckdriving for example don’t require huge skills.

      The fact is there are more unskilled workers in cities than there is unskilled work.  We have largely outsourced our low paid unskilled work to china and this sin’t going to be reversed.  As such the only option for a young unskilled person in the city is a lifetime of unemployment and all of the problems that go with it.

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      04:46pm | 21/04/10

      Yeah, I wasn’t sure about that comment either. Maybe the term ‘Hansonesque’ is used to refer to a large-scale political gaffe, irrespective of the actual tone or content?

    • Gerry says:

      12:34pm | 21/04/10

      Unemployment rate of 5.3% - pull the other one. And anyone working for 1 hour or more in a week is classed as employed. Slills shortage is another lie. We have a jobs shortage and a bloody big one at that.  I would guess Australia has about 2 million fewer fulltime jobs than what is needed at this point in time.

      How about some real assistance to the unemployed instead of the dysfunctional rubbish that is dished up via centrelink. Most of money spent is simply corporate welfare for service providers. How about cutting back on the wastefrull welfare that is lavished on those who don’t need it for survival.

      Most of the buldgers I’ve met in my lifetime were people with government jobs. And many politicians would fit that description as well.

      Reply

    • Shane says:

      12:42pm | 21/04/10

      This kind of policy will fit well with the likely rise in retirement age over the next 50 years or so. Kind of bookends of life. Work the mines when you’re young, and then when you’re old and worn out, but unable to support yourself on what’s left of your superannuation after the various market crashes which are inevitable over the next 50 years, you can then toddle off to a workhouse factory putting shoes together for the rising Indian and Chinese middle class. Then in your late 70’s you’ll peacefully drop off either on the factory line or in your small canvas hammock out back in the sleep sheds.

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      12:44pm | 21/04/10

      Typical Abbott finally opens his mouth after weeks and puts his foot in it. Another rogue statement that makes no sense.

      People already have to work for the dole. So those that can get a better paying job usually do. I feel sorry for the poor 28 yr bloke with 3 kids and a mortage who gets laid off under Abbott’s regime. Paid taxes all his life and needs a hand to get back on his feet and Abbott pulls the safety net out from under him.

      Another major segment of the population Abbott has put off side and the right wing ranters think he has a chance….lmao.

      Reply

    • Luke says:

      01:09pm | 21/04/10

      You don’t know what your talking about mate. There is no detail on the issue it was just a suggestion to explore. I’m sure he’s not suggesting all under 30 year olds who lose their jobs be loaded onto busses and sent to work in a mine. By the way it might be a clever enough statement to get the media off Rudd and his “never ending” historic Health reform. At least someone in the country can focus on more than one issue at a time.

    • OldGirl says:

      01:53pm | 21/04/10

      Seno I totally agree with you and I feel the charities will be overun if Abbott is ever elected. People need to be given dignity and choices in life. From what I have read the dole is trifling amount, I doubt I could live on it. And no I am not under 30 and unemployed

    • Bill Smith says:

      02:38pm | 21/04/10

      Old girl,
      There is no “dignity” in being a bludger. Just because people like you try to sanitise bludging by calling them “disadvantaged” etc does not mean that a person is not a bludger.

      Seano,
      What about “the poor 28 yr bloke with 3 kids and a mortage who” who pays a large amount every week to support bludgers?

      That’s right, in our Orwellian brave new world, there are no bludgers just victims.

    • Seano says:

      04:08pm | 21/04/10

      @Luke: “You don’t know what your talking about mate. “

      Funny coming from you.

      “There is no detail on the issue it was just a suggestion to explore”

      How typically Tony. Of course there’s no detail because Tony’s mouth and brain are rarely connected. But he did say no dole if you’re under 30 champ. Is that the sort of society we want, one where we don’t help people in need? Really? And you’re prepared for the consequences of that? Get a grip.

      But really a great result for an honest worker who gets laid off. “Hey mate I know you’ve got skills, a mortgage and a family to support and I know you’ve paid taxes all your working life but there’s an abattoir 300k away that needs workers so off you go. Sorry to break up your family and make it really difficult for you to find work in your field but we have to make sure that the right wing wankers don’t fret about the minute possiblity that there’s still someone out there bludging on the tax dollar”.

      “I’m sure he’s not suggesting all under 30 year olds who lose their jobs be loaded onto busses and sent to work in a mine.”

      But the expecation is that you will go anywhere and do anything because you’re out of work. That tears families apart. People still have to pay the bills and the process of finding a new job rarely happens over night.

      “By the way it might be a clever enough statement to get the media off Rudd and his “never ending” historic Health reform. At least someone in the country can focus on more than one issue at a time. “

      Oh you’re saying this is just some BS politics from Abbott whilst Rudd gets on with the job of solving real problems. What a surprise.

      @OldGirl: I’ve never been on the dole but I have been a struggling student in a former life and I can tell you life is tough, I don’t know what happens to a family when the main bread winner is put out on the street but it can’t be good. Most in that sitatution would barely get by.

      @Bill Smith: Fairly typical right wing drivel. You’re out of work you’re a bludger…I expect pensioners are next.

    • Darren says:

      12:55pm | 21/04/10

      tops idea Tony - we have far too many bludgers in our system - loafing off overly generous government handouts! taking this great idea (no a policy yet) further we should also send all those reffos down the mines - we know that they are just living off government handouts!
      BTW Tony - where are all these people to live - in case you haven’t noticed we have massive housing unaffordability in remote WA due to the mining boom

      Reply

    • Joe Hill says:

      01:02pm | 21/04/10

      Darren I think Tony could solve that housing affordability issue near the mine sites. Build a couple of detention centres there and make the reffos work their keep until they get processed.

    • Big A says:

      01:19pm | 21/04/10

      I’m guessing you haven’t been to the mines mate. They supply housing. Yes it’s a little one bed shack that you will probably have to share with the guy coming off shift but who cares !! It’s WORK and thats the important thing. The young bludgers (not everyone is a bludger) need some self respect. Send em out, give em some decent dollars for working away from home (which the mines do) and watch as they turn into real men !

    • john says:

      01:45pm | 21/04/10

      Only the mining companies supply housing, the contractors - the only ones who have unskilled jobs - do not provide any accomodation, so it’s clear that you haven’t been to the mines either.

      Have a lot at an employment site. 99% of jobs require experience.

    • David J says:

      01:57pm | 21/04/10

      If your smart you will avoid The Hunter Valley if your going into mining, residents of Singleton are getting very ill from coal dust. No housing or money is going to substitue you for your health and cancers abound in the area. To send those kids there is almost a death sentance

    • Big A says:

      03:34pm | 21/04/10

      I have been to the mines. It’s bloody hard work 12 hour shifts 7 days a week. Week on week off. Look up Cobar if you like.

      Your right in respect to the contractors but of course if this idea was to actually work the government would have to tip in to help out in this respect. I’d rather see my tax dollars go into something usefull instead of bourbon and cigs. It’s an option and a damn site better one than letting em sit around watching Austar and playing xbox. The guys I have worked with wouldn’t let em sit around either and just hopefully they would learn some self respect.

    • Jason Bennett says:

      01:04pm | 21/04/10

      Times have changed since those bitching about Gen Y were young, my father went through primary then high school, out of that and straight into one of the many available apprenticeships and on to a skilled job.

      I finished high school in 2008, looked desperately for a traineeship or apprenticeship, couldn’t find one, couldn’t afford to support myself doing a TAFE course because my parents earned too much to qualify for Youth Allowance.

      So I now travel an hour & a half each way to work in a retail job which barely pays my small bills.

      Youth unemployment in my town is over 50% and I don’t see the situation improving, look at how far I have to travel for a retail job.

      Reply

    • acker says:

      04:21pm | 21/04/10

      @James Bennett ...why don’t you move ? your the one choosing to stay where you are.

    • Mum says:

      09:19am | 22/04/10

      How do you save up to move out of home if your income covers your *at home* bills? In case you never noticed, it costs money to connect services, pay a bond, move house, and even scour the hard rubbish collection for furniture.

      This same logic applies to unemployed who are stuck somewhere with no jobs - where does the money come from to relocate if they’re already on the edge?

    • Gavin says:

      01:06pm | 21/04/10

      never seen that ray martin skit before, what a classic!!!
      That bloke is one over-paid

      Reply

    • Ellie says:

      01:13pm | 21/04/10

      Ah, how predictable. A blatant grab for votes from right wing old farts who despise the younger generation. I suppose it doesn’t matter that the majority of dole bludgers are over 30 (they are, don’t try to argue). I was made redundant when I was 19, then I had to go on the dole for 3 months, which was humiliating enough. This included intensive job search and training. I was applying for 30 jobs a week. Now I am again facing possible redundancy in a few months time. Yes I know I am “just very unlucky” but someone please tell me why I should not be allowed to go on the dole and get paid $400 a fortnight to go through intensive job search? Feel free to comment that I should have got a job in the army etc. Then I can let you know that I’ve already tried but I don’t have the physicality.

      We all know there are people who misuse the dole, but punishing everyone because of a minority is a mistake! They need to think of something else to combat dole bludgers. They need to cut off people’s payment if they don’t go to centrelink every fortnight to report. They need to check people’s job diaries more often. They say that they do this, but how come so many people are exploiting it.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      04:34pm | 21/04/10

      Being an “old fart” myself, I think you might be underestimating us.  Most of us see the dole as an essential safety net to protect those in need.  People who are physically or mentally disabled, or people who find themselves out of work through redundancy absolutely need some kind of support to help them through hard times.  The issue comes with that small minority who regard the dole as a career choice..  I don’t know what the solution is - you can’t punish those genuinely in need just to get at those who aren’t, but you can’t allow the latter to take precious tax dollars either.  And of course there are dole bludgers of all ages, but at least the ones in their twenties might still be salvageable.

    • Great Nanna Rita says:

      12:40pm | 22/04/10

      I am also an ” old fart ” and one of those despised by the Labor/Left as a ” right wing old fart “.  A lot of us have worked hard all our lives under extremely hard conditions. Growing up with no running water, no electricity, no phone, very poor roads, little radio, no TV.  I was one of nine children with three older brothers away in WW11 at Tobruk, El Alamein, PNG and the islands above that.

      We all just got on with hard work and didn’t have time for and were not interested in too many grizzles.

      I now have four adult children, seven delightful grand-children the youngest of which is 18 years old.  And two great-grand-children. Some Labor, some Green and some Liberal voters.  But not one of them would write a blog deriding and belittling any old people because they were Liberal voters.  And be so uncaring to call us old right wing farts who despise young people.  It is so thoughtless, hurtful and so untrue.

    • N says:

      01:13pm | 21/04/10

      Wonderful, please make this party policy Mr Abbot and watch as all the hard working Aussie workers / employers back you all the way to a win at the polls. To all the people who say that it’s a bad idea to have under 30s move away from home, friends and family to work, consider this. Your over 18, your now legally recognised as an adult, act it! Don’t want to be forced away from home? Get a job before this happens to you.

      I can’t understand why people think that making young adults earn a living and gain a skill set is bad idea, do they really believe that come 31 these people will miraculously have a skill and a well paying job? The simple fact of the matter is if you’re without a job and not looking to gain a skill, your well behind in terms of employable opportunity which over time exacerbates the problem, I see this idea by Mr Abbott as a method to break this cycle.

      Reply

    • James1 says:

      11:31am | 22/04/10

      I don’t think it is so much a bad idea, more an ill-conceived and unworkable idea.  The mining companies don’t want a plethora of unskilled labourers turning up, the mining towns can not accommodate them, and the real bludgers would just find some way around it, like they do with all their other obligations.  If Abbott were to propose helping genuine jobseekers gain the skills needed to work in a mine, and work towards mitigating the housing crisis in many remote mining towns, then he could be on his way to a workable policy.

    • Matt Dee says:

      01:21pm | 21/04/10

      I don’t really care what Abbott said, but the film clip of that mentally derelict John Safron I find offensive. The ABC and he should be beaten about the head with a large blunt object. Anyone who’s prepared to have themselves nailed to a cross like Safron did cannot be of sound mind.

      Reply

    • xiaoecho says:

      01:11am | 22/04/10

      Anyone who’s prepared to have themselves nailed to a cross…....cannot be of sound mind”.............er,  does that include the big J?

    • Bon says:

      01:21pm | 21/04/10

      Not everybody on the dole is a bludger who needs to be shipped off to an island (or a mine) to learn the value of an honest days hard work.  They just need to get a job in their field of work.  Those who do fit that description would likely not appreciate the gesture, nor prove to be very productive.

      The idea that you could throw a few unemployed young people into mining jobs and expect everything to be dandy is offensive to those who do work in the industry - those people who have spent years building up their qualifications and experience.

      My husband (if he were on the dole) would love to be given a job out west - he is a construction worker who has been trying for the last few months to get a job out there with no luck, despite the fact that employers out there are apparently “screaming” for workers.  He is not the only one. Perhaps we should be addressing the issue of why qualified, experienced workers are having difficulty getting jobs in an industry where there is apparently a skills shortage.

      Reply

    • Defender of the faithless! says:

      01:31pm | 21/04/10

      ” Putting it out there , to gauge public opinion”, sure Tony. Why not punish Gen Y for being Gen Y by depriving them of what the previous Gens have had access to. You continue to embarrass youself and your party on an almost daily basis with this type of pathetic excuse for an idea (not policy - Yet?). This is a clear example of the contempt that you have for the non Liberal voters in Australia. If anything it will encourage the current Gen Y’s eligable to vote to vote against you and yours.

      Reply

    • TC says:

      09:06pm | 21/04/10

      Doesnt matter mate. Rudd’s buying up the voters on the dole as we type

    • eddie says:

      01:35pm | 21/04/10

      I have worked in the hardwood and cypress timber industry in Qld for many years, our few remaining mills are all in the mining zones of central Queensland. The good reliable workers in these areas are for the most part employed by the mines, leaving the ones with something wrong with them for all the other industries out there. Some smoke pot, are alcoholics, just out of jail or have some other habit that the mines wont tolerate- cant work for the mines if you do. Some have tried and realised that to have thier missus and 2 kids with them in Moranbah, for instance, is a bit pricey. The rent on a 3 br old QHC house is about $1200.00 per week - there goes more than half of your $100k per year (before tax).
      The truth is if we - in Australia_ have a genuine unemployment rate of 5% or under, then the majority of those who are unemployed are pretty much un-employable. They are too stupid, too stoned or too lazy to give a good days work. If we take their only income away, they will try to feed themselves and provide for their addictions in any way they can. Meet increase in property crime and increase in prison population, both are more costly than the dole is.

      Reply

    • Simo says:

      01:35pm | 21/04/10

      Two Words “National Service” See how the whinging bludgers go then, No more I need a break, i don’t know what i want to do, i don’t want to do that job get out there.

      Reply

    • H of SA says:

      04:55pm | 21/04/10

      Simo, the basic wage for a full time soldier is around $50,000 per annum. Add the costs of training soldiers, maintain equiptment, exersizes, opperations and ammunition - the country simply can’t afford to have all unemployed youngsters in the services.

      Add to that, our defence forces see themselves as a very professional group - soldiers as a carrer. Falling into the “army or jail” is for other nations with big populations. Australian diggers are professionals.

    • Simo says:

      08:55pm | 21/04/10

      National service is usually six months of fitness and training in a selected field navy, infintry etc @ approx dole rates. Not neccesarily a full time career. Good idea for kids who have no direction or discipline.

    • xiaoecho says:

      01:25am | 22/04/10

      Great idea Simo. Take kids with ‘No direction or discipline” as you say, put them in uniform and teach them to use firearms and all the skills a soldier needs. Then after six months spit them back into the disfunctional urban environments they came from, sit back and watch what happens

    • Adam says:

      01:53pm | 21/04/10

      Everyone is jumping into this debate without all the facts. Centrelink should make publicly available information such as: What percentage of people who qualify for “work for the dole” ever do it? How many under-30 dole recipients live with mum and dad in affluent suburbs? How many of them are turning down jobs? How many live in economically-savaged country towns with no access to training or employment?

      My suspicion is that you would find our current system is rife with middle class welfare, but also with many people who are genuinely disadvantaged, particularly in the country.

      I particularly think Centrelink could do a better job and punting all the aspiring beat poets and idle couch surfers.

      Reply

    • Hamish says:

      02:51pm | 21/04/10

      Agree totally Adam. Great point.

      I’m totally shocked that so many posters seem to feel that able-bodied people in their twenties have a God-given right to other people’s money. If someone is on welfare in their twenties, when are they ever going to fend for themselves?

      Also, to add to your comments above, why is the dole the same amount wherever you are in Australia. It is clearly more expensive to live in Melbourne or Sydney than a country town, so why is the dole the same? It would be interesting to see how many people there are on the dole in places like Byron Bay, Ocean Grove, etc.

    • Alex says:

      04:41pm | 21/04/10

      Hear hear, Adam.  The same could be said of most debates recently: there’s very little in the way of published facts and figures, so all the squabbling is about anecdotes and things that may or may not be true.  And the government departments who have those figures do their best to hide them.

      Wouldn’t it be great if there were people who would collect important facts and figures like that, and summarize and publish them where anyone can read them.  Independent people who can be relatively unbiased.  We could call those people “reporters”, say, and their summaries “the news”.

      Such a shame nobody does that in this country.  Unless it’s about football.

    • Julie Coker-Godson says:

      05:03pm | 21/04/10

      I agree with this post too.  Far too often the Liberal Party (members of the Liberal Party) bang the “unemployed bludgers” drum and because it is an emotional issue (we are speaking of other people’s money i.e. the taxpayers) people are roused to instant anger and outrage and spouting sweeping generalisations about the unemployed/disabled pensioners/aged pensioners etc.  This is a reprehensible tactic by whoever chooses to use it and the people who suffer (are maligned by society) are those who do not deserve to be.  Life is hard enough now as it is without jumping onto a populist bandwagon and making things worse by marginalising people.  The cry of “dole bludger” is used far too much in my view.  This is not to say that there are no dole bludgers, rather, it is to say that the situation is not as bad as it is constantly made out to be by those who should know better.  I am a disability support pensioner, aged 58, with advanced lumba sacral disc disease, suffer major depressive episodes, cancer survivor, and suffer from osteo arthritis.  Just thought I’de put that in so you know where I’m coming from.  BTW until I reached the age of 50 I had no problem getting contractual work but once I reached that age, the phone no longer rang with offers of assignments.  You might want to demand answers of employers with their ageism - a policy they persist with today before jumping down the throats of the unemployed.

    • Lin says:

      09:44pm | 21/04/10

      Here is a figure for you - 150,000 dole recepients under 30. One hunder and fifthy thousand young people not working, not studying! It was just on the ABC news tonight. Is this high enough for you?

    • Ras Putin says:

      01:57pm | 21/04/10

      The unemployed who do not want to work are a very small number. ..In my opinion they should be left where they are,because they would be absolutely useless in the work force! After all a man with a whip is not allowed these days…Remember the old adage Tony—“you can lead a horse to water” etc…

      Reply

    • Ivan says:

      02:07pm | 21/04/10

      Fair point Ras Putin; I can see the difficulties to be faced by employers trying to teach these useless individuals, it’s more likely to sap business strength and process. Perhaps the policy should shift more to sterilisation. Why encourage dead beats to breed by providing an environment that allows it?

    • Lin says:

      09:50pm | 21/04/10

      Start with abolishing the baby bonus - thanks to it, far too many future dole bludgers born to the current dole bludgers are already in the pipeline.

    • Opportunist says:

      02:02pm | 21/04/10

      I was thrown into a job when I was 25, without the required skills or experience. It was an opportunity which I shall never regret. It was head down bum up for six months but it opened up a whole new world of opportunities for which I am forever grateful. You cant tell me that there would be a lot of young people, if forced to move and work for their living, would many years later thank Abbott for the opportunity he made them take! Nothing is more depressing than having to stagnate in CES lines! I wish the bleeding heart socialists like young Leo Shanahan would realise what they are doing to young peoples lives . Still he is just a trainee journalist without experience; just journalistic ideals.

      Reply

    • Willy K says:

      02:04pm | 21/04/10

      I’d like to see the dole just simply cut full stop.  With the savings the govt could build dormitory/soup kitchens for the homeless unemployed to board, live and work at, while those with families need to rely on them for support rather than the taxpayer.

      Its time to cut the nannying and harden up.  Australians have become soft, weak, fat, lazy and sooks.

      Thanks ALP, thanks for the welfare ghettos, the ferals, the drugs, and the neglected kids.  I guess its worth it for the votes huh?

      Reply

    • Cricketor says:

      02:21pm | 21/04/10

      Willy lets say some fool takes up your idea of cutting off the dole, they will need to build millions of soup kitchens because people will not be able to afford a roof over their head and millions more jails as crime will escalate. You sound very young to me , only a child would suggest anything that silly

    • acker says:

      02:42pm | 21/04/10

      I would like to see part of the dole and single parent pensions be provided as food/clothing/rent/power rather than cash..sorry if your going to rely on the state to support you, the state has the right to choose how..don’t like it get a job !

      It is being done indigenous communities and I agree they should not be discriminated, this should be rolled out nationwide now !

      And with any payments involving child payments the cash component should be reduced if your child fails to attend at least 95% of school days unless a doctors certificate is provided (and that to can be audited by an independent truancy body) this should also be rolled out nationwide now !

      Just because these poor kids parents are on the state teat doesn’t mean us as a community shouldn’t aspire to get them educated and improve on their often dead head parents.

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      02:16pm | 21/04/10

      When I got out of the Army, I took the first job I could get, which was a labourer on the railways. I rate myself as fairly lazy, so if I can do it, any bugger can.  I don’t believe there is much, if any, excuse for being unemployed for protracted periods. Just alter your expectations.

      There are a couple of things required in terms of scheme supposedly raised by Abbott; companies must undertake to train people and there is obviously an expense involved, so they needn’t think they will be getting cheap labour. Secondly, a lot of unemployed people would need financial help to move, so the Government would have to pay for this as well as give a few weeks food stamps until the first payday. 

      I’ve often thought this is what should have happened instead of Krudd’s school building stimulus, which has been rorted beyond belief. We could have put people on fly in-fly out rosters, got rid of a bunch of foreigners taking Aussie jobs and kept the mines working to maximum capacity.

      Reply

    • Martin G says:

      02:19pm | 21/04/10

      It’s time Australia weaned itself off being such a welfare state. I’m not certain this is the right way to do it, but at least it is a push in the right direction. We must get tougher with dole bludgers, there are too many stories of them living it up off everyone else’s tax dollars, and I am tired of it. I would prefer to see payments cut off after a certain number of months, so I don’t have to fund the lives of job snobs.

      There’s plenty of work out there, but some people are afraid of getting their hands dirty.

      Reply

    • shabangabang says:

      02:40pm | 21/04/10

      Here here. If living off unemployment benefits can be considered a way of life than they are to generous. The Dole should suffice in getting you by for a period of time until you find new employment. It should not be an alternative to having a job.
      However I do think, if he said it, that what Tony Abbott put forward was stupid. It amounts to nothing more than conscription, which we got rid of quite a while ago now.

    • Martin G says:

      02:57pm | 21/04/10

      I am also concerned about the lack of thought and tact that has gone into Abbott’s alternative policy announcements recently.

    • Cecil says:

      02:17pm | 21/04/10

      Mr Abbott wants us all to work till we are 70 years old to avoid paying pensions, I suspect he’s hoping we all drop dead on the job, now he wants to take under 30’s off the dole. Don’t worry that by the time many are 30 years old they have families and commitments. What late 20’s man is going to want to leave his young family and go off into the outback looking for work? He will force families into crime to survive. The man has no common sense at all. No-one knows what their circumstanses will be next year or even tomorrow for that matter. We never expected the GFC, and who knows what will around the corner waiting for us, a vote for this may be a vote that affects yours or a family members future to the negative

      Reply

    • marley says:

      02:42pm | 21/04/10

      While I don’t support Mr. Abbott’s test balloon (way too simplistic), neither do I agree with the sentiment which underlies the question, “what [young] man is going to want to leave his young family and go off into the outback looking for work?”  The answer is that thousands of Australians do exactly that, working in remote areas on FIFO basis.  Tens of thousands of temporary migrants from China, India and elsewhere do the same, leaving families behind for a year or two in order to provide for their long-term futures.  All over the world, and from time immemorial, men have moved to where the jobs and opportunities were - and most of them did it without resorting to crime.

    • Ben81 says:

      02:53pm | 21/04/10

      Actually both Rudd and Abbott want to increase the age you can get the pension, and rightly so.  If you want to retire earlier you plan for it and invest so you can do it, not put your hand out and expect the government to pay you.  It’s the same problem of a culture of entitlement we have with the dole.

      Also you’re getting a bit wound up about this suggestion, and i’m sure if/when it’s explored further and actually made into policy most of your concerns would be answered.  Until then you’re just taking what you guess would be worst case scenarios out of the air and putting words in Abbott’s mouth.

    • Mum says:

      09:36am | 22/04/10

      All this talk about MEN going off to the mines to live in substandard accommodation - what if it is the woman who gets unemployed? What if she is pregnant, breastfeeding or has young children? If she is single the kids need to come too, but you’re not allowed to move state with children in tow according to the family courts. And I’d wager that small women are less likely to be able to do heavy mining jobs.

    • Louis McLennan says:

      02:34pm | 21/04/10

      Maybe if the government had the backbone to fix the education system and stop allowing people into these communication subjects when they clearly are able to do a lot more. Then they might able to acquire some skills and get off the dole. However, the dole is a joke. I’ve done laboring and to do that all you need to do is show up and do the work. No thinking, only boots and high vis shirt required (at least the jobs i was trusted with haha). So the dole is a pretty big joke to me.

      It’s not unfair to say that a lot of people are lacking the basic skills to pursue a trade, TAFE or university after leaving school. Largely thanks to valuable learning time being wasted on do-gooder type subjects/topics and tasks that are the responsibility of parents.

      I can’t help but think it benefits the political parties to have idiots for voters.

      Reply

    • Noguaranteeofsanity says:

      03:37pm | 21/04/10

      Those damn communication students!  Who needs journalists to write articles on the Punch, so that we can comment on them!  Who needs web designers to create a site like the Punch, that allows us to comment! Clearly, society has no need for those who have studied communication!

      Yes, in case you cant tell i am a communications graduate and Louis, I challenge you to go sit down and attempt to do the job of an animator, compositor, designer, journalist or any other communications related field and repeat your claim, that those communication subjects are a waste of time.

    • Louis McLennan says:

      05:37pm | 21/04/10

      I was referring to communication English and maths in high school. You might not have heard about them as it appears only now they are becoming quite common. I’d only heard of communication English but apparently there is one for maths also.

      Sorry for the lack of definition / explanation.

    • Ben81 says:

      02:38pm | 21/04/10

      “If you want to live off the miniscule amount that is the current dole payment, then go for it, but obviously most people have decided getting a job makes more sense.”

      Why should they ‘go for it’? Welfare isn’t there because people who don’t feel like working are entitled to be paid to be useless bums.  It’s to keep food on the table while they look for another job.

      Reply

    • Razor says:

      02:55pm | 21/04/10

      It is a discussion point - not a party policy - therefore it isn’t making policy on the run and doesn’t require consultation with the Party.  In fact this is a form of consultation.

      Youth unemployment is +15% and that is where this type of policy is targetted at.

      If you want to encourage something then you subsidise it - continuing to support long-term unemployed is encouraging them to remain in their condition.

      While work for the dole has some merit there needs to be a more active pathway to removal from welfare.  I suggest 6 monthly steps that involve commitments to increased training and job search requirements with unemployment benefits cut-off after three years - that would involve 5 steps before being cut-off.  Once you become employed you move back down the time scale until after three years of employment you are back to zero accrued time.

      Reply

    • Ellie says:

      03:22pm | 21/04/10

      “Youth unemployment is +15% and that is where this type of policy is targetted at.”

      How many of these are students?

    • Razor says:

      03:55pm | 21/04/10

      Ellie - if you are a student then you are not unemployed.

    • sponsored by centrelink says:

      03:01pm | 21/04/10

      I don’t mind my taxes going towards so called ‘bludgers’, but what I hate is Governmental bludgers. You know the politicians and public servants that sit around doing nothing all day but complaining about people sitting around doing nothing all day. And that John Safran video is hilarious, how the media don’t like it when the cameras are turned on them. But back to the point politicians only point out lazy people when they don’t want to appear lazy themselves, how about creating a health care policy Tony or is that too much hard work, ought to be sent to work in a mine that lazy fella.

      Reply

    • Solzenitzen says:

      03:11pm | 21/04/10

      Transport all unemployed of both sexes < 30 years over to W.A to work 7 days a week in mines - strong character building and great research for later publishing contract

      Reply

    • Voxpop says:

      03:28pm | 21/04/10

      Pretty sure that it’s extremely difficult for females trying to get work in the mines and that they are only offered cleaning and low paid jobs which make it impossible to pay huge costs of living there.  So will this result in women having to prostitute themselves to survive??

    • Big A says:

      04:22pm | 21/04/10

      Actually Voxpop the mines I worked in would actively seek women to drive the trucks. Number 1. Women were in general more gental on the equipment. Number 2. When women would hear even the slightest strange noise from the truck they would be straight up to the workshop demanding it was fixed !!! Blokes would wait until the end of the shift to tell the boys in the workshop and more often than not creating a bigger repair bill. Granted it was only for truck driving but hey.. works work smile

    • May says:

      04:51pm | 21/04/10

      Voxpop, your comment actually made me laugh out loud!

      Where on earth have you heard that women can only get cleaning/low paid jobs in the mines? Having lived in a mining community for several years, I can tell you that you are seriously mis-informed.

      On the site I know women who operate heavy machinery, including those massive trucks you seem to think only men are allowed to drive. I also know women who are sparkies, plumbers and engineers, but you probably don’t want to hear about that either.

    • Voxpop says:

      02:44pm | 22/04/10

      Big A and May - yes I already knew that women were driving tonka trucks and are employed in geology etc But they are both skilled and experienced as well as a most definite minority group.  To say otherwise is just bullshit.

    • Mark says:

      03:38pm | 21/04/10

      Dumbest idea ever! We think of social security as being for bludgers but it also has a hidden benefit to the hard working taxpayer, it stops people from becoming so desperate they will resort to crime to survive.
      Lets say we do cut the dole, it will take 1-3 days for a person to realise they are going to starve and die, they will see you at an atm, what happoens next and keep in mind laws dont mean jack when you are facing death

      Reply

    • acker says:

      04:23pm | 21/04/10

      @Mark ....so does the death penalty

    • Tom says:

      05:01pm | 21/04/10

      Mark, That is one of the most stupid posts I have ever read.

    • Niklaus says:

      03:49pm | 21/04/10

      Can someone please provide a link to where all these job ads for unskilled people are? I had a quick look on seek etc., and all the mining jobs appear to require some experience.

      Reply

    • Danielle says:

      11:08am | 22/04/10

      Exactly. A lot of people seem to be missing this point. Tony Abbott wants us to take kids off the street to replace the skilled migrants. Skilled migrants. I, for one, am confused about how this is going to work.

    • Peter says:

      04:16pm | 21/04/10

      If 50 is the new 40 and 40 is the new 30, then surely 28 is the new 18 and that should be the new qualification age for the dole. If 50 year olds want to run around bragging how they are the new 40, then they can start paying like it and support their kids until they are 28. These days they are likely to be living at home anyway…

      Reply

    • Optimist says:

      04:21pm | 21/04/10

      Go Tony, you can keep the people thinking about everything else: namely the health plans with your anti- australian opinions. Keep it up : you will self destruct before the next election.

      Reply

    • Robert Smissen of God's Own Country, Rural SA says:

      04:40pm | 21/04/10

      Sounds a “little” drastic at first, but why would you attack it without checking the detail? ? Isn’t that what the loony left say when Mr. Abbott criticizes “Captain Pollywaffle” aka Little Kevvy policies? ? ?

      Reply

    • SPKorolev says:

      04:41pm | 21/04/10

      Are these mining jobs under some rainbow or something? is there some secret handshake we have to give? As an engineering graduate im beginning to think that this is the case. Ive been looking for work for 6 months now and every job ive applied for, both in my chosen field and other, non-related work requires some form of experience. The GFC which folks are forgetting about with astonishing speed means that people who were fired last year are competing with people who are looking for work this year. Recieving around $240 a week is enough to sustain a person, but not much else. One also has to realise that long periods of unemployment can affect one’s self esteem, which adds another dimension to this problem.

      Reply

    • Shelley says:

      04:43pm | 21/04/10

      Maybe it should be made compulsory for any company employing over x number of workers to train by traineeships and apprenticeships y number of people. And maybe vouchers for food, clothing, rent, etc. instead of all cash?

      Reply

    • Big A says:

      06:38pm | 21/04/10

      Now your talking !!! I like that idea…. But watch as the PC committee burns it to the ground because then we would be making choices for them !! Damn right we should, it’s my money and I want a say in how its spent !

    • Anna says:

      04:52pm | 21/04/10

      If you are unemployed Centrelink won’t help you until you are long-term unemployed. When my dad lost his job (he was over 30) it was more than 6 months before centrelink offered any assistance in finding a job. And yes there were plenty of jobs around! Console operator, convenience store worker etc. The only problem was, none of them would hire him because he was so over-qualified and they knew he’d leave as soon as he found a more suitable job.

      Not eveyone on welfare is a bludger. Some are victims of circumstance.

      Reply

    • Peter Simmons says:

      05:00pm | 21/04/10

      If noguaranteeof sanity is so proud of his communication career (exclamation point excluded),  perhaps he should consider a job that achieves something other than sitting on a computer abusing people who have to work for 8 or more hours, actually doing something, before they have access to a computer.
      The sanctimony and hypocrisy of the Progressives would be hilarious, if it was not so serious.
      I use my full name not a pseudonym noguaranteeofsanity.  What are you afraid of?

      Reply

    • Noguaranteeofsanity says:

      06:37pm | 21/04/10

      Care to point out where I abused anyone Peter, especially those who work without access to a computer?

      I can only assume you are referring to my reply to Louis based on what you have written, in which case i suggest you re-read what i wrote, because I wasn’t the one who dismissed another subject/profession/field, I was simply pointing out that communication subjects and professions are not necessarily useless, nor a haven for the unskilled.

      While, yes i work at a desk, behind a computer and get to take short breaks now and then, during which I browse the internet, as do probably a very large portion of the population these days, I don’t see anything wrong with that, especially as I am self-employed and my time is my own, to spend as I wish.  However, unlike you it seems, I hold no disdain or consider the work of those who work in other environments or professions, any less worthwhile or productive.

      As to my user name, I prefer to use that rather than my real name, as it is unique and unlikely to be used by anyone else, as there actually is another regular commentator on the punch who shares my name, so avoids any confusion.

    • xiaoecho says:

      01:48am | 22/04/10

      Prove that Peter Simmons is your real name!!! Go on! Prove it ! Anyone can claim any name is their real name - so unless you can prove it - shut up!

    • liz says:

      05:13pm | 21/04/10

      could someone go back & LOOK at the interview.
      He didn’t say that.
      He talked about incentives.
      Why are the media attacking Tony and misquoting him so much?

      Reply

    • S.L says:

      05:19pm | 21/04/10

      Tony Abbott has a point but you can’t implement it unfortunately. To try would be political disaster as these lazy loosers that are being refered to also vote!
      Even if only to avoid a fine they would all climb out of bed at the crack of lunch time and after a coffee, cigerette and the odd puff of wacky tobacy trundle down to their local polling booth to put the boot into the Mad Monk.
      Look at many of our recent imigrants. They do the jobs we think are beneath us like cleaning, collecting shopping trolleys, taxi driving and would work 24/7 if they could stay awake and within a few years have the spoils few of us dream about while a lot of Aussies are sitting in a pub complaining about having to do an hours overtime!!!!
      Funny thing is too I know a few guys in my profession who are always asking for extra work but when it is offered to them they can find every excuse under the sun why they can’t do it and in that vain many so called dole bludgers are in the same boat. The Paxtons were just the tip of the iceberg….........

      Reply

    • Toby says:

      06:02pm | 21/04/10

      Gen Y, don’t worry about all the whinging old farts always complaining about younger generation.  Just invest in aged care and have the last laugh by screwing them out of their estates before they even die.  >:)

      Reply

    • Rich says:

      06:56pm | 21/04/10

      I generally think the Chinese have got it right, where the actions of the children reflect on the parents and as such they will work hard and make sure they are employed. Chinese families take care of their members rather than foisting it onto the taxpayer like Aussies seem to do.
        If you kid is a lazy dole bludger and an adult, then you should take responsibility for your poor parenting, rather than making everyone else pay. This way parents will learn to make damn sure their kids apply themselves out of fear of not eating.

      I know heeps of Chinese people in Australia and they would NEVER dream of going on the dole because it would be too embarrassing for them and their family. I am willing to bet that the rate of Chinese people on the dole is pretty low compared to whites given percentage of population.

      Naturally there will be exemptions such as no relatives or whatnot, but they can be dealt with individually.

      I think it is crucial we reduce the social welfare burden of this country or we will be screwed. Someone said it was half of our budget ? Can’t we start looking after ourselves ?

      Reply

    • Pilby says:

      04:20am | 22/04/10

      The Chinese have got it right? Maybe we should send our dole bludgers over there, where thousands of miners are killed every year to save family face it seems!! Your right to say that in most asian countries everybody works, not much of a safety net. Which is why you tend to see so many beggars around these 3rd world countries, or people working in factories for 28 days a month for a pittance. Which tends to allow lots of rich chinese to make their way here.

    • S.L says:

      04:28am | 22/04/10

      Well said Rich.I overheard two sisters (white Anglo) yesterday around 20 years old talking about a relative who is reasonably well off. One girl said to the other “I hate how she has all this money! Why can’t I have any?” To which the other replied “because you’re an unemployed bum!” TOUCHE!!!!!!!

    • Shockadelic says:

      07:45pm | 21/04/10

      I thought the pollies were justifying high immigration on the mining boom.
      So which is it? Are the immigrants working the mines or the young unemployed? You can’t use the mining boom as an excuse for everything.
      Are mining companies going to GUARANTEE employment for any young adult that turns up at the gate?

      Hasn’t the GFC reminded all these anti-welfarists of the uncertainy and instability of capitalism yet?
      If you want the freedom of capitalism, you also get the uncertainty, so you need a safety net for those who need it (whatever their age).
      Otherwise you need to build more jails and a larger police force to deal with all the extra robberies. And jails and police cost a whole lot more than welfare.
      Perhaps you’ve forgotten how Australia began. With the bread-stealing, slum-dwelling poor.
      Want to go back to the ‘good old days’ pre-welfare, eh? Then I hope you have a really good home security system.

      Reply

    • Ben says:

      08:04pm | 21/04/10

      Laughable naivete young Shanahan.

      Do you really think the century long Australian tradition of playing the system magically resolved in the last half of your brief lifetime? Speak to people in the employment services industry. The rorts, rip-offs and dodges are legion as are their practitioners. Moving to a low rent regional area with no jobs is a classic, DSPs a goldmine.

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      08:19pm | 21/04/10

      Ive worked all but 3 months of my life and let me tell you those 3 months on welfare were rough, as a single i received 517 per fortnight, not exactly mountains of cash is it? I wasnt in housing commision so most of it went on rent and the rest 2 min noodles. Without that safety net however id have been homeless and starving. I applied for over 20 jobs a day and had zero success for the first time ever, i wasnt picky i applied for anything i was eligble for and it still took me 3 months. This aint the 50s where u can find a warehouse looking for a hand here and there, me thinks a lot of people here have been on easy street for too long. I payed my taxes the same as everyone else and i live in a country that doesnt kick someone in need to the kerb,  you dont like it? move to russia!

      Reply

    • Gregh says:

      08:47pm | 21/04/10

      Another far left loony article on the “The Punch”. Anyone who has ever been on the dole will know most of the people there are just bludgers who have no intention of getting a real job.

      The dole is the lifestyle choice for many and they feel it is their entitlement.


      Abbott is spot on when he wants dole to be restricted but again apart from shouting and threwing petty insults the Left is incapable of debate.

      The Punch need to grow up.

      Reply

    • Julie Coker-Godson says:

      10:21pm | 21/04/10

      @Gregh:  Please provide further and better particulars of your claims.
      For each allegation raised, please state all acts, facts and circumstances to sustain them.  I don’t believe you can, in which case, it is you who needs to grow up and stop making wild unsupported statements.

    • Daniel says:

      09:36pm | 21/04/10

      I thought bludger politics was the hardline Liberal mantra they they died on much like refugee bashing.

      Reply

    • L of Melb says:

      10:37pm | 21/04/10

      Politicians need to go and actually MEET the employed and recognise there is a difference between ‘unemployed’ and ‘unemployABLE’.

      I would LOVE to work. I would love to be a responsible member of society, to contribute my taxes like everyone else, to be a positive addition to the community. Unfortunately, no-one will employ me as I have a mental illness. Would ANYone like to work in a dangerous mine next to me? Anyone? BUELLER?

      Reply

    • Mark says:

      10:43pm | 21/04/10

      I think that the dole should be increased to 95% of the worker’s previous wage for the first week. Then reduced by 1% for each week thererafter.
      Not been employed. Not a problem. Go to school.
      Left school. Not a Government problem. It is your responsibility.
      Still not happy.
      Find a boat. Head for Indonesia.

      Reply

    • Mick says:

      10:52pm | 21/04/10

      You know what S*&ts; me? Businesses, BIG BUSINESSES, that during the supposed GFC in Australia started dumping trainees and apprentices. Then as they discovered that the GFC would not impact them as seriously as thought started crying out that there is not enough skilled labour in Australia. They then started saying that THE GOVERNMENT should do something about it. Businesses pay their apprentices and trainees according to the legislated minimums, which for a 1st year apprentice can mean as little as $7.00 per hour. Until businesses in Australia start acting in a mature manner there will be a permanent skill shortage

      Reply

    • Mark says:

      11:06pm | 21/04/10

      I work in TAFE. I was encouraging my students to apply for work experience. One of my students was having difficulty. It turned out that he wanted a problem. Why. He wasn’t prepared to travel more than 10 minutes by car from his home.
      My nephew was. he recently graduated with a Masters from an overseas university and i bet you have a product that his company produces in your home.
      We should backload the asylum seekers’ boats with dole bludgers.

      Reply

    • Donna says:

      11:34pm | 21/04/10

      I cannot believe the comments from those people who are stating they dont wish their taxes to support the unemployed, well I dont want my taxes to pay those working and receiving the family tax benefit, baby bonus, first home grants, childcare rebates.  But we dont get a choice where our taxes go.  I have worked all my life (now 44) and would rather my taxes be spent on supporting the unemployed, I have seen first hand those who rort the system, but the majority are desperately seeking work (am an ex Centrelink employee).  There are a lot of ignorant people, obviously never been unemployed for long, never received support?  I hope they never experience being out of work due to no fault of their own, but then again maybe that would be a good thing because they are not living in the real world, wonder how many of these people accept the payments I mentioned above (which I as a taxpayer have funded).  I demand it be given back as you dont believe in handouts. Abbott promising huge amounts of money to working parents! Disgraceful, use the money to fund training to the unemployed so they can find work.  The worst thing to happen to the welfare system other than handing out a fist full of money to parents who dont want to financially take responsibility for their decision to have children is the Job network members.  Most people looking for work find a job through no help from them.  They are funded on different levels, eg receive more money for placing long term unemployed, mature aged etc. into positions therefore the newly unemployed and young people are not the priority.  Also some people who are working part time but dont earn more than the dole are not part of the unemployment statistics, in reality it is much higher.  The reason being they are considered employed whilst earning a small income while looking for more work just to put food on the table, they also are not eligible to register with a JNM if they work a certain amount of hours.  All helps the Government water down the unemployment figure.  The fact is there are not enough jobs for everyone.  The majority of people on unemployment are not receiving it through choice, it is soul destroying and they should be receiving more help.

      Reply

    • Giselle says:

      12:13am | 22/04/10

      In January Australia’s total job vacancies rose to rose 5.9 per cent, seasonally adjusted, to 163,700. As of March 2010 unemployment decreased to 611,000. This means more than 447,000 Australians cannot find work at the moment no matter how hard they try.

      Reply

    • xiaoecho says:

      12:48am | 22/04/10

      “How exactly would the authorities implement such a scheme? Wait behind the Centrelink desk for some young person to collect their dole, jump out, put them in irons and arrow pyjamas and send them across the Nullarbor? “........you’re joking Leo but the terrifying thing is Abbott’s not joking - he means it.
      Lets not forget, this is the man who condemns the underpriveledged because they “choose their lifestyle”  -and this from a man who was born with a silver spoon iin his mouth and went to one the most prestigious schools in the country.  Abbott is an extreme right wing ideologue and dangerous as are all blinkered extremists if given power

      Reply

    • Boo Hoo says:

      02:17am | 22/04/10

      The sheer arrogance of those going on about dole bludgers and the pittance they receive is utterly astounding. Unfortunately some people will only ever learn wisdom and humility by walking that mile in another’s shoes.  People in life get something for nothing all the time…... just think about it.  GFC???? hot shot financiers snorting your superannuation and buying luxury cars. Crying in your beer because a significant amount of your super disappeared into a void. How unjust.  Real estate??? get shafted through paying an exorbitant amount for an overpriced shoe box. Diddums. The examples are endless.

      Reply

    • Marilyn Shepherd says:

      02:29am | 22/04/10

      I love the imagery of the prison garb.

      Australian rednecks need to get a life I reckon.  Most young people want to work and so on but there is not much incentive and not much work or employment for them.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      01:38pm | 22/04/10

      Oh come on Marilyn.  Personally, I’ve always figured a pay cheque was a pretty good “incentive.”  And there certainly is work available - it may require training, or a move from one area to another - but aren’t the young supposed to be the most flexible and adapable generation?

    • Peter of Adelaide says:

      09:35am | 22/04/10

      Leo your first paragraph told readers exactly where you are coming from.  Tony Abbott does not hide from the media.

      The media especially the Canberra Press Gallery selectively choose not to give him any coverage unless it is nasty with sarcasm or with questions designed to get a headline. 

      If Kevin Rudd said exactly some of these same statements about issues as Tony Abbott he would be praised.

      It did sound to me as if you have lived a sheltered life maybe in Canberra.

      Let the young ones and their parents work all this out for themselves.

      People come down from north Queensland and the islands above Australia to the River Murray to pick fruit that people on the dole will not pick, even though it is not hard or difficult.  People come from the other side of the world to take any job available. Including in the mines or picking fruit. People on the dole can do this work, gaining money and self esteem.

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      10:47am | 22/04/10

      Oh boo hoo…poor Tony the victim.

      “If Kevin Rudd said exactly some of these same statements about issues as Tony Abbott he would be praised.”

      No he wouldn’t because “these statements” are invariably stupid.

      PS. I picked fruit 20 years ago before going on to study. And even back then 90% of the pickers where backpackers using the work as a way of funding their holiday around Australia. Suits both sides, cheap labor for farmers and an easy way to see Australia for travellers.

    • Peter of Adelaide says:

      11:16am | 22/04/10

      Hi to Seano says: 11:47am | 22/04/10.  If you do not want to recognise that most media denigrate Tony Abbott at every opportunity and praise, protect and cover up for Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, then you obviously do not want to know they are bad for Australia.  The worst Government we have had.  Particularly as whatever Rudd/Gillard do turns into a $billion debacle.  And they are getting better at making more $billion debacles as Rudd’s health/hospitals plan will be.  If you think Rudd/Gillard do not make stupid statements you need to look more closely.

      I grew up on a fruit block and picked and cut fruit for many years.  As did plenty of others who would not have wanted to live off dole payments.

    • Seano says:

      01:40pm | 22/04/10

      @Peter. Nice conspiracy theory but may I suggest that your tinfoil hat is slipping.

    • Scot says:

      11:10am | 22/04/10

      If these people on the Dole have no skills, stick them in the Army and teach them some. If not the Army then they should work for the dole and become gardeners and painters and clean up the streets and paint over all the ridiculous graffiti that one now sees all over our mayor cities from people who show no respect, or maybe these are the same sick people that do it because they are bored and use the dole to buy their paint? Send them to help Maklins Labor in the Aborigine communities clean up and building program or loose the dole.

      Reply

    • Fred says:

      03:22pm | 22/04/10

      If these people are unskilled the mining companies may not want them. The insulation program was designed to provide jobs for similarly unskilled individuals….and didn’t that work well!

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      03:34pm | 22/04/10

      I support people working for the dole or being forced to work, but i do not support people being be sent interstate away from their families and friends against their will. If we can’t find jobs for these people within their home state, then that is our own failing…

      Reply

    • L of Melb says:

      07:11pm | 22/04/10

      Thank you to some people for noticing mining is NOT an unskilled job that any old untrained illiterate can do. It is incredibly dangerous, highly skilled, specialised work.

      Reply

    • Ian says:

      11:47pm | 22/04/10

      Honestly…how much do you get on the dole anyway? Me thinks it’s f#@k all, hardly enough to live on, let alone persue any other of life’s pleasures. I struggle with the concept of people happily making this type of hand to mouth existence a lifestyle choice…Am I missing something here??? Two minute noodles maybe???

      Reply

    • Stephen says:

      10:16pm | 23/04/10

      Obviously, Tony Abbott has a clear misunderstanding of the current welfare system. The reality is, that even if there was a very good job available where employers were screaming out for workers, if you were moving from a city to a non metropolitan area, Centrelink can deny you benefits for up to 24 weeks. So even if I wanted to go work in the mines for example now, it would be very difficult as Centrelink would see that as an area with “less work available”. So now he tries and tells us that people on the Newstart allowance (stop calling it the dole please) are no longer looking for work? i know the system quite well, been jumping through their hoops for a while, and eventually I did move here to Queensland to find some good work. And would the taxpayers stop going off their high horse all the time, a large amount of my Newstart allowance has probably come from the GST, and from people speeding and getting fines, it’s just not taxes that contribute to government. .

      Reply

    • Mayday says:

      11:21am | 24/04/10

      Youth unemployment is much higher than the quoted 5.3%, please stick to facts when trying to back up a puerile argument.
      Ethics have been in the news lately, what about A WORK ETHIC;young people need a taste of the discipline and routine of getting up every morning and going to work ?
      They will also get a sense of satisfaction at providing for themselves and earning their own money, this builds on itself and eventually people realise the only way to get ahead is to work.
      Young people should be pushed out of their comfort zones and given life challenges so they can mature and become active members of society rather than human sponges.
      Go Tony.

      Reply

    • Labour Studies says:

      09:59pm | 03/06/10

      Not that I disagree with you but check the ABS stat’s - aggregate unemployment in Australia is currently at 5.3% - 5.2% for men and 5.5% for women

    • Stephen says:

      08:08pm | 24/04/10

      Mayday, I don’t necessarily disagree with what you are saying, when I see the amount of people smoking their lives away on pot and god knows what, I have to wonder what could be done, but I fear that denying benefits for them to get their hold on such things legally only drives it underground and makes the crime rate go right up through the roof.

      I am all for a good work ethic, and nor do I think anyone should reject a GOOD job offer (note, that by good job offer I mean something that is NOT on commission and something that pays the minimum wage, and is more then for just a few hours every couple of months).

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Daniel Piotrowski

drpiotrowski 24 May 12 09:56PM

RT @popculturechris: Meanwhile, Gotye holds no.1 for a sixth massive week in the US - "that" song has now sold over 4 million copies there.

ToryShepherd

ToryShepherd 24 May 12 09:17PM

@loupascale if the survey made you sad, probably skip the comments...

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Colgo 24 May 12 07:27PM

@paulwiggins @richardkendall that fountain pens yarn is a great social trend story

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I like how a tip erodes so only you can use it MT “@paulwiggins: BBC News - Why are fountain pen sales rising? http://t.co/0hk2MRtf”

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