Asthma, Marilyn? Eleven years? I am talking about the parent/carers of people with a mental age of four or five years, parents who have been attending their every need for thirty, forty and fifty years. It is not quite the same thing as asthma. Of course people have been raising disabled children for centuries, but we are not talking about raising children - we are talking about aged parents who are still looking after disabled sons and daughters who are in their middle years. The village which would have supported these parents in other centuries is now at work, paying taxes to governments which, in other developed countries, use that money to support their intellectually disabled people. We have formed ourselves into strange little groups in our attempt to highlight our own government's failure to do this. You see, we are desperate and fearful, facing the prospect of leaving our most vulnerable people with nowhere to go and no-one to look after them after we are gone. We have seen the grief and bewilderment caused to innocent people when they lose at the same time their parent and the only home they have ever known. A decent and humane society would assist our people to make a gradual transition away from the family home while they were young enough to adapt and while they still had parents to ease the way. I have cared for my son for more than thirty years yet I am relatively young compared with many of the parent/carers I meet. We need Australians who care to get behind us and call upon our government to fund supported accommodation for their intellectually disabled citizens. We need you, too, Marilyn.

A good article with some confusion re allowance, etc. But if you go to the central point, it's hard not to draw the conclusion that the ALP will use fiscal policy this Budget to cut government spending across the board, including welfare payments.

How many times have we read in this medium and others that the ALP is NOT the ALP. It is not a labour party. It's is an economically and socially conservative slightly right wing party. It reflects the aspirations of middle Australia - whatever or wherever that is. OK unless you're a single mum or dad, on the dole, mentally ill, old and infirm, etc.

I only have my ample gut feeling but Rudd is a one-termer.

Life threatening asthma

well these things happen just like with my daughter she was given a life expectency of 8 years old, this being due to nobody knowing what she has but now it is still a miracle she is alive.

Many people have forgotten that those who are carers and those with special needs are incredable people.

As what would someone go through for their children or to look after those who need caring.

Caring is about doing somethiong that the states cannot do due to incompetence and only spending 60% of funds on what is needed and keeping the other 40% for pen pushers.

Carers fill a void and those who would like to spend a week with some of these carers I would have to say come on, Anything can be arranged.

Parents nowadays over extend themselves with keeping up with the joneses but the states incompetence of selling off public gousing hasnt helped in this regard. This keeps interest high and home prises going up and the less the more money.

I am a father, medically discharged from the army, have a special needs daughter who turns 18 years this year and my wife who runs around like a chook with her head cut off at times, would we have it any other way no.

All we ask is give us a break, dont look down on our children it is not their fault and every day we are proud of what our daughter achieves, but sometimes we need a hand.

Stuart Ulrich
Edgeworth

My point exactly. The stupid part is that for all the whinging by the so-called carer groups the reality is that the Howard government cut the payments for the people who are actually disabled which is why they had to pay a stupid bonus.

The reality is that I know how hard it is, I was a single mother with this desparately ill child who had to be taught at home most of the time, who was allergic to weather changes which meant I never knew when it would happen.

She is now a successful 2IC manager of a race club with two gorgeous daughters of her own who thankfully didn't inherit the asthma.

I also have a profoundly disabled cousin who they said would die at 21, she has never spoken, never walked, never dressed herself, never done anything and my aunt and uncle would cut out their tongues before they blamed her as many have been doing over these false reports of payments being cut.

It was shameful and even more shameful that Rachel jumped on the wagon without knowing the truth. I expected better of her.