The Abbott 'Christian' Mafia Strikes Again

Sex workers, table-top dancers, strippers – possibly even artists’ models – are being discriminated against under this Abbott Government policy.

The Australian 7 August 2014:

Sex workers and table-top dancers who lose their jobs will not be eligible for a reduction in the number of months they have to wait before they can get the dole, sparking accusations the Abbott government is imposing moral judgments on the social welfare system.

Even unemployed people who claim they have worked by running for public office will have to wait longer than others to get the Newstart Allowance.

Welfare Rights has written a submission to the government, declaring its outrage at the “moral judgments” being made in new rules.

Other concerns raised by Welfare Rights in its submission include new rules that make unemployed people spend their savings — before the six-month waiting period for the dole even begins. Welfare Rights says the treatment of the Liquid Assets Waiting Period (LAWP) is particularly unfair.

Under changes unveiled in the May budget, those younger than 30 will be cut off the dole for six months. If they enrol in a course, they can apply for a lower welfare payment to study.

The waiting period for New­start will reduce depending on past employment. The reduction will be a month for every year of prior work, except for school leavers; otherwise no income support will be provided. Part-time employment would also be recognised on a pro-rata basis.

In the explanatory memorandum for the bill circulated by Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews, the waiting period for “gainful work” would operate differently for different categories of work.

“Gainful work is defined to mean any work for financial gain or reward,” it says. “As examples, the minister could provide that particular kinds of gainful work do not cause a reduced waiting period if the work: does not involve a substantial degree of consistent personal exertion; consists of domestic or gardening tasks in relation to the place of residence of the person or a member of their family; consists of the management of financial investments in which the person or a member of their family has an interest; involves nudity or is in the sex industry; or is for the purpose of achieving election of the person to public office.”

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption Operation Spicer Inquiry witness list for week commencing 11 August 2014 - witness cheat sheet

NSW Independent Commission  Against Corruption Operation Spicer Public Inquiry witness list for week commencing 11 August 2014:

Monday 11 August 2014

Tim Owen – former Newcastle Liberal MP now sitting on the crossbenches due to ICAC allegations

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Hugh Thomson – Newcastle lawyer and former 2011 election campaign manager for Tim Owen MP

Wednesday 13 August 2014

Hilton Grugeon – millionaire NSW property developer and owner of the Hunter Advantage company

Thursday 14 August 2014

Jeff McCloy – Newcastle Lord Mayor and property developer

Keith Stronach – Newcastle-based property developer and managing director of the family business Stronach Property Pty Limited

Bill Saddington – managing director of the family business P.W. Saddington & Sons Pty Ltd building supplies

David Mingay – founder of the Daracon Group which made political donations to Tim Owens 2011 election campaign

Michael Tyler - former chairman of the Newcastle Knights and father to DeanTyler

Friday 15 August 2014

Robyn Parker – NSW Liberal MP for Maitland and former NSW Minister for the Environment

Rolly De With – Newcastle businessman and managing director of the Junction Hotel, former Newcastle Alliance board member

Paul Murphy – Newcastle businessman and chairman of the lobby group the Newcastle Alliance

Nick Dan – managing partner at Bilbie Dan: Solicitors & Attorneys, director Newcastle Knights' Members ‘Club Ltd and chair of its board, chair of Barrington Resources Pty. Ltd which holds magnetite licences for deposits in the Hunter, Tamworth, Scone regions

Tracy McKelligott – managing director at Eclipse Media and Newcastle Alliance board member

APN Newspapers: spot the fast disappearing news content

The Northern Star newspaper must have a death wish, because wall-to-wall advertorials replacing news content on "Local News" pages in its issues is not a good look and won't encourage readers to handover their money for a copy of this 138 year-old paper.

It's 155 year-old stablemate, The Daily Examiner appears to have a similar urge to alienate readers by filling pages with thinly disguised advertising. However, at least this newspaper placed this particular example in the business section.

* Thanks to Clarrie Rivers for supplying these e-paper snaphots

The Abbott Code Explained - Part Three

The Abbott Code

Dept of Social Services Commonwealth Home Support Programme:

Support at home is key to helping older people remain at home and in their community for longer.

From 1 July 2015, the Australian Government will launch the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, which is central to the aged care reforms, and will support the development of an end-to-end aged care system.

The existing Commonwealth HACC Program, the National Respite for Carers Program, the Day Therapy Centres Program and potentially the Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged Program, will be combined under a single streamlined Commonwealth Home Support Programme to provide basic maintenance, care, support and respite services for older people living in the community, and their carers.

Please see the ‘Overview of existing programs’ information sheet for further detail about the programs that will form part of the Commonwealth Home Support Programme.  This consolidation will create a nationally-consistent programme that continues to provide older Australians with the care they need in their own home and community, while being more efficient and easier to understand and administer.

Dept of Social Services Key directions for the Commonwealth Home Support Programme: Discussion Paper, 2014:

In recognition of the challenges posed by this fundamental shift in the structure of our population, the Australian Government is pursuing a reform agenda - in partnership with clients and carers, aged care providers, workers and health professionals - that will reshape the aged care system to make it easier for clients and carers to access services that are high-quality, client-centred, maximise independence and are responsive to the changing needs of people as they age.

Decoded Message

We expect that amalgamating and streamlining the home support services available to older Australians will generate considerable savings.

In our 2014-15 Budget Paper No. 2 we stated that $1.7 billion in savings over six years from 1 July 2018 will be achieved by reducing the rate of real growth in the Commonwealth Home Support Programme funding from 6 per cent annually to 3.5 per cent annually. 

What we didn’t announce at the time (and what we hope older voters do not notice before the next federal election) is that user fees-for-service will increase from 1 July 2015 under our new nationally consistent fees policy. Going from a current national average of around five per cent collection to fifteen per cent nationally by 2017-18.

Currently the basic service fee for home care recipients is equivalent to 17.5 per cent of the single, full rate, basic pension (that is $60 per week) and, recipients with incomes above the threshold are charged an income-tested fee. 

Making sure the elderly realise that aging is a sin is our goal.

The Abbott Government imposed autonomous financial & travel sanctions on Russia on 19 June 2014 and the Nationals are surprised that it reciprocated?

It would appear that the political class in Canberra thought they could have it both ways - impose financial, trade and travel restrictions on a total of approximately sixty-four Russian politicians, banks, oil companies, businesses (including a soft drink manufacturer) and certain Ukraine separatists on 19 June 2014 - yet still have access to the Russian market for Australian primary products.

These sanctions were quite properly a response to the attempted unlawful secession of the Crimea region from Ukraine undertaken by Russian-backed separatist forces.

Russia did not respond in kind to these sanctions until after Prime Minister Abbott began to grandstand in the media in relation to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in Ukraine airspace on 17 July 2014.

His intemperate language and rush to judgement before any crash site investigation all but guaranteed the response our primary produces received this week, when they were included in the twelve month sanction period announced by the Russian Government which covers beef, pork, fish, fruit, vegetables and dairy product imports.

Abbott's subsequent kneejerk reaction threatening a tit-for-tat widening of his own sanctions will only lead to further economic pain for this country according to a former Australian ambassador to Russia, Cavan Hogue, who stated; "So I think we would have probably been better served by just keeping our big mouths shut.....Right from the beginning we've been attacking the Russians. Now, Putin is far from perfect. He's a very authoritarian character. But it's a very complicated situation....So public insults just doesn't seem to me to be getting anywhere, particularly from Australia."

'Metabrandis' crashes and burns for all the world to see

Australian Attorney-General George Brandis discloses how little he knows about information technology and the Internet – video at 2:18 minutes begins his crash and burn moment.

http://youtu.be/8N4vAdS4xT4

The crunching of Joe Hockey's numbers continues

Eighty-three days after Budget Night and the country was still crunching Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey’s numbers, as is demonstrated by this Inside Story of 5 August 2014:

The most comprehensive analysis of the distributional effects of the budget was undertaken by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, or NATSEM, at the University of Canberra. Using Australian Bureau of Statistics data on the distribution of household incomes, NATSEM divided the community into five segments or “quintiles,” each made up of a little over 2.5 million households. It found that the poorest 20 per cent – those with $35,000 or less in disposable annual income – would forgo $2.9 billion over four years thanks to changes to family benefits, pensions and other payments. More than one-third of the budget cuts, or $6 billion worth, would fall on the middle quintile of households, those earning between $45,000 and $63,000. The wealthiest 20 per cent of households, meanwhile – those earning $88,000 or more after tax and benefits – would lose $1.78 billion, some 40 per cent less than the lowest income families.

Given that the most recent official ABS figures show that the poorest 20 per cent of households receive about 7.5 per cent of disposable income while the richest 20 per cent receive 39.5 per cent, it is clear that the impact of the budget in relative terms is much greater on low-income households than it is on high-income households. The poorest 20 per cent of households, which receive less than 8 per cent of total income, are the source of at least 16 per cent of the expenditure savings.

The impact on different income groups can also be gauged by considering which sectors the budget savings are coming from. In a speech to the Sydney Institute after the budget, Joe Hockey emphasised the fact the government will spend $146 billion – “35 per cent of the federal budget” – on welfare in 2014–15. That might be true, but this sector provides a larger share of the proposed cuts. Budget Paper No. 2 shows out of total projected expenditure cuts of $29.4 billion between 2014–15 and 2017–18, $15.4 billion, or 52 per cent, comes from programs of the Department of Social Services. (This compares with revenue measures estimated to raise an extra $8.7 billion over the period, not including fiscal drag.)

Even more striking is the budget’s impact on spending on the unemployed. Support for the unemployed costs around $10 billion annually, or less than 2.5 per cent of the budget. Of people receiving the two benefits – Newstart and Youth Allowance (Other) – around 37 per cent are under the age of thirty; given that Youth Allowance recipients are paid less than Newstart recipients, we can conservatively estimate that payments for this group account for around 0.9 per cent of the budget. From next year, unemployed people under twenty-five will get Youth Allowance rather than Newstart, and people under thirty will wait up to six months before getting unemployment benefits, and will then have to participate in Work for the Dole to be eligible for income support. The projected savings from these changes amount to about $2.8 billion over the period 2014–15 to 2017–18, or about 9.5 per cent of the total budget spending cuts. In other words, unemployed people under thirty receive less than 1 per cent of total budget spending but are the source of close to 10 per cent of total expenditure savings.