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Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day (Read 3143 times)
whiteknight
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Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Jul 21st, 2018 at 8:15am
 
Welfare groups call for increase to Newstart payments

ABC News
July 17 2018



Tracey Phillips often heads to the supermarket late at night. The shops are closed but she's there to collect what's been thrown out.   Sad

"Why do I dumpster dive? It helps keep my food bill down and it's saving all this food from going to landfill," she told 7.30.

"This soft drink you've seen us get tonight, I'd never buy that at the supermarket. It's just a nice treat to have."

Ms Phillips, 50, from Adelaide, has turned to dumpster diving because despite having a casual hospitality job and receiving unemployment benefits, she's finding it difficult to make ends meet.

"I've got around three to four [hours of work] a week and yeah, I'd love more work," she said.

Ms Phillips is one of 750,000 Australians on the Government income support scheme, Newstart.

The maximum payment for a single person is about $40 a day and the allowance hasn't increased in real terms for 24 years.   Shocked

    "Living on Newstart, it's really hard," Ms Phillips said.

She gets about $500 a fortnight in Newstart and about $200 from her casual job. Then $179 goes towards rent, $100 for groceries, $80 for utilities, $50 to pay off debt, and $126 on insurance, fuel, her phone, her pets and incidentals.


"You get these politicians that say that they can live on $40 a day. How long are they going to do that for? A fortnight?" she said.   Sad

"Well of course they could live on $40 a day for a fortnight period. You need to do it over a long period.

    "Maybe we could have a reality show, stick politicians on Newstart Island and see how they go. That would be a show I'd actually watch."

Ms Phillips said her life has been a struggle since childhood. She was in and out of care homes and now lives with depression.

She said volunteering with the Anti-Poverty Network SA had brought her close to her dream job of working in the community sector.

"People see what they see just in front of them," she said.

"They know nothing about my background, they know nothing about where I've come from, they know nothing about the struggles I've gone through my entire life.

"They just judge what they see in front of them," she said.
'I don't like to think of myself as a dole bludger'
Jaieyre Lewis cooks in his kitchen
Jaieyre Lewis says he saves money on food by eating a lot of soup.

Welfare groups have been pushing hard for an increase to Newstart, a campaign which now has the support of some key business groups.

The Business Council of Australia and The Australian Council of Social Services have both called for an increase to Newstart.

Newstart recipient Jaieyre Lewis, 26, said he was pleased to see former prime minister John Howard, who set up the Work For The Dole scheme, was among those who believed the payment was too low.

"I think it's an important message and speaks volumes that someone like John Howard, who is traditionally a Liberal conservative, has said that he wants to support the increase to Newstart," Mr Lewis said.

He said he received $634 a fortnight on Newstart, which included rent assistance. He said $300 went to rent, $180 to food and about $60 on his phone and internet.

    "At the end of each fortnight, after everything's been all said and done, I might have $50 to $80 left over and that'll immediately get put away," he said.

Mr Lewis, who rents in Adelaide, said he understood why some people had little sympathy for those living on unemployment benefits.

"I don't like to think of myself as a welfare or dole bludger. I like to think of myself as a person first who'd like to survive and exist.

"I understand why people have that idea of personal responsibility and yeah, I think there is personal responsibility to find work."
'I've applied for 160 jobs in three months'

Mr Lewis loves to cook but said being on Newstart forced him to keep meals simple and affordable.

"Soup is so good because it's cheap, nutritious and easy to make. I can get $2.50 chicken carcasses from the butcher."


The ABS's latest survey shows we're spending more on the basics and are deeper in debt. Here's how to buck the trend.

He would like to turn his passion for food into full-time work, but said hospitality jobs in Adelaide were in short supply.

South Australia's unemployment rate has regularly topped the nation, not helped by manufacturing and car industry closures.

    "I've applied for 160 jobs over the past two to three months and that's been a variation of online applications, going in, cold calling and just dropping off my resume," he said.

"I've heard back from maybe 20 of them and had maybe three trial shifts out of that."

He said if Newstart was increased he'd spend the money to get retrained.

"I'd like people to look deep down in their hearts and say to themselves, 'can I really not afford to raise Newstart?' because this is affecting thousands of people.

"The work market has changed over the years. It is more difficult to get full-time or casual work in nearly any kind of sector.   Sad
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whiteknight
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #1 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 8:22am
 
July 18 2018 The Advocate
Treasurer talks of 'creating jobs' over Newstart increase



An increase to Newstart payments is not on the cards for the federal government amid growing calls to change the allowance.   Sad

When asked if he supported an increase to Newstart during a visit to Penguin, federal Treasurer Scott Morrison said: “I support getting Australians off welfare and into work and that’s what this government has done, that’s what’s happening right here in Penguin Composites, by creating jobs.”

The Newstart payment for single adult without children is currently $272.90 per week.

The Greens have proposed a $75 per week increase to Newstart while the Labor Party have promised to review the allowance if it wins government.

Australia Institute Tasmania director Leanne Minshull said an increase to Newstart would assist people to get back into the workforce sooner.

“It presumes that at some level, if a job seeker remains unemployed they are just not trying hard enough,” Ms Minshull said.

“The reality is remaining on Newstart for any length of time is a trap door into poverty.”

Ms Minshull said increasing the payments would also stimulate the local economy.

A poll commissioned by the Environmental Research Council last month found that 78 per cent of Tasmanians supported an increase in Newstart payments.

Mr Morrison said the proportion of Australian earning wages below poverty line had been falling since the Coalition had been in government.   Tongue   

“The way you get control of your welfare bill in this country is you just get people into work, that’s the way you achieve it.

“And last year we had record growth, 412,000 jobs created across Australia which has seen more people get into those jobs.
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Grendel
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #2 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:39pm
 
JUST GET PEOPLE INTO WORK...


Do the maths, it's simple really. Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

770,000 UNEMPLOYED AUSTRALIANS

170,000 JOB VACANCIES

THAT LEAVES 600,000 AUSTRALIANS WITHOUT A JOB TO GET.

AND THE FIGURE IS STAYING ALMOST STAGNANT AT THAT POINT.
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Grendel
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #3 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:42pm
 
HEY SCOTT...

DO THE MATHS...

IF THE UNEMPLOYMENT PERCENTAGE IS ALMOST CONSTANT AND YOU CREATED 412,000 JOBS...  WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING WRONG?

1/ MORE PEOPLE WHO GAVE UP LOOKING FOR WORK ARE BACK LOOKING.
2/ IMMIGRATION IS FILLING US UP WITH UNEMPLOYABLE PEOPLE.
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Baronvonrort
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #4 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:45pm
 
Grendel wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:39pm:
JUST GET PEOPLE INTO WORK...


Do the maths, it's simple really. Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

770,000 UNEMPLOYED AUSTRALIANS

170,000 JOB VACANCIES

THAT LEAVES 600,000 AUSTRALIANS WITHOUT A JOB TO GET.

AND THE FIGURE IS STAYING ALMOST STAGNANT AT THAT POINT.



There are lots of jobs that aren't advertised , people always have an excuse on why they can't find work.
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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.
 
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #5 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:47pm
 
whiteknight wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 8:15am:
Welfare groups call for increase to Newstart payments

ABC News
July 17 2018



Tracey Phillips often heads to the supermarket late at night. The shops are closed but she's there to collect what's been thrown out.   Sad

"Why do I dumpster dive? It helps keep my food bill down and it's saving all this food from going to landfill," she told 7.30.

"This soft drink you've seen us get tonight, I'd never buy that at the supermarket. It's just a nice treat to have."

Ms Phillips, 50, from Adelaide, has turned to dumpster diving because despite having a casual hospitality job and receiving unemployment benefits, she's finding it difficult to make ends meet.

"I've got around three to four [hours of work] a week and yeah, I'd love more work," she said.

Ms Phillips is one of 750,000 Australians on the Government income support scheme, Newstart.

The maximum payment for a single person is about $40 a day and the allowance hasn't increased in real terms for 24 years.   Shocked

    "Living on Newstart, it's really hard," Ms Phillips said.

She gets about $500 a fortnight in Newstart and about $200 from her casual job. Then $179 goes towards rent, $100 for groceries, $80 for utilities, $50 to pay off debt, and $126 on insurance, fuel, her phone, her pets and incidentals.


"You get these politicians that say that they can live on $40 a day. How long are they going to do that for? A fortnight?" she said.   Sad

"Well of course they could live on $40 a day for a fortnight period. You need to do it over a long period.

    "Maybe we could have a reality show, stick politicians on Newstart Island and see how they go. That would be a show I'd actually watch."

Ms Phillips said her life has been a struggle since childhood. She was in and out of care homes and now lives with depression.

She said volunteering with the Anti-Poverty Network SA had brought her close to her dream job of working in the community sector.

"People see what they see just in front of them," she said.

"They know nothing about my background, they know nothing about where I've come from, they know nothing about the struggles I've gone through my entire life.

"They just judge what they see in front of them," she said.
'I don't like to think of myself as a dole bludger'
Jaieyre Lewis cooks in his kitchen
Jaieyre Lewis says he saves money on food by eating a lot of soup.

Welfare groups have been pushing hard for an increase to Newstart, a campaign which now has the support of some key business groups.

The Business Council of Australia and The Australian Council of Social Services have both called for an increase to Newstart.

Newstart recipient Jaieyre Lewis, 26, said he was pleased to see former prime minister John Howard, who set up the Work For The Dole scheme, was among those who believed the payment was too low.

"I think it's an important message and speaks volumes that someone like John Howard, who is traditionally a Liberal conservative, has said that he wants to support the increase to Newstart," Mr Lewis said.

He said he received $634 a fortnight on Newstart, which included rent assistance. He said $300 went to rent, $180 to food and about $60 on his phone and internet.

    "At the end of each fortnight, after everything's been all said and done, I might have $50 to $80 left over and that'll immediately get put away," he said.

Mr Lewis, who rents in Adelaide, said he understood why some people had little sympathy for those living on unemployment benefits.

"I don't like to think of myself as a welfare or dole bludger. I like to think of myself as a person first who'd like to survive and exist.

"I understand why people have that idea of personal responsibility and yeah, I think there is personal responsibility to find work."
'I've applied for 160 jobs in three months'

Mr Lewis loves to cook but said being on Newstart forced him to keep meals simple and affordable.

"Soup is so good because it's cheap, nutritious and easy to make. I can get $2.50 chicken carcasses from the butcher."


The ABS's latest survey shows we're spending more on the basics and are deeper in debt. Here's how to buck the trend.

He would like to turn his passion for food into full-time work, but said hospitality jobs in Adelaide were in short supply.

South Australia's unemployment rate has regularly topped the nation, not helped by manufacturing and car industry closures.

    "I've applied for 160 jobs over the past two to three months and that's been a variation of online applications, going in, cold calling and just dropping off my resume," he said.

"I've heard back from maybe 20 of them and had maybe three trial shifts out of that."

He said if Newstart was increased he'd spend the money to get retrained.

"I'd like people to look deep down in their hearts and say to themselves, 'can I really not afford to raise Newstart?' because this is affecting thousands of people.

"The work market has changed over the years. It is more difficult to get full-time or casual work in nearly any kind of sector.   Sad


Another week another thread by whitenight wanting more of other peoples money so he can get a dole increase.

Who are the hardworking people you going to tax to give those on the dole more sit down money?
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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.
 
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whiteknight
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #6 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 4:01pm
 
Unemployment can happen to anyone anytime.  Those that are working today, could be the ones that are unemployed tomorrow.   Sad 
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Baronvonrort
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #7 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 4:05pm
 
whiteknight wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 4:01pm:
Unemployment can happen to anyone anytime.  Those that are working today, could be the ones that are unemployed tomorrow.   Sad 


They don't give the dole to people with money in the bank.

If I lost my job I wouldn't qualify for the dole.
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Leftists and the Ayatollahs have a lot in common when it comes to criticism of Islam, they don't tolerate it.
 
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #8 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 5:20pm
 
Grendel wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:39pm:
JUST GET PEOPLE INTO WORK...


Do the maths, it's simple really. Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

770,000 UNEMPLOYED AUSTRALIANS

170,000 JOB VACANCIES

THAT LEAVES 600,000 AUSTRALIANS WITHOUT A JOB TO GET.

AND THE FIGURE IS STAYING ALMOST STAGNANT AT THAT POINT.

If 25 years of alleged economic growth hasn't closed that gap, it's not ever going to close, no matter who is in office. Any government that doesn't commit to closing this employment gap is not serious about tackling unemployment.

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You are not entitled to your opinion. You are only entitled to hold opinions that you can defend through sound, reasoned argument.
 
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #9 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 5:31pm
 
Baronvonrort wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:45pm:
Grendel wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:39pm:
JUST GET PEOPLE INTO WORK...


Do the maths, it's simple really. Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

770,000 UNEMPLOYED AUSTRALIANS

170,000 JOB VACANCIES

THAT LEAVES 600,000 AUSTRALIANS WITHOUT A JOB TO GET.

AND THE FIGURE IS STAYING ALMOST STAGNANT AT THAT POINT.



There are lots of jobs that aren't advertised , people always have an excuse on why they can't find work.

If there were really so many jobs that they were just there for the taking, we would be hearing about it. If workers were really in short supply, tens of thousands of employers would be complaining very, VERY loudly about being unable to find workers - and you can be very sure the preponderance of right-wing media in this country would be giving them a lot of coverage. This isn't happening. We hear about a few in a few locations, but that's all.

What we DO hear about are all those areas with youth unemployment in double digits. In some parts of the country it's at 30% or more. Long-term unemployment is soaring: not because people aren't looking for work or are somehow work-shy, but because the employment market is flooded with unemployment-shy employers. Those few employers who claim they can't get workers in this current market are simply not trying hard enough to recruit staff. Putting ads on Facebook does not cut it.

The number of unemployed workers is much greater than the number of available jobs. The statistics are roughly correct here.
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You are not entitled to your opinion. You are only entitled to hold opinions that you can defend through sound, reasoned argument.
 
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #10 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 5:43pm
 
Baronvonrort wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:47pm:
Another week another thread by whitenight wanting more of other peoples money so he can get a dole increase.

Who are the hardworking people you going to tax to give those on the dole more sit down money?

Start by taxing the house flippers properly. It is very bad policy to be taxing windfall capital gains at only half the value of the same amount of money earned by hard work.

Then go after the untaxed multinationals. It is a nonsense to allow wealthy foreign corporations to pay no tax while Australian companies are forced to carry a greater tax load.

Doing this would raise more than enough money for a modest $50 a week increase to unemployment benefits - and all without adding a cent to the taxes paid by workers.

The extra money paid out in higher dole payments would all be spent so it all goes straight back into the economy. Everyone benefits.

Any money left over from this extra tax can be used to cut healthcare costs or corporate taxes, I don't care which. Personally, I would give the extra revenue to the states in exchange for abolishing payroll taxes. This is a direct tax on jobs, and abolishing payroll tax could theoretically give enough funds to companies to allow for the complete abolition of involuntary unemployment for the first time in over 40 years.
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You are not entitled to your opinion. You are only entitled to hold opinions that you can defend through sound, reasoned argument.
 
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #11 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 8:26pm
 
Baronvonrort wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:45pm:
Grendel wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:39pm:
JUST GET PEOPLE INTO WORK...


Do the maths, it's simple really. Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

770,000 UNEMPLOYED AUSTRALIANS

170,000 JOB VACANCIES

THAT LEAVES 600,000 AUSTRALIANS WITHOUT A JOB TO GET.

AND THE FIGURE IS STAYING ALMOST STAGNANT AT THAT POINT.



There are lots of jobs that aren't advertised , people always have an excuse on why they can't find work.

Really?
You think?
Hard to find when no one knows about them then eh?
You are speaking rubbish.
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #12 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 8:31pm
 
whiteknight wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 4:01pm:
Unemployment can happen to anyone anytime.  Those that are working today, could be the ones that are unemployed tomorrow.   Sad 

Absolutely and to people in industries you would not expect that to happen in.
A person could apply for 1000 jobs a year and not get one and only hear a reply from 1 or 2 advertisers.
Ageism prevents lots of mature age people from getting jobs, virtually throwing them on the unemployment heap for good.
Young people without certain skills, even though they could learn them on the job are prevented from being employed by employers who are too lazy or stingy to train them. Roll Eyes
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #13 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 8:33pm
 
Baronvonrort wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 4:05pm:
whiteknight wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 4:01pm:
Unemployment can happen to anyone anytime.  Those that are working today, could be the ones that are unemployed tomorrow.   Sad 


They don't give the dole to people with money in the bank.

If I lost my job I wouldn't qualify for the dole.

That's right Baron they wait till you are broke then pay you a pittance while you lose all the assets you've built up over a lifetime while you apply for job after job and jump through hoops for centrelink...   Roll Eyes Roll Eyes Roll Eyes
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Re: Politicians That Say They Can live On $40 A Day
Reply #14 - Jul 21st, 2018 at 8:35pm
 
Bam wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 5:20pm:
Grendel wrote on Jul 21st, 2018 at 3:39pm:
JUST GET PEOPLE INTO WORK...


Do the maths, it's simple really. Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

770,000 UNEMPLOYED AUSTRALIANS

170,000 JOB VACANCIES

THAT LEAVES 600,000 AUSTRALIANS WITHOUT A JOB TO GET.

AND THE FIGURE IS STAYING ALMOST STAGNANT AT THAT POINT.

If 25 years of alleged economic growth hasn't closed that gap, it's not ever going to close, no matter who is in office. Any government that doesn't commit to closing this employment gap is not serious about tackling unemployment.


We are on the same side here...  you realise of course.
I doubt we will ever achieve full employment ever again under any government. Roll Eyes
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