Well, someone is going to mention the budget, then some troll will flame the thread and then the mods will have to shut it down. But before that happens perhaps us scientific type might be interested in the Australian Academy of Sciences' response to the budget (attached).
One nasty little surprise is the introduction of tuition fees for post-grads. These people have typically worked bl**dy hard for 4+ years on not-enough money and the financial strain is already showing when they start. Presenting them with a 'get a job or get more debt' option is not really bright when you remember that they are the engine room of Australia's research. The people in the labs with the gloves on are mostly (at least in the university sector) PhD candidates along with a few post-docs and only very few academics. While it's true that the students hope to get a good job when qualified, and so some would say they should be charged, if you were to pay wages for the work they do the cost would be at least 4 times greater. Hopefully it will be 'only' an increase in their HECS debt and not 'up front'. Never-the less it sends a poor message about the countries priorities. It also makes it harder for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to rise to the top and so contributes to the stratification of society.
Cheers, and let's keep it civil.
Last edited by AstralTraveller; 14-05-2014 at 02:34 PM.
Well, someone is going to mention the budget, then some troll will flame the thread and then the mods will have to shut it down. But before that happens perhaps us scientific type might be interested in the response of the Australian Academy of Sciences response to the budget (attached).
One nasty little surprise is the introduction of tuition fees for post-grads. These people have typically worked bl**dy hard for 4+ years on not-enough money and the financial strain is already showing when they start. Presenting them with a 'get a job or get more debt' option is not really bright when you remember that they are the engine room of Australia's research. The people in the labs with the gloves on are mostly (at least in the university sector) PhD candidates along with a few post-docs and only very few academics. While it's true that the students hope to get a good job when qualified, and so some would say they should be charged, if you were to pay wages for the work they do the cost would be at least 4 times greater. Hopefully it will be 'only' an increase in their HECS debt and not 'up front'. Never-the less it sends a poor message about the countries priorities. It also makes it harder for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to rise to the top and so contributes to the stratification of society.
Cheers, and let's keep it civil.
Yes, I can see that measure being very rough on PhD types, particularly those in obscure fields, where jobs don't open up very often (I'm thinking of the son of my wife's friend whose doctorate was in the field of study involving dinosaurs - took him quite a while to get a good job in his field).
However, I think they are unintended victims. I can think of several people I know who would have had a better life, had someone forced them into the workforce rather than letting them wallow away on the dole.
It will be interesting to see what the situation will be in 2040 and 2050. On the one hand, the poor sods will have to work till 70. On the other hand, heaps of baby boomers will be dying off and there will be a massive transfer of wealth to the next generation. By 2060, pretty much all the boomers will be dead - probably leaving the living as the richest people on the planet by a long shot, given that on a median basis, according to last year's Credit Swisse Wealth Report, Australians are currently the wealthiest people on the planet.
Personally, I don't think Mr. Hockey cut as hard as he could have. I just remember that back in 1999, when the Eurozone was formed, there weren't that many basket cases in Europe. But in a mere 10 years of over borrowing, many did themselves in. For six years we've been on that path, though we started from a much better starting point. And the slogans put out by his opponents - that current debt is only 12% of GDP, and so we are much better off than other countries - is misleading. Because most other countries don't have our federal system, we'd have to add the States' debts to the Federal debt to make a valid comparison. And that nearly doubles the debt percentage. We're still better off than most other countries, but not by the very comfortable margin that the 12% figure implies.
The more harsh our government becomes, the more disenfranchised the lower socioeconomic groups become, the more we end up like the United States, and that's not a place I'd like to live. We visit there every couple of years and it's a competitive, dog eat dog, fearful society.
Many of our financial problems would disappear if natural economic cycles were allowed to happen. Periodic recessions are required to flush out malinvestment and keep the economy healthy.
The less said about the Feral Budget the better. I had to sift through quite a few budget papers as part of my job since early this morning (strong coffee).
Lots of hidden surprises, most of which won't be felt by the average punter until they do their tax return in 2015.
Bo
Tony and Joe seem to have gone insane. Slashing federal money to the states to force them to push for a GST increase to recoup it just to pay for schools and hospitals. Doesn't even get the budget back to surplus because almost all the money from cuts and tax increases has been given to big business.
They're both doing very well considering what they were left with. Just saw Hockey talk to the ABC press club. It was very good. Made sense. No bull, just the facts and numbers.
It would take considerable courage for politicians to make it a breach of a law to break an election promise. Politicians are not brave. They have the best of both worlds. Early retirement, almost immune to law breaches. Even deciding their salaries. A protected species. No way they will ever jeopardise their positions.
IMHO they are what some people call them. Poli (many) tics (blood sucking insect)
Unfortunately we do not have an alternative. Some are good and some.. Well That is better left unsaid.
If it can not become worse it must be able to improve. Here's hoping.
Chris Bowen, Sarah Fergusson, 'broken promises', etc.... the whole lot sound like a bloody broken record. They should join the war effort and tighten their belts like the rest of us instead of keeping talking endless sh|t that nobody cares about anymore. Things need to change to be sustainable. Plain and simple. Back to work.
There was an article on the ABC website this morning about some kids looking sad on photos in QLD because they were cuts in welfare. Bio: young bloke quits school at 16, un-employable, now blaming the gvt? Wtf? Seriously? Is public school that expensive that he had to drop out? A future whinger in a couple of years who will blame everybody else for his mistake and expect his due.
Polarisation doesn't lead to a healthy and sustainable society. We need to be financially and socially responsible.
'Let them get jobs' shows the same lack of understanding as 'Let them eat cake'. This isn't the Australia of 40 years ago when kids chose which level to leave high school depending on which job they felt like doing. It's much tougher now. We need to help our youth not segregate them.
It's much tougher now. We need to help our youth not segregate them.
Agree 100%. It's going to be much tougher for them. That's why every parent need to make sure their kids work hard at school to develop skills that are needed by prospective employers. I'm doing my bit for mine. 6yr degree at UNI which I pay out of my own pocket. The other is in year 10 and will keep going too the same way until they both get a job. My eldest is already working part time. I pay for mine. Why should I also pay for the ones who decide to quit school? You've mentioned responsibility. Is that the governments responsibility? Which in essence means mine, because that's my door they'll be knocking on to get funding.
Keep in mind Marc that your children likely have above average IQ parents and come from a functional household. Many kids don't have those advantages. It wouldn't matter so much if there were apprenticeships or traineeships to walk into as there once were. It's very difficult to pull oneself out of the muck without assistance.
Keep in mind Marc that your children likely have above average IQ parents and come from a functional household. Many kids don't have those advantages. It wouldn't matter so much if there were apprenticeships or traineeships to walk into as there once were. It's very difficult to pull oneself out of the muck without assistance.
You must have me mistaken for somebody smart Tony. When I landed here after selling all the furniture and the car back home I had $1k in my pocket after buying a sh|tbox to drive around and look for work. Why did I come to Oz? Because there are so many opportunities here and the climate is good. My qualifications overseas didn't mean squat here so I started from scratch. I never got welfare or ask for any kind of assistance for work. My wife works full time too. It's not about how smart you are. It's about will. Some people must be bored sh|tless here. They have no goal, no focus, no motivation. That's a terrible way to live. Financial assistance only compounds the problem. Need to get them out of the house working so they get a taste of freedom and financial independence again. Responsibility will come next.
Financial assistance only compounds the problem. .
Again this comes to lack of understanding Marc. My wife works for the education dept trying to help kids who are not doing well at school for a variety of reasons, including intellectual disability, autism, behavioural problems linked to an unstable home life (drugs, physical abuse, sexual abuse, parent with clinical depression, etc), and goodness knows what else. Then there's another group of kids above this who aren't so badly off but still don't have what it takes to make it on their own.
The fact is there are a lot of kids who don't have the ability or drive necessary to make it in life and they need ongoing help (not money) to be able to function acceptably in school and have a chance of being self supporting after school.
My wife does a couple of hours unpaid overtime every day because the workload is greater than the available resources, and some of those resources are disappearing with the latest budget cuts.
You are spot on. I have kids who are very motivated. Two of whom went to uni with very little assistance from me. The third was an SAS member and now a manager of a very large international company.
I never found it easy back in the "good old days" I believe the assistance that youth has available now is much better and there are more opportunities. However the lack of motivation has increased in young people and this is the problem.
Don't get me wrong. Most young people are motivated its just some slackos give the majority a bad name. The number of these slackos has increased. The gvt has the right idea in a few areas. Making it harder to get assistance will force them to get off their behinds.
The $7 for free GP visits will have the desired affect in reducing the number of trivial visits. Because if its not free anymore people will think twice before adding to the medical burden. I have seen, "Johnny needs a splinter removed and Johnny scraped his knee. It bleeds when he squeezes it.
While I was a child and had attended at the doctors for every time I leaked a little blood I'd be there 2 - 3 times a week. Sometimes more.
I say to them "Harden up sissy boy"
The more they are given, the more they take and the more they will demand.
Again this comes to lack of understanding Marc. My wife works for the education dept trying to help kids who are not doing well at school for a variety of reasons, including intellectual disability, autism, behavioural problems linked to an unstable home life (drugs, physical abuse, sexual abuse, parent with clinical depression, etc), and goodness knows what else. Then there's another group of kids above this who aren't so badly off but still don't have what it takes to make it on their own.
The fact is there are a lot of kids who don't have the ability or drive necessary to make it in life and they need ongoing help (not money) to be able to function acceptably in school and have a chance of being self supporting after school.
My wife does a couple of hours unpaid overtime every day because the workload is greater than the available resources, and some of those resources are disappearing with the latest budget cuts.
Those extreme cases would be a minority and that's why we have safety nets in place. I agree with that and support it. But would it be fair to assume that most of the needed money goes to welfare cheats instead? They're the ones I'm talking about. The army is a good one for lost kids. Teach them discipline, teach them a trade, teach them a degree, sense of self esteem. They're recruiting. Loads of various opportunities, medical, engineering, heaps of choices that can make for an easy integration back to civilian work force.
The $7 for free GP visits will have the desired affect in reducing the number of trivial visits. Because if its not free anymore people will think twice before adding to the medical burden. I have seen, "Johnny needs a splinter removed and Johnny scraped his knee. It bleeds when he squeezes it.
I agree with this. Paying for Doctor visits. in 94 it would cost me about $40.00 to see a GP back home. So as you say you don't go there for a nose bleed. Having said that, each GP practice is private. So it's natural selection. The good ones get the customers, the bad ones close doors. In turn the service you get for your 40 bucks was second to none.
Come to Australia, I was surprised to hear Medicare, Bulk billing, free, etc... That was foreign to me. There's no such things as freebee.
$7 is nothing really. It's gonna clear all the waiting rooms of all the bludgers for sure.
Its not like it used to be. The Army that is. It is not easy to get in. They are a choosy bunch. Recruits are checked for minimum aptitudes, psychologically sound. They will be in charge of weapons.
However it is the attitude of people that needs to be improved like you said.
Not easy but it can be done like in reward and rebuke system.
.... 
A future whinger in a couple of years who will blame everybody else for his mistake and expect his due.
