The unemployment Benefit was created as a safety net for the Australian worker of all classes should anyone fall on hard times ! It has been subsidized and paid for by all Australians and therefore should be there if you ever should need it ! Joe Hockey has used the term Entitlement as If we do not pay for Government services we just expect them ! NO! We expect and indeed are entitled to services provided to us from Government for our tax dollars, otherwise why does the Government think it is entitled to my /our tax dollars ? It is an illogical assertion !

I've said this before - why do some people
believe that the poor are in poverty because
they are lazy and prefer to live on "handouts?"
This view appears to be fervently held even by
people who do not know poor people,
who have never tried to raise a family on welfare
payments, and haven't the vaguest idea what
poverty is really like.

Opinion polls repeatedly show large portions of the
population favouring cuts to welfare spending, or
favouring plans to "make welfare reciepents go to work."

There are few complaints, however, about how the
government pays far more in "handouts," to the nonpoor than
to the poor - in forms ranging from subsidized loans and
grants, tax deductions, et cetera. This fact generally
escapes attention because these benefits take the
indirect form of hidden subsidies or tax deductions rather
than the direct form of cash payments.

We're being told that welfare is a terrible burden on the
paxpayer. The reality is that welfare represents a very
small percentage of the federal budget.

We seem to forget that the elimination of welfare payments
would in effect punish millions of poor children who are
in no way responsible for their parents' situations.

Cutting into health, education, and social services - far
from re-shaping Australia's welfare state - Joe Hockey
has simply re-distributed it. Corporations have emerged
almost unscathed - while attacking our already threadbare
safety net. Business is being rewarded, and the poorest
and the sick are being punished. It's almost as though the
government is penalizing the poor and the sick to reward
big construction companies with big contracts for new
highways. High-income earners are only being asked to pay
higher ptaxes temporarily. And of course Australia's wealthier
get capital gains tax exemptions and Supperannuation tax breaks.

It is unfortunate that some politicians have no idea the
effect that budgets have on the most vulnerable in our society.

The Detroit model: Permanent rule by the banks
http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/detroit-model-permanent-rule-banks/

The Michigan legislature is debating a series of bills to impose a financial authority on Detroit that would remain in place long after the city emerges from bankruptcy. An unelected financial “oversight” committee, known as the Michigan Settlement Administration Authority (MSAA), would run the city for two decades, effectively usurping the local government

VOTE NONE OF the above*
http://whatreallyhappened.com/
http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/COINTELPRO/cointelpro.php
http://cecaust.com.au/
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/05/enron-2-0-wall-street-wants-manipulate-state-energy-markets-just-like-manipulates-every-market.html

It is interesting to note that the top 75 money earners in Australia do not pay even one red cent in income tax, and that is well known not only by the tax department but also by the Australian Government ! There are many people who believe we should not have all these welfare benefits like,sickness,disability,veteran,,carer,old age,unemployment and the like, But they are there for a reason, they are safety nets for the Australian people, If you take them away where do you fall if something happens to you,we are all in the same boat we are all at risk of loosing our jobs,having an accident that debilitates us and of becoming too old to work whether in mind or in body ! Think twice before you pull down these nets they are there for you too, and try to be compassionate to those that have fallen ! they are not given to Australians as some sort of freebie from the government they are an entitlement you have the right to have as a taxpaying Australian citizen and do not make them feel like is is anything less than that !

It's a complex issue that will only worsen. We're living in the era of globalization. Without sounding like I'm anti-anything, let's just look at what that means...

Economies of scale (which basically means that if you're a big business that you buy raw materials or whatever, at cheaper prices due to buying in bulk, and that costs of production per unit are cheaper when you produce more items rather than less, etc.), dictates that multi nationals have been moving manufacturing off-shore due to cheaper labour costs, property and infrastructure that are accessible in developing nations. These are so advantageous as to nullify transport costs.

"Free Trade Agreements" are about facilitating this transition.

The Lima Declaration of 1971 stated that developed countries should move assist underdeveloped countries by placing manufacturing there, with a target of 20% to be achieved by the year 2000. Currently, 80% of our manufacturing is off-shore.

This creates a job shortage in low level to unskilled jobs for that form of labour. Unemployment. It follows then, that while there is unemployment, that it drives the cost of labour down, in contrast to say the 1970's, when there were more jobs than the labour to fill them, forcing the price of labour up, to attract personnel.

Is any of this going to change towards the advantage of labour? It can't. The wheels are not only motion, but are at top speed. It's the way of the world.

Skilled and highly skilled labour are the path we're told to follow, but that doesn't help those that don't have the aptitude, or who for whatever reason, are unable to access training/qualifications.

That's the backdrop to the issues in a nutshell. I have no answers, outside of Australia looking towards being a service-oriented country, like tourism, that facilitates low level/non-skilled labour. Maybe we need to be creative for those at that end of the job spectrum.

Foxy, 'why do some people believe that the poor are in poverty because
they are lazy and prefer to live on "handouts?"'

Does observation over years count? For starters, there are thousands of Bogans who should get jobs. What about those layabouts on sit-dwon money in country towns, where all they are capable of is drinking booze and abusing travellers passing through?

As was said in another thread, none of my Asian friends can see any justification for taxing them to support other people who have the same opportunities and probably more since many people seem to be in receipt of free government services, including advice, counselling and even advocacy and lobbying on their behalf by taxpayer-funded NGOs.

If we are to be diversified and become a part of Asia as has been the direction of Australian governments for many years now, everyone has to get used to working for a quid and not expecting others to always be providing for them.

Shouldn't diversity be challenging the slackers who find it difficult to even show up at Centrelink and would never take up a job because every offer is below them? Meanwhile employers are forced to import workers to take care of locals who are too tired to even wash themselves for a job interview.