If 15% of smokers, die 15% years younger, it saves the tax payer 15% of the health care bill.
That pile of twaddle came streight out of my imagination, but I bet it is more accurare than all the "social costs" we see in these B grade, worthless reports. The "researcher" found nothing, so gingers up the report, with meaningless twaddle, to justify the grant, & assure the next one.
Give me a break.

What a wonderful range of comments about our future. One person wants to kill off old people and the rest highlight tobacco as our largest problem. And as Solomon says, why stop with the elderly? Surely starting that process at birth would save more money. Let's get rid of thin people, fat people, short people, tall people, smokers, drinkers, drivers, politicians and...oops, there's no one left to get rid off or pay for anything.

Come on people, you haven't even got close to the topic.

For Solomon, if we are not amongst the highest taxed people in the world, where do we rate? 2nd, 3rd, 4th? We currently have a Federal Government that cannot even get close to managing a budget as they continually underestimate the income. A surplus of how much? Is it $13 billion or $16 billion? Or more? State governments are the same, piling up GSt money and calling themselves good managers. Any of us could do the same if we charge more than we spend.

Our current Federal government has created more recipients of welfare than any previously, at salary levels up to $80,000 per annum. Where did they get the money? From overtaxing the population and companies? What do they do with those surpluses? Buy votes of course, not invest it in under maintained infrastructure or the health system. Buy votes.

And once they win an election by dishing out those new and increased benefits they then start the cry to cut back on welfare recipients, both in numbers and size of payments. The problem is not those needing support it is governments who are two faced, create a prtoblem and then attack those affected.

Logans Run

RobbyH,
You have hit the nail on the head. Our Governments collect tax and don't spend it where the need lies, and come up with a surplus. The public don't seem to realise that this is not good economic management, simply depriving them of the level of services they have paid to recieve.

What is a surplus, if not tax collected which has not been allocated to the purpose for which it was collected.

The gulible Australian public are told black is in fact white, and believe it, if I could convince my bank manager as easily, I would be a millionaire, and all of you would pay to keep me in a style I could easily become acustomed to.

Yeah, what robbyh and shonga said. And more.

Private schools and private health care are promoted in the interests of choice, which really gets up my nose. Our public money has been pulled out of our public health and education systems and fed into private systems. The result is that if you want a decent education for your kids or a halfway decent hospital you have reduced, not increased, choice.

I have great admiration for the health and educational people who stay with the public systems and continue to do more and more with less and less.

Kerry Corke is correct and certainly John Howard signalled "the end of the post-war social welfare era" ...

Education is fast becoming dependent on private funding.

Health care - ditto ... focus on what Abbott does not say.

Retirement - ditto ... super will overtake pension.

Aged care - ditto ... Vanstone ensured the last or our assets including the family home will be forfeit.

We shall all die pennyless after a lifetime of work ... Howard's legacy.

All on the back of 'studies' designed to terrify the public into believing these draconian measures are necessary.