Well done Joe Hockey

Nice idea in theory, but it doesnt work in practice........ unless you are happy to have slums, riots, begging on the streets etc. There are people who are legitimately unable to work and provide for themselves.

welfare avoids slums riots and begging. you paint a picture of india where there is no welfare.

then again, theres none in singapore and malaysia, either.
 
welfare avoids slums riots and begging. you paint a picture of india where there is no welfare.

then again, theres none in singapore and malaysia, either.

So, basically you are advocating a return to debtors prisons in Victorian era England? Which didn't work.

Or, a return to forcing those out of work to beg on the streets, causing additional social problems and a much higher crime rate? Which is why the welfare system was introduced in the first place.
 
Or, a return to forcing those out of work to beg on the streets, causing additional social problems and a much higher crime rate? Which is why the welfare system was introduced in the first place.
But that's happening on most streets in Australia everyday,just most people walk down the street and see nothing,..
 
But that's happening on most streets in Australia everyday,just most people walk down the street and see nothing,..

Most of the long term homeless have made the choice to be homeless due to mental illness (not saying this is right, but it is my experience through the smith family)

It is short term homelessness which in some ways is even more depressing.
 
People talk about job shortages and how any unemployed person could find a job tomorrow if they wanted to. Humbug! I know several people who have completed qualifications in childcare, aged care and other industries experiencing ‘shortages’ and guess what? These people still can’t find jobs.

A qualification does not guarantee anyone a job.

They are copping out; quitters and using the system.

The difference for those people who say they can't find a job is apparently they are only going to settle for a job they are trained in, or won't travel far, or won't do flexible shifts and other lame reasons..

Anyone can go for that pathetic soft option; it takes no guts or effort at all..

One of my wife's good friends is an Aged Care facility Manager; she is a Div 1 nurse. She often travels to places like Reservoir from McRae to do shifts for facilities which are short. She is a single mum with two almost teenage kids, gets no support form her loser ex-husband and she can still manage to get it all together.

But she is a bad example; she is a real go-getter and a do-er in life; the people you talk of should pay no attention to what people like her are like...they'll get more depressed.

She is always looking for staff in the facilities she manages.

Aged care trained people can easily move on to Div 2 nursing, and then get work EVERYWHERE....if they really want to work.

These people need to broaden their view, have a mug of cement, and look at all types of industries and professions to get my sympathy.

There are plenty of folk out there (men and women) who once were execs at some company, and who now push mowers and edge-trimmers around each day and make a reasonable living and love it.

Me for instance (and I'm no champion of anything, so if I can do it then anyone can); was once a teaching golf pro with a Proshop at a couple of different Golf Clubs, and then worked for 3 years in an ICU at a public hospital, lived as a house Dad for 3 years in the USA, back to golf for a further 2 years, and now own a tyre and mechanical shop..

Still trying to work out what the next adventure will be....and there will be one.
 
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Sharing a cuppa today with a girlfriend who had a very interesting viewpoint.

She used to be a top trainer at Centrelink Hunter, and was devastated when the Howard government closed down some of the training schemes designed to get people into to work.

Two of the schemes were "elocution" and "how to dress" lessons in down and out areas - to bring the younger generation up to a presentable and employable level in the entry level retail/hospitality trade. Basically so they'd be able to say "can I interest you in a sample of wine?" rather than "youse want some wine?" ... and be able to dress, and present, themselves positively.

The other scheme was actually to provide suitable clothing, and professional wear, for people to wear to job interviews.

Both were highly successful schemes in regards to locals being able to gain employment in areas where previously staff were bought in from major cities.

Also great for the self esteem and showing potential welfare recipients that they "can" achieve.

Pity the government didn't spend the $900 TV handouts on these sorts of positive reinforcement training schemes.
 
Two of the schemes were "elocution" and "how to dress" lessons in down and out areas - to bring the younger generation up to a presentable and employable level in the entry level retail/hospitality trade. Basically so they'd be able to say "can I interest you in a sample of wine?" rather than "youse want some wine?" ... and be able to dress, and present, themselves positively.

Or more than likely:
Where's the wine at...Bra?
 
A qualification does not guarantee anyone a job.

They are copping out; quitters and using the system.

The difference for those people who say they can't find a job is apparently they are only going to settle for a job they are trained in, or won't travel far, or won't do flexible shifts and other lame reasons..

Actually, some of these people weren't using the system at all and most of them completed qualifications not because they thought they were entitled to skilled work but because they couldn't find unskilled work.

Couple of examples...

One was a young refugee who completed IV in Aged Care. Couldn't find work in aged care but found a job as a kitchen hand in a hotel. Crap job, long hours, low pay but stuck with it for two years before leaving to study for a IV in Child Care. You can't accuse her of being too lazy to take lowly jobs. You can also understand her desire to better herself through education, even though the reality is more than 'qualification = job'.

Another was a long-term unemployed woman who completed a qualification (IV or diploma, can't remember which) in Aged Care but could find paid work only one morning a week. She volunteered at that same aged care home a couple of days per week. She would have been prepared to take lesser or more inconvenient jobs had any been available or had she been more savvy in her job searching. Once again, can't accuse her of being too picky when she was prepared to work for free.

Yes, I don't doubt that these people could have found appropriate jobs if they were more, how do I put it, go-gettery? My point was, in supposed skill shortage industries, jobs aren't exactly being handed out on street corners. Now, for industries not suffering skill shortages, getting a foot in the door is even harder. Yes, there are available jobs, but not so many as there are available workers. The equilibrium is out of whack.

A lot of unemployed are quitters, I understand this. But even if every single unemployed person was injected with a giant shot of somersoftorian proactivity, there would still considerable unemployment because labour supply exceeds demand and our economic system relies upon this fact. As our system needs quitters, the government's perfectly happy to perpetuate the quitter cycle. Cracking down on welfare would do nothing to change this, it would just result in abject poverty and civil unrest.

Also, I just realised, I typed 'job shortages' several times in my original post instead of 'labour shortages'. Oh well.
 
Fifth, shame your friends weren't in SA because they could work 80 hours a week here if they wanted to.

I know a woman who has been working close to those hours for the last 5 years. She always gets as many hours as she wants, when she wants - but made up mostly of full time night shift in one place, and afternoon shifts with the Agency roughly 6 days a week.

She's Filipino and is quite driven to earn, to send money back home.
 
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