Well done Joe Hockey

D

dan c

Joe Hockey had some interesting things to say overnight. Hopefiully his leader was listening, but I doubt it.

"SHADOW treasurer Joe Hockey has condemned systems of ''universal entitlement'' in Western democracies, contrasting this attitude with the concept of ''filial piety'' thriving across Asia where people get what they work for and families look after their own"

''Contrast this with what we find in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. All of them have enormous entitlement systems spanning education, health, income support, retirement benefits, unemployment benefits.''

Of course, he fails to mention Australia's entitlement mentality, which would be the equal of the US and UK.

Or the fact that the Howard govt introduced so much middle class welfare, increasing our entitlement mentality.
 
Ausprop said:
he's just shootin' the breeze. would you rather a US standard of living or an asian one?
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loaded question

which part of US? which part of asia?

id certainly rather a singaporean standard of living instead of a detroit one

on the other hand say the slums of india Vs new york? obviously US
 
To me, it's not an 'either / or' question. Could we make changes to reduce government handouts, while maintaining a safety net for the genuinely needy? Of course we could.
 
Australia is largely made of whingers and whiners mixed in with a good dose of losers. Lets be honest, if you want to work in Aus and really make a life for yourself, there are plenty of jobs out there that would see you carving out a nice existence. Of course the other side of the coin (asia) where you are cast aside if you have no skills/sick/disabled/old is hardly attractive. Having a safety net to support those truly in needs sets us apart from our northern cousins but the sense of entitlement of many of us, the inability to see how good we have it here and the lack of people to make the most of the vast opportunities in Aus makes me long for a big shake up to the existing way of life.
 
Dazz said:
We know you vote Labor dan. Good for you. :)
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Not necessarily, Dazz. I've voted Liberal a few times. (Don't tell anyone:D)

I just think it's good to hear someone question the entitlment mentality, regardless of which party they belong to. In the current climate of 'everyone's hurting', it's a brave move.
 
sanj said:
loaded question

which part of US? which part of asia?

id certainly rather a singaporean standard of living instead of a detroit one

on the other hand say the slums of india Vs new york? obviously US
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did you see the Kevin McCloud special on the Indian slums?

millionaires live there because it's "better"....was a very interesting series.
 
dan c said:
To me, it's not an 'either / or' question. Could we make changes to reduce government handouts, while maintaining a safety net for the genuinely needy? Of course we could.
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So where would one start,and inbetween after all the blood in the streets is cleaned up,it would be back the same,useless anyone who want too play the sitdown money system in Australia can do,complain,jump on the 6.30 crying came sideshows and look the victim 100% everytime..
 
pieman said:
Australia is largely made of whingers and whiners mixed in with a good dose of losers. Lets be honest, if you want to work in Aus and really make a life for yourself, there are plenty of jobs out there that would see you carving out a nice existence. Of course the other side of the coin (asia) where you are cast aside if you have no skills/sick/disabled/old is hardly attractive. Having a safety net to support those truly in needs sets us apart from our northern cousins but the sense of entitlement of many of us, the inability to see how good we have it here and the lack of people to make the most of the vast opportunities in Aus makes me long for a big shake up to the existing way of life.
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100% agree.

however, we need to define the difference between a "safety net" (dole, medicare) and "welfare" (student assistance, baby bonus, daycare tax breaks etc).

if you need to pay your people to learn, then your lessons must be pretty crap.
 
pieman said:
Australia is largely made of whingers and whiners mixed in with a good dose of losers. Lets be honest, if you want to work in Aus and really make a life for yourself, there are plenty of jobs out there that would see you carving out a nice existence. Of course the other side of the coin (asia) where you are cast aside if you have no skills/sick/disabled/old is hardly attractive. Having a safety net to support those truly in needs sets us apart from our northern cousins but the sense of entitlement of many of us, the inability to see how good we have it here and the lack of people to make the most of the vast opportunities in Aus makes me long for a big shake up to the existing way of life.
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Excellent post Pieman.

One other point to add to the entitlement is the blame mentality. Its not my fault I am a lifetime renter.
 
Aaron_C said:
...despite having welfare and handouts to aid them. Funny that.
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Kevin 07 was a strong vote against materialism and a vote for touchy feely redistribution of wealth from the productive to the less fortunate, from dollars and cents to green policies - a vote for protectionsim, unionism and leftist thinking. Apparantly we had all had our fill of making money and needed a holiday. We now have that and I wonder if the reality of this is a little stark?
 
pieman said:
Australia is largely made of whingers and whiners mixed in with a good dose of losers. Lets be honest, if you want to work in Aus and really make a life for yourself, there are plenty of jobs out there that would see you carving out a nice existence. Of course the other side of the coin (asia) where you are cast aside if you have no skills/sick/disabled/old is hardly attractive. Having a safety net to support those truly in needs sets us apart from our northern cousins but the sense of entitlement of many of us, the inability to see how good we have it here and the lack of people to make the most of the vast opportunities in Aus makes me long for a big shake up to the existing way of life.
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Agree.

There needs to be a total review on how FTB A and B is calculated as well.

When benefits can earn you a similar amount to working (in the family setup), and the system is set up to allow you to choose between the benefits or working, then there's something very wrong with it.

These same families that have the ability to earn more are the ones also entitled to all the flow on benefits like Youth Allowance, childcare rebates, free dental, school cards, etc - the whole kit and kaboodle or benefits.

I've often joked that I could have chosen to stay home over the years, my husband turn his business into a mainly cash one (or he could get a low stress, low paying job and not have the hastles of working for himself) and rake in close to an average wage through Centerlink, and get a ton of freebies too.
 
dan c said:
Joe Hockey had some interesting things to say overnight. Hopefiully his leader was listening, but I doubt it.

"SHADOW treasurer Joe Hockey has condemned systems of ''universal entitlement'' in Western democracies, contrasting this attitude with the concept of ''filial piety'' thriving across Asia where people get what they work for and families look after their own"

''Contrast this with what we find in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. All of them have enormous entitlement systems spanning education, health, income support, retirement benefits, unemployment benefits.''

Of course, he fails to mention Australia's entitlement mentality, which would be the equal of the US and UK.

Or the fact that the Howard govt introduced so much middle class welfare, increasing our entitlement mentality.
Click to expand...

So the bloke on the team that has squealed about every move the govt has made cut middle-class welfare, sees means testing as sort of financial apartheid, introduced and supports a cash payment for the act of reproduction and wants to introduce a billion dollar paid parental leave scheme is "condemning" an entitlement mentality.

This is the equivalent of the Columbian drug barons condemning cocaine use.
 
Just as well Joe said that stuff when he was out of the country. If he did it on home turf, Abbott would have gone round and punched him. Abbott has been trying so hard to ramp up his social inclusion credentials. I hope for Joe's sake Abbott calms down by the time Joe comes home.
 
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