Picked peaches near Waikerie; was all paid by the bucket, made good money by working hard. Developed a rash on my legs after a week, and after seeing a Doctor he told me I could not go on doing it.
The living condition was shocking; a garage on the banks of the Murray, with mice running on the floor.
Tried picking grages in Mc Laren Vale, again by the bucket, grapes being very small, no matter how hard I worked, could not make a normal hours pay. The owner told us, that after we finished the small grapes we will go on the bigger grapes and make decent money.
When we finished the small grapes, the owner changed his mind and told us to go on picking on a hourly rate. When I questioned him on what he told us before, he just told me to go to his wife and she just wrote me out the check for what I made on the small grapes and can just leave.
The worst part was, that the owner of the vineyard was a "
bloody New Australian" the same as I,am,
but he probably got very rich on cheap labour.
Another problem with Abbotts idea is, that if a person earns a certain amount a year, he/she cannot get unemployment benefits for a certain time, or at least that used be some 20 years ago.
Another thing I would like to ask Abbott, how can he justify his lucrative income and all the other perks.
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