Not content with last year's omnibus bill, Turnbull unleashed his inner b@stard on the poor again in 2017

Pick a paragraph, almost any paragraph - if you are from a working class family someone you care about is likely to find themselves affected.

The First Omnibus Bill……

Turnbull Government, Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016 as passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate on 15 September 2016, assented to 16 September 2016:

Summary

Amends:

the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to establish a minimum repayment threshold for HELP debts of two per cent when a person’s income reaches $51 957 from the 2018-19 financial year; and replace the Higher Education Grants Index with the consumer price index for the purposes of indexing all grants and regulated student contribution amounts; the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to discontinue the HECS-HELP benefit from 1 July 2017;

the Social Security Act 1991, Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, Farm Household Support Act 2014 and Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to discontinue the job commitment bonus;

the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011 to reduce the agency’s available appropriation;

the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 to pause the income thresholds for the Medicare levy surcharge and the government rebate on private health insurance for a further three years from 1 July 2018;

the National Health Reform Act 2011 to abolish the National Health Performance Authority; the Aged Care Act 1997 to: increase the secretary’s compliance powers in relation to reviews of care recipient appraisals submitted by aged care providers to receive Commonwealth subsidies;

abolish adviser and administrator panel arrangements; and require approved providers to notify the secretary of certain changes to any key personnel in certain circumstances;

the Age Discrimination Act 2004, Dental Benefits Act 2008 and Human Services (Medicare) Act 1973 to close the Child Dental Benefits Schedule from 31 December 2016 and establish the Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme from 1 January 2017;

the Social Security Act 1991, Social Security Legislation Amendment (Newly Arrived Resident’s Waiting Periods and Other Measures) Act 1997 and Farm Household Support Act 2014 to remove the exemption from the 104 week newly arrived resident’s waiting period for new migrants who are family members of Australian citizens or long-term permanent residents;

the Social Security Act 1991, Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 and Student Assistance Act 1973 to cease the student start-up scholarship payment from 1 July 2017;

five Acts to apply an interest charge to outstanding debts owed by former recipients of social welfare payments who have failed to enter into, or have not complied with, an acceptable repayment arrangement;

five Acts to enable the making of departure prohibition orders to prevent certain social welfare debtors from leaving the country;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999, Paid Parental Leave Act 2010, Social Security Act 1991 and Student Assistance Act 1973 to remove the six-year limit on welfare debt recovery; the Social Security Act 1991 and Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 to provide that parental leave payments and dad and partner pay payments are included in the income test for income support payments;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999, Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and Social Security Act 1991 to change the way fringe benefits are treated under the income tests for family assistance and youth income support payments and for related purposes; the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to align carer allowance and carer payment start day provisions;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 and Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 to pause indexation for family tax benefit (FTB) Part A, the primary earner income limit for FTB Part B and the Paid Parental Leave income limit for a further three years from 1 July 2017;

the Social Security Act 1991 and Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 to remove the pension income and assets test exemptions currently available to pensioners in aged care who rent out their former home and pay their aged care accommodation costs by periodic payments;

the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 and Social Security Act 1991 to remove the exemption from the income test for FTB Part A recipients and the exemption from the parental income test for certain dependent young people receiving youth allowance and ABSTUDY living allowance;

the Social Security Act 1991 to provide that certain persons cannot be paid social security payments when they are in psychiatric confinement because they have been charged with a serious offence;

six Acts to prevent new recipients of welfare payments or concession cards from being paid the energy supplement from 20 March 2017;

the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to reduce the refundable and non-refundable rates of the tax offset available under the research and development tax incentive for the first $100 million of eligible expenditure;

six Acts to require larger entities to provide payroll and superannuation information at the time it is created through the single touch payroll reporting framework; and

the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 to create a single appeal path for the review of original determinations made by the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.

The Second Omnibus Bill……

Turnbull Government, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Omnibus Savings and Child Care Reform) Bill 2017, presented in the House of Representatives, 8 February 2017:

A Bill for an Act to amend the law relating to family assistance, social security, paid parental leave, veterans’ entitlements, military rehabilitation and compensation and farm household support, and for related purposes

Explanatory Memorandum, excerpt:

This bill contains the following Schedules:

1. Payment rates

The family tax benefit Part A standard fortnightly rate will be increased by $20.02 for each FTB child in the family aged up to 19. An equivalent rate increase, of around $19.37 per fortnight, will apply to youth allowance and disability support pension recipients aged under 18 and living at home. These increases will apply from 1 July 2018.

2. Family tax benefits Part B rate

From 1 July 2017, the Bill will introduce a reform to family tax benefit Part B that removes entitlement to FTB Part B for single parent families who are not single parents aged 60 or more or grandparents or great-grandparents, from 1 January of the calendar year their youngest child turns 17.

3. Family tax benefit supplements

This Schedule will phase out the family tax benefit Part A supplement for families with an adjusted taxable income of $80,000 a year or less by reducing it to $602.25 a year from 1 July 2016, and to $302.95 a year from 1 July 2017. It will then be withdrawn from 1 July 2018. The family tax benefit Part A supplement has already been withdrawn for families with an adjusted taxable income over $80,000 a year under the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Act 2016. The family tax benefit Part B supplement will also be phased out. It will be reduced to $302.95 a year from 1 July 2016, and to $153.30 a year from 1 July 2017. It will then be withdrawn from 1 July 2018.

4. Jobs for Families Child Care Package

The purpose of Schedule 4 is to introduce key aspects of the Jobs for Families Child Care Package, as announced in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 Budget. The Schedule will, through the introduction of a new Child Care Subsidy and other enhancements, deliver a simpler, more affordable, more flexible and more accessible child care system for families.

5. Proportional payments of pensions outside Australia

This Schedule reduces from 26 weeks to six weeks the period during which age pension, and a small number of other payments with unlimited portability, can be paid outside Australia at the basic means-tested rate. 4 After six weeks, payment will be adjusted according to the length of the pensioner’s Australian working life residence.

6. Pensioner education supplement

This Schedule ceases pensioner education supplement from the first 1 January or 1 July after the day the Act receives Royal Assent.

7. Education entry payment

This measure ceases the education entry payment from the first 1 January or 1 July after the Act receives Royal Assent.

8. Indexation

This Schedule implements the following changes to Australian Government payments:

· maintain at level for three years from 1 July of the first financial year beginning on or after the day this Act receives Royal Assent the income free areas for all working age allowances (other than student payments) and for parenting payment single; and

· maintain at level for three years from 1 January of the first calendar year beginning on or after the day this Act receives Royal Assent the income free areas and other means test thresholds for student payments, including the student income bank limits.

9. Close the energy supplement to new welfare recipients

This Schedule ceases, from 20 September 2017, payment of the energy supplement to recipients who were not receiving a welfare payment on 19 September 2016 and closes the energy supplement to new welfare recipients from 20 September 2017.

10.Stopping the payment of pension supplement after six weeks overseas

This Schedule will stop the payment of pension supplement after six weeks temporary absence overseas and immediately for permanent departures.

11.Automation of income stream review processes

This Schedule will allow for the automation of the regular income stream review process by enabling the Secretary to require income stream providers to transfer a dataset to the Department of Human Services (DHS) on a regular basis. 5

12.Seasonal horticultural work income exemption

Schedule 12 to the Bill provides a social security income test incentive aimed at increasing the number of job seekers who undertake specified seasonal horticultural work, such as fruit picking.

13.Ordinary waiting periods

This Schedule makes amendments to extend and simplify the ordinary waiting period for working age payments.

14.Age requirements for various Commonwealth payments

This Schedule provides that young unemployed people aged 22 to 24 would no longer be eligible for newstart allowance or sickness allowance until they turn 25 years of age and would, instead, be able to claim and qualify for youth allowance. To enable this, youth allowance for all types of people who can satisfy the activity test, will be available to people who have not yet reached 25.

15.Income support waiting periods

This Schedule introduces a four-week waiting period, for job ready young people who are looking for work, to receive income support payments. During this fourweek period, job seekers under 25 years of age who have been classified as job ready (Stream A) by the Job Seeker Classification Instrument will also be required to complete assigned activities, through a new program, RapidConnect Plus, that will help them prepare for and find work.

16.Other waiting period amendments (Rapid Activation of young job seekers)

This Schedule implements the Rapid Activation of young job seekers 2015-16 Budget measure.

17.Adjustments for Primary Carer Pay

This and the following Schedule introduce the revised arrangements for the Paid Parental Leave scheme announced in the 2015-16 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook and previously introduced in the Fairer Paid Parental Leave Bill 2016, which will now be withdrawn. The measure is changed in that the maximum PPL period for which a person may be paid parental leave pay is increased from the current 18 weeks to 20 weeks. The measure will commence on the first 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October that is 9 months after the date the Act receives royal assent, with an earliest commencement date of 1 January 2018.

18.Employer Opt-In (PPL) Schedule

18 removes the employer paymaster role in administering the Paid Parental Leave scheme.

Australian Financial Review graphic, 9 February 2017:

A Plea to see reason……

Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), media release, 8 February 2017:

ACOSS urges Parliament to reject latest attempt to cut incomes of poorest in new Omnibus Bill

ACOSS today urged the Federal Parliament to stand firm against measures in the new Government Omnibus Bill that will cut the incomes of some of the poorest people, including families, to fund child care reforms.

“This is the latest attempt by the Government to push through harsh cuts that will rip $7 billion from the social security budget. It includes previously rejected ‘zombie’ measures, such as the five-week wait for unemployment payments, further cuts to family payments, and abolition of the energy supplement, which will slash the incomes of two million future recipients of income support,” said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie.

“The so-called concessions the Government has made will be wiped out by other changes in the Bill, leaving many low-income people worse off.

“Of course we all want greater support for families to get better quality childcare but it cannot be funded on the backs of some of the most disadvantaged people in our country.

“This is not the way to build a strong community – caring for each other through all stages of our lives has served our nation well. This new bill risks weakening our social fabric.

“The increase to the Family Tax Benefit Part A for families with children by $10 a week does not make up for cuts to the supplements. A sole parent with two children aged 13 and 15 will still lose between $14 and $20 per week, or around $1,000 a year.

“Although this is less of a hit than under the previous proposal, it will still severely impact single parents, most of whom are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and feed their children as well as provide for them in the new school year.

“We are concerned the new Bill also includes unfair measures previously and repeatedly rejected by Federal Parliament and the broader community, such as making young people who become unemployed wait five weeks to receive income support.  This measure will not create jobs and merely punishes people who lose one.

“Abolishing the energy supplement will cut between $4-$7 a week from people on the lowest incomes, including pensioners, students, families, and people locked out of paid work.

“We have been consistent in our opposition to any watering down of paid parental leave and oppose any weakening of the current system, which currently ranks second to last in the OECD.

“This zombie Bill would only serve to increase poverty and inequality in Australia and Parliament must reject it,” Dr Goldie said.

More information on ‘zombie’ measures:

http://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Quick-guide-to-zombie-bills.pdf

"I know words, I have the best words."

Now that Donald John Trump has been certified by at least 270 of the 538 members the US Electoral College, there is no getting away from the fact that come 20 January 2017 the most powerful nation in the world will be ruled by an incredibly ignorant man with an inflated opinion of his own abilities.

Trump has said of himself “I went to an Ivy League school, I’m very highly educated, I know words, I have the best words.”

One has to wonder if family wealth purchased his college degree, because his command of the English language is nothing short of woeful for a college graduate.

His grammar and word choice appears never to have developed beyond that of the average eight to nine year-old Australian child while his spelling is best described as highly erratic.

A charitable person might suggest that Trump’s use of language is the result of the political choices he made during the presidential election campaign and is geared to a belief that American voters are uneducated and downright stupid.

However his spelling gives the game away. He is not faking ignorance, he is ignorant.

Anyone could be forgiven these typos – after all who hasn’t suffered from ‘fat thumb’:

However, errors such as these indicate a man who never really learned the basics:

Unpresidented for unprecedented, waite for wait, rediculous instead of ridiculous, Phillies for Phyllis, creats instead of creates, there for their and moch for mock, all give the general impression that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump rarely has the best words.

The 7th Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report released today

Australian Government, Productivity Commission, 17 November 2016:

In April 2002, the Council of Australian Governments commissioned the Steering Committee to produce a regular report against key indicators of Indigenous disadvantage. The Steering Committee is advised by a working group made up of representatives from all Australian governments, the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report measures the wellbeing of Australia's Indigenous peoples. The report provides information about outcomes across a range of strategic areas such as early child development, education and training, healthy lives, economic participation, home environment, and safe and supportive communities. The report examines whether policies and programs are achieving positive outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

The most recent edition of the report is, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2016, released on Thursday 17 November 2016.

ABC News, 17 November 2016:

The report points to a failure of policy and oversight, with the commission estimating only 34 of 1,000 Indigenous programs are been properly evaluated by authorities.

Productivity Commission deputy chair Karen Chester told the ABC's AM program the findings are a wake up call for all levels of government about the reality of Indigenous wellbeing and whether the $30 billion budget is being properly spent.

"You want to know that money is being spent not just in terms of bang for buck for taxpayers, but that we're not short-changing Indigenous Australians," Ms Chester said.

"Of over a thousand policies and programs, we could only identify 34 across the whole of Australia that have been robustly and transparently evaluated.

"At the end of the day, we can't feign surprise that we're not seeing improvement across all these wellbeing indicators if we're not lifting the bonnet and evaluating if the policies and programs are working or not."

The report is being billed by the commission as "compulsory reading" and the most comprehensive report on Indigenous wellbeing undertaken in Australia….

But Ms Chester says it was now up to state, territory and federal governments to take the report on board to determine what is working and what is failing.

"I think the clock has been ticking for a while already," Ms Chester said.

"We have the data, we have the analysis and we know what indicators are linked to the others."

While the report includes case studies of examples of "things that work", it says the small number available underscores the lack of Indigenous programs that are being rigorously evaluated for effectiveness.

Excerpt from Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2016:

Key points

 This report measures the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and was produced in consultation with governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Around 3 per cent of the Australian population are estimated as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin (based on 2011 Census data).  Outcomes have improved in a number of areas, including some COAG targets. For indicators with new data for this report: – Mortality rates for children improved between 1998 and 2014, particularly for 0<1 year olds, whose mortality rates more than halved (from 14 to 6 deaths per 1000 live births). – Education improvements included increases in the proportion of 20–24 year olds completing year 12 or above (from 2008 to 2014-15) and the proportion of 20–64 year olds with or working towards post-school qualifications (from 2002 to 2014-15). – The proportion of adults whose main income was from employment increased from 32 per cent in 2002 to 43 per cent in 2014-15, with household income increasing over this period. – The proportion of adults that recognised traditional lands increased from 70 per cent in 2002 to 74 per cent in 2014-15.  However, there has been little or no change for some indicators. – Rates of family and community violence were unchanged between 2002 and 2014-15 (around 22 per cent), and risky long-term alcohol use in 2014-15 was similar to 2002 (though lower than 2008). – The proportions of people learning and speaking Indigenous languages remained unchanged from 2008 to 2014-15.  Outcomes have worsened in some areas. – The proportion of adults reporting high levels of psychological distress increased from 27 per cent in 2004-05 to 33 per cent in 2014-15, and hospitalisations for self-harm increased by 56 per cent over this period. – The proportion of adults reporting substance misuse in the previous 12 months increased from 23 per cent in 2002 to 31 per cent in 2014-15. – The adult imprisonment rate increased 77 per cent between 2000 and 2015, and whilst the juvenile detention rate has decreased it is still 24 times the rate for non-Indigenous youth.  Change over time cannot be assessed for all the indicators — some indicators have no trend data; some indicators report on service use, and change over time might be due to changing access rather than changes in the underlying outcome; and some indicators have related measures that moved in different directions.  Finally, data alone cannot tell the complete story about the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, nor can it fully tell us why outcomes improve (or not) in different areas. To support the indicator reporting, case studies of 'things that work' are included in this report (a subset in this Overview). However, the relatively small number of case studies included reflects a lack of rigorously evaluated programs in the Indigenous policy area.

Butterflies in the Clarence Valley, Overview Presentation, 5.30pm Monday 19 September 2016 Grafton Primary School, Queen St, Grafton

Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition, 11 September 2016:

EARTH MATTERS - Butterflies in the Clarence Valley

In the fourth Earth Matters session of the year Fig Forest, Landcare Project Officer, local botanic expert and butterfly enthusiast, will give an overview of the basic ecology of butterflies. He will talk about the 110 species, mainly from the Clarence Valley, that he has observed, identified, researched and photographed.

Fig’s presentation will cover what plants to use to attract butterflies to your garden, how to identify the butterflies you have and what butterflies feed on and more.

Earth Matters is a session on environmental issues which is conducted every two months by the Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition in conjunction with the Clarence Environment Centre.

Time: 5.30 pm, Monday September 19.  Venue: Staffroom, Grafton Primary School, Queen St, Grafton.

Young Libs foul their political nest again

The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 July 2016:

This article excerpt was removed due to a confidential defamation settlement between Fairfax and unidentified parties.

Note that the details of this web address registration were altered on 28 July 2016

Australian Federal Election 2016: something is seriously wrong when private school students get more in government support than the government's own students

The Australian Constitution grants the Commonwealth no specific powers in relation to education. Nevertheless under Section 96 of the Constitution it has partially funded government and non-government schools since the Menzies era, with recurrent funding for private school students beginning in 1970 under Liberal Prime Minister John Gorton.

Some of these private schools belong to organizations holding considerable wealth. The Sydney Catholic archdiocese alone controls funds worth more than $1.2 billion and has regularly made multi-million dollar tax-free profits and nationally the Australian Catholic Church is thought to be worth an est. $100 billion.

On 18 May 2016 The Age reported on the growth in that federal government funding for non-government schools:

Something is seriously wrong when private school students get more in government support than the government's own students. Just as it is when private superannuants get more in government support than the government's own pensioners.

Yet it's happening, and neither side of politics wants to talk about it.

You can check out examples in your own suburb by scouring the MySchool website.

In Balwyn, the government-run Balwyn Primary gets $7214 of government funds per student, while down the road the privately run St Bede's Parish Primary gets $7974, plus what it charges parents.

In Preston, Newlands Primary gets $10,362 but Sacred Heart gets $11,488. In Spotswood, Spotswood Primary gets $8008 while St Margaret Mary's gets $11397. In Ballarat, Ballarat North Primary gets $8158 while St Patrick's gets $8499.

That's by no means a complete list, and the schools I have mentioned are roughly matched for size and socio-economic status.

Right now, on average, Catholic and independent private schools get less per student than government schools, but if present trends continue they'll overtake government schools in four years. An analysis by a former president of the NSW Secondary Principals Council, Chris Bonnor, and education researcher Bernie Shepherd entitled Private School, Public Cost finds that by 2020 the typical Catholic student will receive $850 more than the typical government student, and the typical independent student $100 more.

In the Lower Clarence Valley (Page electorate) on the NSW North Coast similar examples can be found.

St. James Primary School, Yamba NSW – total enrolments 102 pupils

Net recurrent income 2014			$ Total					$ Per student
		Australian Government recurrent funding		969,340					10,536
		State/territory government recurrent funding		207,246					2,253
		Fees, charges and parent contributions		98,101					1,066
		Other private sources		55,836					607
		Total gross income (excluding income from government capital grants)			1,330,523			14,462

Yamba Public School, Yamba NSW- total enrolment 386 pupils

Net recurrent income 2014			$ Total					$ Per student
		Australian Government recurrent funding		607,352					1,586
		State/territory government recurrent funding		3,030,464					7,912
		Fees, charges and parent contributions		86,124					225
		Other private sources		7,982					21
		Total gross income (excluding income from government capital grants)			3,731,922				9,744

St Joseph's PrimarySchool, Maclean, NSW - total enrolments 103 pupils

Net recurrent income 2014				$ Total					$ Per  student
			Australian Government recurrent funding		1,346,008				9,970
			State/territory government recurrent funding		540,393				4,003
			Fees, charges and parent contributions		150,565				1,115
			Other private sources		56,717				420
			2,093,683							15,509

MacleanPublic School, Maclean, NSW - total enrolments 183 pupils

Net recurrent income 2014			$ Total							$ Per student
		Australian Government recurrent funding		366,999				1,932
		State/territory government recurrent funding		1,738,097				9,148
		Fees, charges and parent contributions		61,132				322
		Other private sources		42,194				222
		Total gross income (excluding income from government capital grants)			2,208,421				11,623