Tristan,

The advantage of paying for long-term care out of superannuation, and only using tax money for the indigent, is that the individual or the family would have more leverage over the provider, as they could take their money elsewhere. The government would always be tempted to underfund the nursing homes and use the money for electoral bribes in marginal seats.

Rhys Jones,

You clearly don't understand the principle of insurance. Someone in your family could go under a bus tomorrow, and you would be very glad of NDIS. You would consider that premium of $1,000 a year well worth it. Similarly, you could develop a nasty disability in old age, and your family might not be able to care for you, for example, if you develop Alzheimers relatively early and become aggressive. You then leave your wife with the choice of consigning you to some understaffed, underfunded hellhole, or losing her home and spending all the family money on you to give you topnotch care, leaving her destitute in her own old age. If there is only about a 1 in 3 chance of needing extended care, then an insurance model would be quite doable, especially if the money is collected throughout your working life so that compound interest can help.

Thanks for the support, Divergence - even if we disagree slightly on the model.

Hasbeen - It seems you don't know the difference between Social Democracy and Stalinism. In my book Stalinist practices don't even stack up has being faithful to the (original) Marxist tradition.

Look at the Marxist Social Democrats Karl Kautksy, Julius Martov, Rosa Luxemburg and their criticisms of Lenin and later Stalin. (except for Luxemburg who was murdered in 1919) Do some research so you have a better idea what you're talking about. The most determined critics and opponents of Stalinism were Marxists who were true to the original spirit and traditions of Social Democracy. (though Lenin doesn't really deserve to be put in the same category of Stalin- though his desperate strategies helped create the fertile ground from which a Stalin could emerge.... In Lenin's favour he tried to give the RUssian people what they wanted - an end to war; On that them I don't think Kautsky appreciated the reality of collapse and war exhaustion in Russia) Have a look - if you can - at 'The Dictatorship of the Proletariat' by Karl Kautsky in 1919...

Amazing how we all recall the horrors of what's been called Communism; But few people know of the atrocities of World War One, and of the Cold War - including proxy wars in Central and South America...

Divergence, I do understand insurance. I insure myself for a variety of risks and choose not to insure myself for other risks. I fail to understand why people like yourself feel the government is in a better position than they are to decide what insurance they need or don't need. A compulsory insurance does not differ from a tax in anything but name. It is levied by the government to pay for services whether I want them or not.

We'll see if you still feel that way if it happens to you or one of your close family one day, Rhys.

Rhys,

Whether insurance should be compulsory or not depends on whether your misfortune impinges on other people or on society as a whole. You can make up your own mind about fire insurance if you are prepared to lose everything if your house burns down. Green slip insurance is compulsory because you can be at fault in an accident that maims someone. While he can sue you, even bankrupt you, there may well not be enough money to pay his bills. No one is going to let your mentally retarded son or your crippled elderly mother starve on the streets, even if you have other priorities that you put above paying insurance.

Divergence Tristan, we already take care of the disabled & the elderly, & I did mention my recent experience of this care, & my near approach to it.

However it is what is planned for the NDIS, carefully hidden from the general public, that is a major question.

Neither of you answered my post regarding expectations of the mentally incapable being given public housing & 24/7 in house support, costing around $500,000 PA. All I got was typical waffle. Do you have an answer? Do you wish to hide this fact, or do you wish to ignore it as it is not good for the cause?

Cat got your tongue folks?