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Post by immiadvice on Jan 28, 2013 9:45:25 GMT 7
LinkyIT'S the first day of Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt's plan to spend a week living on dole and he only has $42.24 left. The federal MP is living on the equivalent of the Newstart allowance to highlight the minor party concerns about its adequacy. It's part of a growing push to try get the Labor government to boost the unemployment benefit by at least $50 a week. Mr Bandt had to make a few assumptions when drawing up his budget for the week - such as pretending he's renting instead of paying a mortgage - to simulate what it would really be like. After accounting for rent on a flat in Melbourne (about $180 after $60 of rent assistance), $7 for petrol and the cost of everyday toiletries, he says he'll only have $42.24 left from the $246.30 weekly allowance. "How do people survive on $6.79 per day for food and other expenses?" he wrote on his blog on Monday. "This is already looking impossible." He plans to eat the cheapest items he can find, including porridge, cheese sandwiches and pasta or rice with tuna for dinner. "I am taking much of the advice that has been sent to me by people on Newstart," he said.
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Post by latindancer on Jan 28, 2013 17:41:40 GMT 7
This is going to be interesting....
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Post by peter on Jan 28, 2013 19:03:42 GMT 7
The problem is the Rent Allowance, not the Dole amount. Very few unemployed own their own accommodation so rent is the critical issue. If anything happens it will likely be an increase in the dole amount which will leave the underlying problem festering away underneath any celebration.
They may well increase the dole as an election gimmick, but that is all that it will be, a stunt.
The unaffordibilty of accommodation in Australia, will not be fixed by $50 a week dole increase.
The real problem is the vested interests of those who own property, together with the negative gearing rorts and no capital gains that makes it so profitable to own, together with continual immigration and refugee intakes, and the overseas student intakes, that guarantees that it remains profitable.
No government in prospect has got the principles to correct the social injustice of unafordable accommodation and those on the dole, will just have to get used to it.
$50 will be a bribe to keep them quiet and vote for their shafters who have now changed their uniforms into benefactors.
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Post by Banjo on Jan 29, 2013 4:02:38 GMT 7
I'd say that the unemployed cover the full spectrum of society.
The popular media depiction of the dole bludger who has never worked because he won't get out of bed would be more than countered by family people with mortgages who have lost their jobs through circumstances beyond their control.
As long as manufacturers close their factories and move operations overseas they will be a greater problem than the voluntarily unemployed.
Domestic property as an investment is out of control, we all knew the stereotypical southern European who owned four or five houses while the government encouraged him with things like negative gearing.
Now the community pays the price with ridiculous property values, young people face a lifetime of paying off huge mortgages and unemployment is catastrophic.
I rode out a year or so on the dole quite comfortably, my house was paid off, I had money from the sale of a business and my then wife had a part time job.... a little cash in hand here and there, no kids... this was definitely the other side of the NewStart coin.
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Post by latindancer on Jan 29, 2013 5:24:29 GMT 7
The problem is the Rent Allowance, not the Dole amount. Very few unemployed own their own accommodation so rent is the critical issue. If anything happens it will likely be an increase in the dole amount which will leave the underlying problem festering away underneath any celebration. They may well increase the dole as an election gimmick, but that is all that it will be, a stunt. The unaffordibilty of accommodation in Australia, will not be fixed by $50 a week dole increase. The real problem is the vested interests of those who own property, together with the negative gearing rorts and no capital gains that makes it so profitable to own, together with continual immigration and refugee intakes, and the overseas student intakes, that guarantees that it remains profitable. No government in prospect has got the principles to correct the social injustice of unafordable accommodation and those on the dole, will just have to get used to it. $50 will be a bribe to keep them quiet and vote for their shafters who have now changed their uniforms into benefactors. Excellent post ! Domestic property as an investment is out of control, we all knew the stereotypical southern European who owned four or five houses while the government encouraged him with things like negative gearing. Now the community pays the price with ridiculous property values, young people face a lifetime of paying off huge mortgages and unemployment is catastrophic. And well summed-up. I will probably never be able to own a house. My wife and I are condemned to moving from one rental property to another, for the rest of our lives. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2013 18:49:37 GMT 7
The problem is the Rent Allowance, not the Dole amount. Very few unemployed own their own accommodation so rent is the critical issue. If anything happens it will likely be an increase in the dole amount which will leave the underlying problem festering away underneath any celebration. They may well increase the dole as an election gimmick, but that is all that it will be, a stunt. The unaffordibilty of accommodation in Australia, will not be fixed by $50 a week dole increase. The real problem is the vested interests of those who own property, together with the negative gearing rorts and no capital gains that makes it so profitable to own, together with continual immigration and refugee intakes, and the overseas student intakes, that guarantees that it remains profitable. No government in prospect has got the principles to correct the social injustice of unafordable accommodation and those on the dole, will just have to get used to it. $50 will be a bribe to keep them quiet and vote for their shafters who have now changed their uniforms into benefactors. I'm totally with you here Pete, and if you run for parliament you will get my vote. I've been saying what you said here in private circles for years, once people start bragging about the rental properties they own, and allow people who can least afford to pay them off, I get my hackles up! But there the first to sit back and criticise the very system which allows the underprivileged to rent a home, and their all to willing to accept exorbitant rents and keep driving everything through the roof. Good post mate:)) Cheetal. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2013 4:37:33 GMT 7
from what i hear its the public housing rent that goes up first after any pay increases,gov give in one hand and take back with the other.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 5, 2013 10:29:58 GMT 7
Good luck to the older single white male who can get public housing, I was told it was a waste of time my even going on the list. The helpful lady at the office suggested a drug problem would even speed things up.
Oh, and the not so charming Centrelink officer who cut me off refused to accept it as a residency tie because "I knew I'd never get a place that way".
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Post by Denis-NFA on Feb 6, 2013 2:03:26 GMT 7
Bandt Back To Normal Green MP's dole experiment overDAYS after declaring he could not live on Newstart, Adam Bandt returned to life as a parliamentarian with a business-class fight to Canberra and service in the Chairman's Lounge. The Greens MP enjoyed a free coffee in the exclusive Qantas lounge in Melbourne before boarding his flight with his tax-payer funded business class ticket, which cost twice the amount a person on Newstart receives each week. Read more: www.news.com.au/money/cost-of-living/green-mps-dole-experiment-over/story-fnagkbpv-1226570333282#ixzz2K3LLUIJy |
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