Fifteen years ago Australians picked the fruit and vegetable crops in this district. Now there are insufficient young people in Australia either willing or trained to do hard physical work and willing to follow the work around the country. One of my sons did such itinerant work for 4 years, working in every State and found it a great education in the school of hard knocks. Now he is an IT specialist, but since the day he left school he was always able to find employment.
Now every summer/autumn season South Korean backpackers come to harvest the crops. The men have all done 2 years military service and are accustomed to hard work. If these overseas workers, with limited language skills can find work, why indeed are there so many young Australians not filling these jobs. Why does the Australian government need to encourage foreign workers?

dole is a moveable feast - well at my age as a Claytons Veteran of 63

it is a payment of $250 pw and Howard was master of changing it to suit the ballot box, eg age pension, disability pension, burn out pension etc

In my case by the approved method of Ministerials I simply shamed govt into getting "it", by threatening to contest in court the total descrimination

1. if I was female I would be on age pension already

2. if I was one of the 25% Nashos who bribed their way to Vietnam [ie jumped the queue over regulars for the War Service Home] I would have got aged pension at 60 [as well as the Home]

so I just go in too hard basket - well in fact I am approved mature age volunteer, supported by Costello's temporary love of volunteers initiative

We all should be entitled to 3 years of unemployment benefits for the total of our existence, then cut off. Anything else can be covered under disability pensions.

what amazes me is any taxpayer worrying about a few dollars going to the needy when it seemed everyone turned a blind eye the Costello's own dole system for him and pig mate like Howard robbing taxpayer of $60 billion to fund HIS unfunded super at some 20 times the dole

eg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLRg1U4h-2Y

but who are the unemployed?

a quick google says in round figures nearly 500,000 unemployed and 350,000 are Child Support Agency victims, so 70%

firstly these were not low income workers but doctors, engineers rocket scientists etc, but you dont need to BE a rocket scientist to understand why they are on dole

you earn 100 grand but after CSA COAT Deem & Destroy and normal tax you take home 5 grand, so you go on dole and take home 10 grand [plus do a bit on the side]

the taxpayer never hears of this $16 billion loss to them as family law is no go area, and Howard never worried as it made thousands of "jobs" for lawyer mates at CSA COAT SSAT OPC etc and supposedly got the female vote by eg the "chase deadbeats to their grave initiate"

well seems he and Brough miscalculated that one as both lost seats, ie the victims outnumbered the female voters who were meant to be impressed

so Howard mistake was he should have abolished vote for those on dole as part of "workchoices"

but he just went out with a bang - see http://www.ridrodent.com

That last post did not lurch away from the thread it ran!
And yet the subject is important, most of us know if we do not give those who are greedy not needy the dole we can do much better for those who truly need it.