Aidan and ttbn, I never said unemployment was high during the Menzies era, in fact it was low. The 1950's-60's was a boom period for the Australian worker, with sustained full employment proving wage growth, not seen previously. Menzies on more than one occasion referred to the desirability of a "pool of unemployed" his oft quoted figure at the time was 10%. In the context of those years, remembering unemployment approached 30% during the depression of the 1930's, 10% was not an unreasonable figure. The notion that Australia should strive for full employment only developed post war. As a conventional economic measure a 'pool of unemployed' was seen as desirable, and even accepted by the likes of the Labor Party as a natural economic condition. Although Menzies was a long serving post war PM, his political philosophy was very much prewar. The Australian post war economic boom, was not down to Menzies, but in spite of Menzies.

ttbn, interesting, when Menzies formed the Liberal Party he believed it would be an Australian model of the British Conservative Party, he named it The Liberal Party as he believed rightly, there was not enough class division in Australia and the name Conservative Party would not resonate with voters, He got that right, but no one told Corny Banana in 2017.

Menzies conservatism, when Australia changed over from pounds, shillings and pence, to dollars and cents in 1966, Menzies suggested that rather than call the new currency "Dollars" we should call them "Royals", that got a good laugh at the time.

Where does that come from?
rache,
That is a figure I pulled up by watching my surrounds over many years. If you disagee with them why not do your own observations by talking to everday people in everyday places in everyday jobs. You'll be surprised how the selfishness of people shows up like an infrared photo on a crime scene.
I have observed more selfishness in so-called ordinary people than in those who are generally associated with greed such as business people & manufacturing. I know it doesn't sound good because it isn't good, it's a fact that is swept & accumulates under the carpet & being out of sight equals being out of mind. Talk to any ordinary person in the street & the majority will give it away that they're no better & perhaps even more selfish than those whom they complain about.

That's why we need leaders who are committed to uphold & control us because we're incapable of controlling ourselves. We're not going to find them in the academic/lawyer circles, that much is now proven beyond reasonable doubt.

It is my understanding that the card is to be given to ALL welfare recipients, including disability and pensions. In fact, I know a guy who is on a disability pension, very deserving due to a workplace accident, and circumstances, and he is doing up an old bus. He is doing as much as he can because once the card comes out he will be very restricted to the amount of cash he can withdraw. It is intended to be his home.

As for pensioners, if they have any additional income then they can draw on that for the likes of tobacco grog and gambling. If they rely solely on the pension, then that's life I guess.

As for the 5 to 10% doing the right thing, I guess if you look at most committees, the numbers are similar as it's usually 50 to 10 % who do the work, with the others either enjoying the benefits, or finding ways to extract more than their fair share. It's life unfortunately.

rehctub,
This why Centrelink needs to be shaken up to no end. They need to look at individual cases not throw all into one basket.
I just wish Turnbull & Shorten & their underlings had enough integrity to care about the people they preside over & actually say to themselves "gee, we're not doing a good job are we, let's get into it".
I have a friend who used his big boat to make a living but now he can only sell it for peanuts if he does eventually get a buyer.. Centrelink deems the boat an asset whilst to him it is a huge liability. Centrelink, or rather the Government has to sort such nonsense out. Pensioners who want to have a reasonable retirement such as having a boat & a car, are considered as having too much in assets to get the pension. I'm not talking about luxury items, I'm talking about boats & cars which the people have built themselves over the years leading up to retirement.

During these times they paid Tax on every bit of material they bought & now the Government says they have too much. Yet, those who p....d everything up against the wall even get rent assistance on top of their pension. Something doesn't add up.
If you can make something in your spare time with your money & you're using it then it should not be deemed an asset until it gets sold & only if you make a profit.

Indi my view on pensions are very different as in my opinion the pension one receives should be based on the contributions one make during their working life, a 'reward for effort' rather than being punished for your efforts as it is now.

rehctub,
I totally agree. There was a 7.5% pension Tax that disappeared from view a couple or three decades ago. The Tax didn't go down though. That's why I have raved on about Flat Tax & negative gearing. One we need the other we need to get rid of. You quite rightly said reward for effort. Not reward for opportunism & connivery.
When you consider how much Tax we pay from income to spending & buying, the average blue collar worker has paid his fair share to be rewarded with the old age pension.
Superannuation should be separate altogether for those who want it & they can put the money towards it.
Apart from affording workers a decent existence in retirement, an old age pension is also a catalyst for local economies. Reduce the pensio & the local economy drops.
What a lot of small business operators forget when they say the old age pension should be self-funded is, that blue collar wage earners don't have the luxury of commercial welfare i.e. writing off as much as they can so as to pay as little tax as possible.