Thursday 28th of March 2024

the battle of newstart and for other necessities of life is still being fought...

battlelines

Why is it so difficult for our government to understand the urgent need to increase the totally inadequate Newstart allowance for the long-term unemployed (Letters, August 1)?

For many receiving Newstart, the challenges of life finds them now in a position of near poverty; they do not choose to be unemployed but struggle to survive as they seek employment. Jobs may not exist for some who are long-term unemployed.

At the local emergency relief centre, I listen to those struggling to survive on the inadequate Newstart allowance.

I will continue to offer practical support distributing food parcels until our government understands people have to live while searching for a job which will allow them to enjoy a real new start. - 

Lillian Bennetts, Green Point


Rage against the machine

Notice how "the problem" with the rebuilding of the Sydney Football Stadium surfaced after the election (Letters, August 1)?

Electors have a right to vent their dissatisfaction and outrage via the ballot box. But the politicians in Macquarie Street (on all sides) have reasoned that electors will be unable "maintain the rage" for a full four years.

We have been disenfranchised. The Americans have the right idea – their House of Representatives is elected every two years.

Pasquale Vartuli, Wahroonga

 

Since the new season of Utopia is back on the ABC soon, I feel any new revelations about the the Sydney Football Stadium debacle should be accompanied by a spoiler alert. - 

Vivienne Mackenzie, Port Hacking 

 

As your correspondent stated, Sydney will never be on par with London and Paris.

Perhaps its fortuitous that the stadium project has collapsed and we can build a world class arts and theatre complex instead. Lift our game a bit. - 

Tim Schroder, Gordon


Could we ask China to quote for a new stadium at Moore Park? While they're at it, we could also talk to them about quoting for a fast rail, Sydney to Melbourne? -

 James Butchart, Lilyfield

 

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/minister-has-misreported-facts-in-ab...

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Cartoon at top by Bruce Petty (SMH 28/4/2014), the best cartoonist in Australia, and definitively the world... Cathy Wilcox comes close, with "satire is over", as our pollies do far better than us, poor cartoonists:

wilcox 2 8 19

 



the fake believer...

and god said...

 

And the god of KPMG said:

 

With the economy slowing there are no shortage of suggestions for actions to stimulate growth. Of course the RBA’s rate cuts and the government’s tax cuts package are intended to do just this, although both are the subject of much debate by economists and others.

But there is another action that could be taken which to my mind, has little to dispute its economic benefit. And it has the welcome bonus of being socially equitable too.

Raising the level of Newstart is a policy KPMG has been calling for since our major 2016 paper, Solving the Structural Deficit, which took a holistic look at the budget and included a series of recommendations from welfare, health, super, education and other sectors.

The point of that paper was that while Australia needed to cut back some areas of public expenditure which were adding to the deficit for little gain, there were other areas where investment would pay dividends in the long run. Raising Newstart was one of them.

Why is this? We, and others such as the BCA, argued – and continue to do so – that the low level of this payment was actually forming a barrier to employment, as it was insufficient to allow unemployed people to actively conduct a job search. So it was actually worsening the deficit in the long-run.

The key here is that Newstart recipients are amongst the poorest people in society – so they spend, rather than save, almost all they receive. So while payments higher up the scale have more debatable value in terms of economic stimulus, there is no question that this policy will act as an effective fiscal stimulus by boosting the consumption side of the economy.

The fact is that Newstart hasn’t increased in real terms since 1994. (It is currently $277.85/week for a single person with no dependents). If we were to raise Newstart to match increases in wages over the past 25 years it would need to be raised by 30%, or about $83/wk. If Newstart had kept pace with wage inflation it would be around $360/wk today.

Another way of looking at this is Newstart as a proportion of Average Weekly Earnings. In 1994 Newstart represented around 30% of the average weekly wage of those employed in the retail and accommodation/restaurant sectors – traditionally the lowest paid sectors in the Australian economy.

Today those sectors earn around $1180/wk – of which 30% is equal to $355/wk. So while in our 2016 paper we called for a rise from $250, as it was then, to $300 a week, I would now say that around $355/wk would seem to be a reasonable starting point number for Newstart.

But more detailed analysis research should determine the exact amount, given the interaction of other welfare payments. As we discussed in that report, the low level of Newstart might well be encouraging the unemployed to seek higher income support in the form of disability payments. This is both psychologically damaging for the individuals and costly for government. The differential between the disability payment and Newstart needs to be substantially reduced although it need not be eliminated.

 

Read more:

https://newsroom.kpmg.com.au/raising-newstart-economic-social-winner/


robotsuicide...

robotsuicide...

 

 

Read from top...


jesus led the way...

jesus

 

Read from top.

forced to defraud the stingy thieving scummo government...

Connor Drum lies to Centrelink about his income, and steals food through the self-serve checkout machines at the supermarket.

Key points:
  • The Deputy Prime Minister says Newstart recipients should seek jobs in regional hubs like Parkes, in his NSW electorate
  • Jobseekers say moving towns poses a big risk that is untenable without better support
  • Inland rail is expected to bring a boom in jobs to regional centres in coming years

 

He wants the public, and politicians in particular, to know that is where life on unemployment benefits has left him.

Mr Drum is underemployed — he works at a theatre's ticket office casually, and spends most of his time volunteering to help run a Canberra art gallery.

He readily admits to giving Centrelink false information about his income, in order to maximise his payments.

He said there was nothing good about lying or stealing, but he could not see another option.

 

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-18/newstart-raise-centrelink-regiona...

 

 

Read from top.