I'm resurrecting my blog. I had an idea when I started the blog and that idea was emphasized in the blogs name. I'm a big fan of horror movies and horror stories in general, and in old horror fables there was a concept that as the sun rose a cockerel would cry and that sound would dispel the evil of the night. It was a symbol of the coming light and a change in the outlook for the protagonists. A bit grandiose right? I guess I didn't mean for my blog to dispel all the evils and change the world for everyone but I did want to challenge what I perceived to be shitty ideals and actions of others that are dark stains on my view of the world. So I guess if we share some of the same perceptions you may like this blog.
So this got my goat up a little today. LNP plan to limit dole payments to a max of 6 months.
Like most Aussies I understand why this would be appealing. The Aussie Culture is all about the Battler, the working class bloke or sheila slogging it out to put food on the table and keep the lights on for their family. It's something we're all quietly proud of. Something we're not proud of is the "dole bludger". We seem to have a class of people who are constantly unemployed, never look for jobs and happy to take out all these government hand-outs paid for by the previously mentioned Battlers. The dole bludgers complain about how little they have while sporting new tattoos, dragging on cigarettes and "getting their nails done". They do nothing all day and are using these hand-outs for what is most definitely a luxury! It's more than a little irksome, it's downright insulting. The Battlers work all week and slip in to the pub on a Friday arvo for a well earned ale to see the bludgers already sitting there on their 3rd beer having earning fucking nothing! That's enough to piss anyone off.
The LNP understand this and are playing right to it. They're buying the support of working class by slamming those are causing such an offense. They're not actually making it easier for the working class, just throwing a little band at the problem instead. What most people don't see is the 6 billion dollar tax dodge by multinational companies operating in Australia. That's 6 billion that could be pumped into our economy! Why aren't the LNP, or any party for that matter, supporting a close on those loopholes? My guess is visibility. I don't head down to my local for a swift pint and see Mr Multinational CEO sitting in the corner sipping on a cognac while putting a few thousand bucks on the Keno. Sure when I read about it in the news I get pissed off but that anger diminishes fairly quickly without the constant reminder.
I'm all for fixing our welfare system. Fixing it does not mean putting a hard limit on the time people can draw on the dole because the reality is some people need it. Fixing it is initiatives that encourage education. Fixing it would be ensuring they don't spend it on shit like $200 haircuts. A random idea, how about a dole card instead of a dole payment. A card that only works at supermarkets (exlcuding cigarettes and alcohol), clothing stores, bill payments, etc. Don't make it all work and no play, they still can get a bit of spending cash but I don't see why dole bludgers should be sending their kids to school in hand me down clothes while they sit at home watching $120 a month premium subscription TV packages! Priorities people! There's probably flaws in that plan too but it's something far more workable that a time limit.
See? It's a subject that's in our faces and easy to get emotional about. I'm ranting about it again and it's not even the point of my blog. The point of my blog is this. Logic before emotion. The welfare system can and is being be rorted, but not all welfare recipients are doing that. The tax system can and is being rorted and all the companies doing that are doing so on purpose. Don't screw over the people who need welfare just to get back at a few jerks. Instead, fix the welfare system, go hard on the multinational tax dodgers and invest a shit load into Aussie schools.
Cock-a-doodle-doooo.
