A Christmas Carol for Our Times
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Elites:
Once referred to the aristocracy/ upper classes who had the gold and made the rules. Now refers to anyone who bases decisions on verifiable information and logic rather than resentment.
Reform:
Once meant a political change for the better. Now means demolition
Social security:
Once a form of insurance paid by workers and collected by the government on their behalf. Intended to provide security in the event of illness, disability, old age. Meant to to be contributed to by the elites via taxes, but mostly they manage to wriggle out of it. Nowadays, a dirty word.
Centralism masquerading as Anti-Socialism
Robbing the Poor to give to the Rich
Pandering to religious extremists
Pandering to racists
Robbing Women and Children
Robbing workers of hard won rights
The Wedgie Portfolio
Kafkalink
The big lie, spin, propaganda
Send in the army
Muzzling the press
Shaming Australia
Cricket
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Under the Governments welfare changes the income support paid to a single mother with two children will be cut by nearly $1,500 a year as a way of somehow encouraging her to seek work and give up full-time care of her children as young as eight years old. That is over $28 a week less to feed her children, even if she meets the Governments new work search test.
At the same time, the non-working partners of millionaires are eligible to receive up to $3,300 in welfare in return for them not seeking work and instead staying at home to care for their children.
According to the latest Brotherhood of St Laurence report, there are now 10-15% of Australian children living in poverty. Nice one for an economy that Peter Costello continues to grin about as never having been "stronger". Well now the mothers of these children will have $28 less a week to feed them.
The 708000 people on Disability Support pensions will get no additional support for training. If they are pushed from the Disability Support Pension onto Newstart, they will suffer a $46 per week cut in benefits. Welcome to America! And we all know how they treat their poor.
Lets not even mention how those who do get work and are in public housing will find themselves paying over 30% of their income in rent for largely ill-designed substandard housing, so that they can't possibly hope to save a cent, and then being asked to give up their homes despite having no savings with which to make the move. NICE ONE, NSW Labour!
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? AND WHO VOTED FOR THEM?
Shelter NSW Peak NGO in NSW advocating for people disadvantaged in housing markets
Shelter Australia as above for all Australia
AHURI The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Our House Swap an initiative by a public housing tenant to make it easier for other tenants to swap
Produced by Shelter NSW these fact sheet PDFs are an invaluable guide to the latest housing statistics