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JC Political Thread - For all things political Part 2

Reaper

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^^^^ the sense of entitlement of these people astounds me. As for their account - some of it is no doubt true, some of it is embellished I'm sure.

To me, they left in an Indonesian flagged/registered/whatever vessel that became unseaworthy either during the voyage or possibly was never equipped to adequately undertake it in the first place. What seems without doubt is that if there were leaks, people on board deliberately and wilfully made the holes bigger in an attempt to force the Navy's hand. Deliberately putting others, especially small children in the face of harm is unforgivable IMO.

It appears the Navy did the correct thing in this case - they removed the people from a dangerous situation, took them back to whence they came and transferred them to a seaworthy boat to make the relatively short trip back in safety.
 

c2105026

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On the flip side, it will be a bit of an awkward moment the day the first lifeboat is discovered on its way to Christmas Island, having been refuelled and re stocked in Indonesia.

Therein lies an issue. First govt was 'apparently' going to buy up the boats to ensure there are no available vessels. Fair enough. Now govt essentially re-arming people smuggling trade with new infrastructure.

You cut off one head, another 2 grow back......
 

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The only difference now between us and Indonesian people smugglers is the boats we put them on are seaworthy and the taxpayers pay the strugglers
 

Reaper

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The only difference now between us and Indonesian people smugglers is the boats we put them on are seaworthy

Lolwut??? How do you figure that one??

Therein lies an issue. First govt was 'apparently' going to buy up the boats to ensure there are no available vessels. Fair enough. Now govt essentially re-arming people smuggling trade with new infrastructure.

You cut off one head, another 2 grow back......

Without knowing what the arrangements are you may be correct. That said, it is possible that the boats Australia supplied were capable of local coastal work (ie small and open) to get them back a few hours to shore but by no means large enough to do overnight (or longer) voyages to Australia. I don't know if the Aus government gets the boats back however I'd presume not.
 

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Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews signals overhaul of welfare system

Had a read over this and it's interesting.

I think the key extract for me was:

He cited policies including $2500 payments for those under 30 who take themselves off welfare and get a job for 12 months. He also cited payments for Australians who move from cities to regional areas for a job.

I think both of those ideas are great. Incentive's staying in a job and moving to an area were you may get a job.

I appreciate some people will argue that "moving to an area that has work" is not just as easy as getting some cash and doing it due to family ties, support networks, friends.

But I can't agree. My old man is not exactly struggling, last year he earned 5 times my salary and I am not exactly struggling either. But even though he didn't NEED to move for work, he did because he wanted to improve his life further.

So if someone who isn't struggling and being a burden on the welfare system can justify a significant re-location for more work opportunities, why can't a centrelink regular?

Thoughts?
 

Calaber

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I don't agree with paying people to get off welfare - surely that's just another form of welfare? Motivated people will chase work and don't need to be paid incentives to do it. Lazy bastards can sit on their blots doing sfa, then pick up a bonus to get a job for 12 months. What happens at the end of the 12 months if they leave the job? Are they eligible to have a second bite at the cherry? If they leave before the 12 months is up, is the money refundable? And, if they get a job, is the $2500 seen as income for that financial year and taxed at their marginal rate, or is it a freebie?

Incentives to relocate, however, make sense. Too much of our workforce is concentrated in major centres whilst regional (and less appealing) areas go short of skilled staff. How many towns are short of doctors and nursing staff, for example? If paying them an incentive gets their skills where they are needed, I'm in favour.
 

Jesterarts

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I would imagine that the payment would only be made after the 12 month period has been achieved.

Which I do agree that this is another form of welfare, I see a purpose.

The thing is that the people who this would target are on welfare by choice. If someone is legitimately on welfare, then the incentive won't all of a sudden change their situation.

Therefore, this is a "disruption" strategy, a drive to disrupt people normal behavior and instill a new behaviour.

After 12 months in a job, I image that most people would actual understand that the benefits of a job are not just financial.

So I could see this working.
 

c2105026

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I would have no general issue with this but whatever situation people find themselves in, some will always exploit it, be they rich or poor. Like take a payment, move, chuck in job after 12 months. Sure some might find working beneficial in other ways but some won't and will revert back to previous habits.

Someone mentioned areas short of doctors and nurses.LOL. Never met an unemployed doctor or nurse. Actually rural areas are more likely to have high unemployment. Would be better to send folks to areas very low in unemployment. However for this to work you would need to have areas with surplus of unskilled jobs, or jobs that match the skill set of the unemployed person in general.
 

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said it before and I'll say it again....

18weeks max dole. After that recipients go onto a voucher system for the bare necessities.

Beyond that, other areas to be looked at:

Longer term the age pension needs to be indexed when it cuts in along the lines of life expectancy.

Phase out the family tax benefit scheme and drastically wind back the Abbott proposed parental leave payment to cap it at $80k (or around there). I would keep the maternity immunisation allowance as the downside to the community (and the individual children) is far greater than the minimal cost.

Further to that, I firmly believe that some of the benefits/co-payments should be removed and replaced as tax-deductable expenses thus getting people out of the social security trap and incentivising them to contribute via a paying job, rather than the astronomical effective tax rate that some pay due to crossing means test thresholds that revoke welfare payments.
 

Calaber

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Someone mentioned areas short of doctors and nurses.LOL. Never met an unemployed doctor or nurse.

Who said anything about doctors and nurses being unemployed?

Both professions are desperately understaffed in many regional areas. Incentives to get them to move away from the more populous areas into regions might well be worthwhile.

Next time you feel like a chuckle, stop and think first.
 
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