Daily Telegraph cons the public, incites hatred

The unvarnished facts gleaned from the Daily Telegraph You Pay: Tenants Rorting Public Housing are:

No. of tenants understating their income

by more than $80,000 = 1
by more than $1,000 = 11 (excluding the high flier above)
by between $500 and $1000 = 86
by less than $500 = 939

GRAND TOTAL = 1,037

No of tenants NOT understating their income:
(Approximate no of Social Housing tenants in NSW is 150,00)

= 150,000 - 1,037
= 148,963 (approx)

No. of tenants the Telegraph would like you to think are rorting the system:
Oh, most of them probably, if you look hard enough.

Exercises:

1. Compare and contrast with level of fraud perpetrated by other sectors of society, with special attention to corporate sector


2. Multiple Choice:
   (Choose as many as you like)
   What is the purpose of this article?

To stir up hatred and sell papers




To soften up the public to accept the first round of evictions on shorten term leases (assuming a lead time of 1 year)




To give a balanced report on the the policy black hole around housing affordability under the Howard Government's watch




To comfort the 70,000 unfortunates languishing on the housing waiting lists and encourage them to believe that problems would be speedily resolved if a few rorters were caught




To divide and rule the lower classes (and sell more papers)




Most of the above...

Ans: Your guess is as good as DH's

Check out the Tele's readers comments on the article. You will find that it has, pouring out of the woodwork, the usual suspects: Axegrinders, outraged taxpayers, and unfortunate naifs on the waiting lists who imagine that their misery would end simply by the elimination of the few thousand rorters. And of course, it's a great opportunity to incite the rednecks who are quite certain its all done by "New Australians". Race riots are always good sellers.

But DH must be honest:

Are there rorters in public housing?
Yes
Are there petty crims and drug dealers in public housing?
Yes.
Are there major crims and drug lords in public housing?
You gotta be joking! They live in the best suburbs of crse.
Are there more than were caught?
Yes
Does the Dept know of some of them?
Yes, because their neighbours are always reporting them.
Why does the Dept do nothing?
Just guessing about what goes on in the DOH black box, but local offices appear to be so understaffed and demoralised that they can't even organise basic non-emergency repairs, let alone evictions.
Why doesn't the NSW ALP do something about it?
Good question.
When will a wealthy country like Australia start putting in $$$ to ensure that all its citizens are housed adequately?
As soon as the Daily Telegraph gets a sense of social responsibility and stops inciting class hatred and downward envy.

And finally, whoever it was who earns more than $100,000. Obviously, they qualify for public housing purely on the grounds of mental illness. Why else would they stay?