I live next door to a public housing estate in Far North Queensland. Since my wife passed on and I have been reduced to a single pension I struggle to make ends meet.
I have a friend who lives in the estate so I tend to spend a lot of time with him. We both receive the single old age pension. I have the cost of running a house which includes rates and insurances and I do not get a rent subsidy because I own the home.
My friend gets subsidized rent based on his pension income and that cannot exceed 25% of his pension rate. Financially he is much better off that I am and I certainly do not begrudge his lot.
Both of us have served the country in three wars respectively and I in the police force for twenty off years and he in fire brigade for a similar time. In our day superannuation was still a pipe dream.
Eighteen months ago the housing department did a deal with the health department to gazette the unit next door to my friend. A team of builders moved in and refurbished the place to a like new status at a considerable cost.
Next a team of decorators came along and fitted the unit out with all new white goods in the kitchen and new top of the range dining and lounge room fittings including the latest large flat screen TV and sound system. Carpet and rugs were next and finally a gardener cleaned up the front and back yard.
When my friend asked what was going on and could he have some minor repairs done he was told that this work was being done by and paid for by the Wuchopperen Indigenous Heath Care organization and he would have to talk to the housing department.

Cont. Now comes the insult to injury.
An indigenous man who was responsible for the death of his male partner who robbed the RSL here and a local bowling club of over $200,000 was moved from a secure criminal mental hospital in Chartres Towers and installed in the unit.
That was 18 months ago and daily sometimes twice he is visited by Wuchopperen staff and doctors and is given special drugs and hormones to assist him to have a sex change. It seems the courts took into account his psychological disposition of sexual identity to find him not criminally responsible. He spends most of his days smoking cigarettes and Marijuana and at night wanders around in the dark. Whenever he wants to go outside the complex he is personally escorted and driven by Wuchopperen staff.
It seems that Wuchopperen have numerous indigenous clients out of prison and in public housing for which they receive massive public funding. I am sure there are plenty of deserving aged persons out there that would die for a public housing unit.

Hello chrisgaff1000,
I'm sorry to hear your situation, it's not right.
It isn't equality, at best it's discrimination, and at worst racism.
I think the thing that bothers me most of all isn't the particulars, but the fact that I'm not surprised by it; and what it ultimately says about where we're at as a nation in this day and age.

At the very least you both deserve dignity and respect for the service you've given to your community and country and I don't see that you have been given that and I'm quietly outraged by the complete unfairness of it.

If I thought about the actual particulars for too long I'd probably have a lot more to say, and it wouldn't be pretty.

I may not agree with many of the wars, particularly in the modern era, but I'm thankful for the effort you made for our country so if no-one has thanked you and your friend lately, I will.
Thank-you both.

chrisgaff1000, I'm not familiar with the goings on in Queensland, but that would be an extreme case in NSW. There is a problem in Australia with the distribution of welfare, there is no question of that. I see things nearly everyday which defy belief, sometimes from private agencies. Some people who need immediate help are denied by the bureaucracy from getting it, and then the not so needy are given assistance indiscriminately.

To give you an example, a bloke on a Disability Support Pension, had a perfectly good large washing machine. Fronts a private charity, wanting to know if he can swap his large machine for something smaller. No problem, in a few days a small, brand new machine. still in the carton, is delivered and installed. The old good machine is taken away, he ask's what are you going to do with that machine, its perfectly good. Answer "take it to the tip!", Then in another few days a knock on the door, same two blokes, "we are here with you new cloths dryer. "I don't want, and I didn't ask for a cloths dryer, the lines are ok" Now he's got an unused, but brand new cloths dryer installed on the wall of his laundry.

Here Here !

Hi CHRISGAFF1000...

I'm utterly dumbfounded to hear of the terrible straits you've found yourself in, existing as it were, on just the single old age pension, since the sad passing of your dear wife. Particularly as you now have to upkeep your home, feed and clothe yourself, all of which has to come out of your single old age pension? I understand your firefighter mate is marginally better off than you are, nevertheless you're not envious of his better fortune, good luck to him.

While the poor ol' taxpayer is preparing and outfitting a dwelling nextdoor to your mate, now occupied by someone far less deserving than most, by all accounts, and somebody who should still be cooling his heels inside gaol by the sound of it.

So this bloke likes to roam around at night on his own, no doubt taking in the subtle fragrances of the flowers, that abound up your way Chris? I would think he needs to be carefully, lest someone produces a 12g and helps him with his gender reassignment or whatever it is, he wishes to become ?

You're a Vietnam Veteran, twenty plus years as a copper, yet you're required to subsist on a single old age pension ? Mate words fail me, they really do. Can DVA give you a hand in anyway ? I'm sorry Chris, I don't mean to sound disingenuous, as I'm sure you've canvased all your different options better than most I reckon ? Given all your protracted public service to this country, I'm buggered if I've ever seen such a glaring instance of inequity and rank unjustness, as your situation dictates my friend !

Take good care of yourself, and please stay in touch - empty words I know, but TRULY meant !

Ole Mate,
Don’t be too concerned about me.
My problems are self-made and self-managed.
I live like I do because I made that stupid mistake of letting the experts handle my money. The GFC came along. I went broke and they sailed through on their fees.
What pisses me off is that people who put nothing into the economic bin and never will get to take out more than those who have contributed.
It is time that the good solid backbone of this country stood up to their politicians and forced them to recognize the social damage they are causing by neglecting their Australian aging in favor of imported cultures.
When I walk through my local club and see 80% of the poker machines being played by social security recipients especially indigenous individuals straight out of the communities I hail the coming of Pauline Hanson and Nick Zenothon and the possibility of a card that limits this type of expenditure.
God knows I can barely make it from payday to payday so how the hell do they get to gamble every day and still drive as new 4x4s?

Hi there CHRISGAFF1000...

Whether some of your problems are self made or otherwise, you've paid your dues, served your Country and served the community in which we all safely live - Oh I forgot, paid an enormous amount of tax for all the penalty rates, OT and your salary, for all of your working life !

Most of these bastards have never earned even a days pay, paid a penny in tax and have achieved the only distinction of mastering a 4x4 Land Cruiser or similar, and initiated every way possible of successfully obtaining access to the welfare dollar !

Chris, we all make mistakes, many are of the financial nature, either over commit ourselves, incur too much debt, or whatever - but most of us learn from it, and extricate ourselves out of debt by denying ourselves those things that got us into debt in the first instance.

As I said in my first post, we live in a Nation of rank inequality, and it's simply not bloody well right ! Thinking of you ol' mate, and I hope your fortune(s) turns round for you very soon, until than take good care of yourself, OK.

I live next door to a public housing estate in Far North Queensland. Since my wife passed on and I have been reduced to a single pension I struggle to make ends meet.

The worst of all this is that if had the govt reserved for its own purposes; the right to create money out of thin air using the exact same method the banks use, the govt could create all the money it needs for its own purposes such as reasonable incomes for people on pensions or retired.

Because the govt did not reserve for itself (us actually)it now has to borrow the money from the bank. Tax is merely a fancy word to hide whats gone on and is still going on,

Before someone jumps up and down screaming about cant let govts print money or run away inflation, bear in mind that govt create about 5-10% of all the money in the Aust economy (bank notes and coins only) and the banks create 90-95%

Now also that govt debt is more a product of interest than spending more that what their getting in.

Read; The Remarkable Model Of The Commonwealth Bank Of Australia by Ellen Brown,

and "Banks Lie" by Australian Chris Fields, a bloke who had his house stolon by the bank.

Chris...OSW...yep my dear lady works here in Perth for an unnamed department of the WAPOL dealing with some of societies less palatable creatures. She has been helped into the car on more occasions than I'd care to mention when I pick her up from work, absolutely and utterly broken down by what she has had to read and deal with. Day in and day out reading about the offenders antecedents, broken home, blah blah blah, and then having to deal with the victims, the victims family & loved ones. This even before it has gone to court.

Everyone deserves a 'fair go' and a second chance as they say, everyone has their "rights" also...but it goes without saying the small lead pill would save the taxpayer a motza !

The rorts carried out by these organisations needed to be seen to be believed. You may remember the homes supposedly 'renovated' in an NT community a few years back ? Several $millions of taxpayers money allocated to help disadvantaged communities, construction companies awarded contracts and less than $70,000 of actual resources and materials went on the task of 'renovating' the said dwellings. All under the biggest fraud of recent times - "The Intervention" or as we called it in NORFORCE "Operation Reach Around" ( Op Outreach). An outfit called Territory Alliance was one of the biggest perpetrators of this travesty. There were many more examples like this one and it still continues under various guises, as Chris has related here on OLO.

Yes, a bloke should dab himself up with a can of 'Nugget' - apply for an ABN, then form a small construction company...a veritable license to print money.

Meanwhile the bloke who has served his country or state in uniform is chucked on the scrap heap. I'm calling BS and grabbing my superannuation next year...before the government sequesters it to pay back sovereign debts !

I'm sorry to hear about this kind of thing going on right where you stay. I'm just wondering whether you have brought up this issue to anyone else yet? I can only say that perhaps you could look into trying to turn your fortunes around a little by putting a bit aside into some savings bonds if you can spare a little cash out of your monthly pension and ignore the injustice going around you. No point being bitter about what's going on with others but focus on how to improve what you've got going for you. Rooting for you mate.

Good evening to you WEBBROWAN...

Your suggestion that Chris try and put a little aside each pension day is very meritorious indeed. The only trouble is, after he's met all his mandated obligations, rates, utilities, Rego, etc etc, he's probably not got a penny left in which to put away into Savings Bonds? A thoroughly good thought nevertheless.