Hasbeen,

It used to be that if you lived within 90 minutes drive from work, fruit-picking, sheep-dagging, milking, hole-digging, whatever, you couldn't get any Unemployment. Benefit. Fair enough.

That's how it was when I first started fruit-picking and since I wanted more money than the UB provided, with a wife and two kids, it was fine with me. With no car, I hitched to various regions and picked, then hitched back home some weekends.

If young people did that sort of thing for a 'gap year' - and it may be the only time in their lives when they will EVER do manual work - then they may gain some appreciation for how this country was built, and for the people with few other options but lifelong hard, manual labour. Not that there is much of that these days, but we live in hope.

You could call it a form of national service if you like. Either way, young people would perhaps value uni and further education - or life in general - more highly. Plus see the country, and how stuff is made (not always in a factory by overseas labour), AND as the Big Mac says, find the love of their lives. They could do worse.

Joe

Unemployment must not be allowed to continue as a chosen alternative income.
Homelessness can be solved by a National Service scheme.
No-one should be exploited just as those who chose not to work should not be allowed to exploit welfare.
A National Service will bring about a better mentality !
A new slogan should be;
"Didn't serve a term of National Service ?
"Don't expect to land a job in the Public Service !"

Dear Individual,

You have raised this topic time and again.

- and I told you time and again that the idea of forcing people to work is sickening and amounts to slavery.

I cannot trust that this time you are motivated by a genuine concern for farm producers. Rather, I sense that your true motive is of nation-building by instilling feelings of national identity in young people, as your latest slogan betrayed: «A National Service will bring about a better mentality !».

Fortunately your evil plot will never be accepted by parliament and is also full of loopholes as you declared that:

«Anyone 17 or older & unemployed should have to work for at least a season as part of easing into a National Sercvice scheme.»

Well, what stops a young person (especially students who live with their parents and only concentrate on their school/university studies) from faking being employed, say by asking their uncle (who needs no workers) to formally employ them, then hand back their "salary" to their uncle?

And... are you going to have the military-police shoot any youngsters who attempt to escape the farms/gulags?

Actually, everyone should be making decisions for their own life ahead, just don't expect others to support you for not wanting to pull your weight.
A term of National Service should be the minimum entry requirement for the privilege to joining the Public Service .
The corruption & incompetence would drop significantly thus leaving taxpayer Dollars for where they're really needed & of good use.
Don't like doing NS, test your competence by competing in private enterprise !
As I stated earlier, to start off, only unemployed young people should be required to join & learn basic skills. Skills they have no hope in attaining on the steps of Centrelink ! Once the value of a NS becomes more & more obvious, new rules can be put in place. There's no need for a full-blown NS from Day 1, just start it & let it build & develop according to the economic state of the Nation ! The first lot of inductees can start building the infrastructure for those to follow ! The NS could be an employer for some ex Defence/Police personnel.
I have no publishable ideas as to how to deal with the Yuyutsus of this nation !

"Actually, everyone should be making decisions for their own life ahead, just don't expect others to support you for not wanting to pull your weight.", says individual the pensioner!

Perhaps a variation of the National Service idea might work.
Those young people on the dole could be offered if they come with a
mate two return tickets to a region where labour is needed.
They could be allocated a farmer to work for and they would get the
next dole payment as well, provided they worked for long enough.
Centrelink should have info on farmers in need already.
I feel that they might be more inclined to take it up if they could go with a mate.