... wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 10:36am:


        And you're still ignoring reality, there's not an endless supply of niches that will pay, that's a simple fact, would YOU actually PAY someone to polish your letterbox, or to wash the trees in your street? Most, if not ALL, of the possible niches have have already been found and filled, to excess, and there's STILL thousands and thousands of the poor and needy out there.
         I notice you didn't say anything about your volunteering, have YOU ever put yourself out to help those in need, or do you only sneer at them and demand that they NOT be disadvantaged and distressed, simply because YOU'RE not?

austranger wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 10:46am:


Seems there's always an excuse for not trying...scrape a couple of bucks together and buy something, then sell it; wash cars; do gardening; wash windows;walk around and put your name down at every business in your area.

If you don't swing, you don't hit...

... wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 10:58am:

         I'm glad to hear that, but I wonder about that two hours, does that involve anything your kids are involved in?
    Either way, I applaude you.
           I've detailed my personal efforts in other threads on this site, and provided photographic proof too, so I won't go into too many details again, merely say that I've given thousands of hours across my life, and suffered assaults and abuse for my efforts along the way too. I've worked for and with the Salvo's, St Vinnies, Indigenous and Private efforts, and I intend to again, my family life takes precedence at the mo', I'm carer for my failing parents.
       I raised three kids as a single-dad, held down two jobs and volunteered at their various involvements, and with the Sallies etc at the same time, so I can understand your life too.
          My personal belief is that it behooves those of us that are better off to help those who aren't, NOT judge and belittle them, and no matter how difficult my life has been I've always seen that there were others in more difficult straights, and tried my best to help them.
             I hope and pray that you, and others, can find something of that within your own souls, if everyone did that then this mad nation of ours would be a far better place thereby, wouldn't it?

... wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 11:24am:


       While I can't in principle disagree with your general approach I DO disagree with the way the present Gov, and others, extends that too far, into a " Blame the victims" mind-set. There is a limit to what the unemployed and other recipients can reasonably accomplish, and while an effort on their part is sensible, punishing them for not succeeding is despicable, in my book anyway.

... wrote on May 4^th, 2014 at 11:45am:

I think that before we make judgements about the woman in the article we need a lot more information about her circumstances. How did she become a single parent? Was it because her partner died, did she flee an abusive relationship, was it a normal separation? If it is the latter then where is the father's child support in all this? Maybe her partner was the sole provider and she never thought she would have to work, but was suddenly saddled with two young children on her own, which is in itself an obstacle to further qualification. I am not saying that any one of these is correct, but that you are making a series of judgements about this women based on incomplete information about the circumstances.

The point she made about the parenting allowance was not that it didn't exist now, but that it was cut off when her children were eight and above.

This part of the article actually raises an interesting reflective component on that governmental policy. Under the prior scheme where she received the parenting allowance, she and her brother were able to manage a mortgage; when it was removed she had to go back to renting. Surely it is in the long term interests of society that more people own property? This is a valuable asset that can remove the burden on the taxpayer - it means less people needing government subsidised housing and can be sold to fund retirement.

Single parents face the challenge of being both provider and nurturer for their children with little or no assistance. There is no hard and fast information about which to weight higher. A parent who focuses on providing at the expense of nurturing runs the risk of children lacking parental supervision and becoming delinquent. A parent who focuses on nurture at the expense of provision runs the risk of struggling to make ends meet and their children missing out on opportunities.

The alternative reading to this article is that rather than being a victim/entitled, this is a woman who has done her very best to raise her children with as little government support as possible. Is it really necessary to take away even more support?

The other point here is that while her children are older now, there will be people with much younger children who do require supervision and who this will impact to a far greater degree. She is not, I don't think, merely speaking about her personal circumstances, but highlighting the general impact that something like this has.