The old grey dog whistle test
Uncategorized - - Posted on May, 21 at 2:11 pm by Ken L
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Australia is full of compassionate conservatives urging the mean-spirited Rudd Government to do more for age pensioners. They are careful, you will notice, not to say how much more, which is just as well because their promises before the election were somewhat underwhelming compared to the buckets of crocodile tears being shed now.
I suspect that Liberal Party polling has shown they’ve lost a chunk of the senior citizen vote that Howard cultivated so assiduously throughout his political career and they’re trying to get it back. Posing as champions of the downtrodden is one way to do it, although only of the deserving downtrodden … not unmarried mothers or dole-bludgers or any of those downtrodden. Not the truly poor. God no.
No, the Libs and their shills are trying to win the support of working families with taxable incomes over $150,000 a year but who still think of themselves as hard up because they have to buy shoes for their kids from Williams the Shoeman when the kids’ friends all have genuine Nikes (don’t laugh, I read this very complaint once from a whining mum in one of those ‘the middle class is really doing it tough’ stories that the MSM likes to run occasionally to show how in touch it is with soccer mums or working families or whatever is the glib label du jour. She was also pissed off because the family hadn’t been able to afford an overseas holiday for two years. If I’d known her address I would have sent the poor lamb a cheque that very day).
Anyway we can disregard the conservatives confected outrage for the transparent political ploy that it is, and if it signals their intention to try to win back power by ramping up the blatant vote-buying that Howard excelled at I wish them luck. It has, however, created a valuable opportunity for welfare payments to be examined when there is at least bipartisan agreement that Something Should Be Done. This is a refreshing change from the usual situation in which any increases to welfare payments are automatically resented by large slabs of the population.
Should the old age pension be increased? Contrary to the knee-jerk opinions being shouted all over the blogosphere, the truth is that it’s a difficult question to answer.
The latest focus is on single pensioners so let’s concentrate on them. The current pension rate is $546.80 a fortnight. Now a 65 year old Australian with absolutely no assets or other source of income will have a pretty restricted life on $548.80 a fortnight, even after getting rent assistance and utilities allowance and the other benefits available. Restricted, but not miserable, unless the pensioner chooses to make it so by spending the money foolishly. However, in a country as wealthy as Australia, it would be nice to think they could live somewhat better.
The dimensions of the issue are revealed, however, once it’s acknowledged that in Australia, 2008, very few 65 year olds have no assets and no source of income apart from the pension. A 65 year old Australian living in their own home with no mortgage, owning a new car and boat and sundry other personal assets, with a casual job that earns a few bucks and adult kids who take dad on holidays every year and otherwise make his life easier … that Australian will have a very comfortable life indeed on $546.80 a fortnight plus utilities allowance and all the other stuff like discounted rates and fares and so on. And a 65 year old living with an adult child as a member of an extended family, with a quarter of a million in assets, will have a terrific life and probably take off on an overseas holiday every couple of years with their savings.
This is the problem successive governments have created for themselves. On the one hand the age pension is meant to give the poorest Australians a decent but basic standard of living in their retirement. Arguably it’s failed to do that, although I think it’s gone pretty close. On the other hand, periodic outbreaks of downward envy have prompted governments to extend eligibility to people who are far from impoverished, meaning that the cost of any across-the board increase in the amount of the pension will be astronomical and much of it will go to people who clearly don’t ‘need’ it in any meaningful sense of that word.
A thriving industry now exists of financial planners helping retirees arrange their affairs so they are eligible for the pension. I think this illustrates how far much of the pensionable population is from the populist image of a poor old bloke eating canned dog food while shivering from cold because he can’t afford a heater.
Such people do exist of course, and maybe to help them we should simply increase pensions across the board even if it does throw a lot of extra money to people who will just pass it on to their kids or grandkids when they die as an addition to their inheritance. However I have major objections to such a cavalier philosophy as long as the truly needy people in our community are ignored.
A single pensioner gets $546.80 a fortnight plus utilities allowance and other benefits. Contrast that with the payments to other people who get no other benefits and who probably have more expenses than an aged pensioner:
- Newstart Allowance $437.10 a fortnight;
- Sickness Benefit $437.10 a fortnight;
- Austudy $355.40 a fortnight.
People on these payments must dream of making it to 65 so they can enjoy the luxury of the age pension. The Austudy payment is especially absurd; in an era when industry is crying out for more skilled workers the welfare system is telling adults they can forget about full-time study unless they are prepared to live in a shared house eating toast and vegemite again like they did when they were 18.
Is all this an argument for doing nothing about the old age pension? No, not at all. It’s an argument for reviewing the purpose and adequacy of all welfare payments and their relationship to the tax system. Happily, our prime minister has commissioned just such a review and I will refrain from any criticism of his government’s welfare policies until I have read both the report and the government’s response.
In the mean time, the jabbering from the Libs and their faithful pimps in the MSM and the blogosphere can be dismissed as the vacuous noise it is. Here is the good doctor demonstrating how deep and considered is his approach to age pension reform:
QUESTION:
Yeah, well, you said it yourself, I mean that the moment there’s high petrol prices, there is increase after increase on the mortgage front. The current single age pension of $273 a week. Do you think that’s adequate?
DR NELSON:
No I don’t. And I think that’s one of the reasons why in government over the last four years we gave money back to pensioners and seniors in the form of cash payments and other things. And I think…
QUESTION:
Would you support raising that weekly pension?
DR NELSON:
Yes I do.
QUESTION:
By how much?
DR NELSON:
Yes I do. Well I’d be foolish and reckless if I put some sort of figure on it at the moment but I do believe very strongly, and I’m confident it’s one of the things that I will continue to hear as I go around the country, that single age pensioners cannot live on that amount of money. And just remember Nicole, in terms of the bread and circuses and the stuff we’ve had from Mr Rudd over the four months, it took him six days to guarantee seniors, the elderly, retirees, and carers that they would continue to receive the lump sum payments that they’ve been receiving over the last four years. Without lifting a finger the Budget this year will deliver about a $20 billion surplus…
QUESTION:
But the Howard Government at its time, and I don’t want to spend too much time on this, didn’t say that this was going to be an ongoing thing? It was a one-off helping hand.
DR NELSON:
Well you’re now talking about the Nelson alternative government. We said, every year we said if Australia is going well and we can afford to do it, we will return to the people who made Australia what it is – and that’s essentially the people over the age of 65 whose sacrifices made the country what it is – we will return to them what they actually need. Whether it’s utilities allowance, lump sum payment, or other things. Australia, notwithstanding the difficulty that Mr Rudd and Mr Swan are having managing the trillion dollar economy, Australia is continuing to go very well and I think that this nation owes it to those people in particular to see they get high priority along with our carers. And for that reason I say to you in developing policy that I think whatever the outcome is, we need to be seriously looking at the age pension and whether it’s enough.
So after all the tripe, Nelson’s bottom line is ‘we need to be seriously looking at the age pension and whether it’s enough’. Thanks Brendan for agreeing with the Rudd Government once again … bipartisanship is such a breath of fresh air after the poisonous Howard years.
Posted in Uncategorized |
May 21st, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Good post Ken.
I don’t watch much TV but not so long ago I watched a woman being interviewed complaining that because of the interest rises the family would have to sell the *second* home - an investment apparently. Hard to feel sorry for those people and you wonder just what the whole segment was trying to prove.
I read a post a while back asking what big issue over the last 10 years you have changed your mind about ( I think you mentioned moderating blog comments
. Mine is definitely compulsory super. I’m still slightly ideologically opposed (to the compulsory bit) but have come to realize that this is a real winner, giving almost everyone a real incentive to make sure our economy is well run ( We are all capitalists now!) and take an interest in economics in general.
Interestingly ( for me anyway ) it looks a bit like the idea behind this came from good old Milton and was first put in place in Chile. I don’t have a direct link for this but if you go here and then search for “ACHIEVING REAL SOCIAL SECURITY” you can read the article. It was put up on Saturday 17th.
May 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Oh the irony.
Visit Hypocrisy Central much, Dr?
Good post, Ken.
You’re right, too many people get the aged pension, or the benefits attached, such as health care cards, when they do not need it, a situation for which Howard has to shoulder a large chunk of the blame. If you can afford overseas holidays while on the public pension, then you do not need it.
The only acceptable answer is to raise the pension a fair bit, which helps those really struggling, but means test it more carefully and stringently to weed out those who do not need it. And I’ll bet that is the main recommendation of the review Rudd has commissioned.
May 21st, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Ross Gittins has some similar biting comments about the greedy whinging well-off.
http://business.smh.com.au/pseudo-battlers-should-get-a-grip-20080520-2ghb.html
May 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Was on holidays in Bali many moons ago with the wife. The walls of the hotel were so thin we could hear the two Aussie blokes next door chatting. They had obviously just met and were sharing a room.
“So what do you do back in OZ?”
“I’m on the dole mate”
“Hey - me too!”"
Got to love it.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Ross Gittins has some similar comments about the rising tide of greedy whinging well-off.
http://business.smh.com.au/pseudo-battlers-should-get-a-grip-20080520-2ghb.html
May 21st, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Peter, you sound like certain Channel 9 current affairs and news programs during the Keating years. Who to roll out next eh? Couple of bludgers who won’t cut their hair so noone will give them a job? Or perhaps the QLD dancing queen? I bet typing Bali got your heart thumping. Seen any terrorism footage lately & told your mates about it? I bet they thanked ya heaps?
As for Brendan & co…there’s so much love & compassion coming from the Libs these days I feel almost smothered.
Ken said: Happily, our prime minister has commissioned just such a review and I will refrain from any criticism of his government’s welfare policies until I have read both the report and the government’s response.
exactamondo! hmmm…i wonder if Kevin Rudd asked all those Richie Riches & Richie Rhondas if they would consider giving a bit more up for the pensioners?
Still thumbs up to them for opening their wallets & purses for the cause of cancer treatment. Let’s just hope that they don’t declare it on their tax forms…me & the missus don’t. I never did understand why you would give to a charity & then ask for some of it back. I guess some people like to be motivated…like kids on soccer pitches.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I just love the smell of disgraced Liberal parties in the morning.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:35 pm
This is not hypocrisy from Brendan Nelson.
He has only provided the circus - no bread.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
No-one is going to convince me,that Rudd reviewing the tax acts is a kindness to the Aged pensioner.Certainly all the other pensions are grimsville too.But ,did Rudd and Swan say they would review the tax Act for pensioners before the election!?I have done another day in the potato shed,a full 8 hours,I get home Orko is being sent to jail,at taxpayers expense for being a Member of Parliament with a taste for drugs and young boys.I hear the C.S.I.R.O. getting it in the neck.I see Rudd,being overwhelmed by a football guernsey in the SMH.I think there is something very facile about our society if, the National events are Rudd accepting Guernsey,and Turnbull on radio tonight,and the topic of conversation in Current Affairs was..speculation about Lib. leadership.So I guess the ABC is working,as is all the SMH journalists who have had their eyes picked out of their heads because they aren’t all considered $100,000 worth a piece.So what is an aged pensioner as aged journalist worth!?
May 21st, 2008 at 9:26 pm
We seriously need to smack this ‘Nelson alternative government’ phraseology on the head.
I don’t even know why I object to it so much. I guess it’s the neocon habit of redefining the English language to suit your purposes.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Well I’m not sure. I think ‘Nelson alternative government’ might be enough to win another 8 - 10 seats for Labor. Just hearing it makes me shudder (but upon reflection so did ‘prime minister John Howard’ so maybe I’m not a reliable judge).
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 am
Great post, Ken. Yeah, plenty of food for thought.
When Whitlam came to power, his government brought in automatic access to the age pension for all over 65s. The reasoning was that if they were wealthy enough, it would be returned in tax.
At the time, a friend of my mother said that her mother was delighted to get her pension because it was the first time in her life she’d had her own money to do with what she liked. The interesting thing was that they were a wealthy family, but she’d never really had any money she felt she could do as she liked with.
I guess the government may have to give an across the board increase, to ease the pressure on pensioners who are really doing it tough.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:20 am
The dole is already means-tested to the point of vanishment; as a member of a particularly penniless extended family, I’m the only person I know who’s ever had the full payment, most of my friends having received none at all thanks to their estranged father on the far side of the country or suchlike being quite well-off. The thought that my ‘maximised’ dole payment could get me even so far as Bali is a fantasy — if the average rent was halved, I’d still have to last literally years without any kind of extra fiscal burden (for example, a car — and good luck getting a job when you don’t have wheels) arising before I’d have saved up enough to take a holiday o/s. What you’ve got there are some good ol’ rich boys who’re mighty creative with their correspondence to Centrelink.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:17 am
What do you suppose happened to the rodent’s aspirationals?
The term seems to have dropped right out of the MSM. Yet three years ago we (apparently) had suburbs full of the self-absorbed buggers. They were the smug mob who didn’t want to soil the privileged end of the swamp because they were CONVINCED that they’d soon be there themselves.
Are they still buying the “boom times last forever” straaayn dream?
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:11 am
The old grey whistle ain’t what it used to be
Ain’t what it used to be
Ain’t what it used to be…
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Last seen clinging desperately to the ladder of opportunity.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Yes it;s very interesting that Brylcream Brendon is trying hard to be all things to everybody. He doesn’t have any idea of what it will cost or the effect on the enviroment and th eeconomy, or even if his “PITY PARTY” have any idea how to implement his grab bag of hand outs. I guess that’s why his approval rating has increased to 12%. I really think he is trying but it’s hard to believe that after 11 and a half years without giving a squirt about anybody apart from the rich and famous, that the whole party have had heart transplants. Malcolm showed his and I would suggest the parties trus colours yesterday at the press club, telling the audience that he would fight for a policy he doesn’t believe in and he most likely won’t be taking to the next election. It seems that all is not very well ion the Rodents old party doesn’t it.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
In fairness to Malcolm, (and it sticks in my throat to say this), but one of the prices of a party based political system is that sometimes (often?) politicians have to support policies they may not personally fully agree with.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Good one K.L.
You have gone much further in nailing who is really “doing it hard” and it aint necessarily old aged pensioners or the disabled.
It is the undeserving poor, who are copping it most, at the moment.
We have a default position, on employment figures..”best bloody figure in a million years”.. that totally disguises the ever growing casualisation of our workforce, high rural unemployment and the difficulties for older employees.
May 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
You’re spot on there Seeker…it’s “get in line & don’t speak up until I tell ya too…& if I see you smiling w/out permission Mr. Turnbull I’ll have your goolies for dinner…A…TTENTION!!!” shouts Principal Minchin w/ whip in hand…”and will someone pleeeeassse turf Billy Bunter there out of the cafeteria & give him a jolly old kick up the rump so he doesn’t come back…NOW!!!”
Malcolm’s smart enuff to play w/ the team & still trip up the Cap whilst the Ref ain’t lookin’ & make it look kinda like an accident. But his cherubic face w/ laughing eyes speaks forth ambigious words & nonsense talk amongst the loyalty stuff…& for all his bluster, animated gestures & assertions he comes across as a naughty schoolboy playing it up & performing for the crowd who are all “in on the joke”.
Or perhaps he’s a Prince waiting for the poorly Dad to bite the popularity dust w/ media mogul knife in back, so he can proclaim himself “King of the Exiled”…?
Salivating at the thought of the coming SIEGE, enabled by the flaming oil slingers, Bolt of zig zag lightning & battering Divas from the ranks of the media legion…
yes, a full-scale attack on the castle that was once the preserve of old King John, dungeons and all…but is now irritatingly being turned into a House of Parliament by President Rudd & co.
Malcolm fervently BELIEVES nothing can stop him fulfilling his destiny…his Holy quest to use Monarch supporters to storm the castle, oust the Mandarin loving Rudd, & turn the place into a Republican fortress with an American logo on it.
Think of the French in this vid as Chinese speaking Aussies. Note the weapons they use to demonstrate their STRENGTH & hardcoreishness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs&feature=related
May 22nd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
My gawd…Malcolm is like King Arthur…sunny side up & all.
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
“it was the first time in her life she’d had her own money to do with what she liked. The interesting thing was that they were a wealthy family, but she’d never really had any money she felt she could do as she liked with.”
excellent points jane. Too many women…even guys who don’t have a good job later in life due to illness & such, have to go cap in hand to their partner. Even tho they worked previously…&/or put lots of effort in bringing up their or other peoples’ kids they don’t get a pension due to their partner’s wage…or health-care card for that matter. It’s pathetic.
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
“What you’ve got there are some good ol’ rich boys who’re mighty creative with their correspondence to Centrelink”
Lot of those types around james T…i knew a fella many years ago who had a beaut farm, heaps of valuable paintings & a place at the coast…but somehow he managed to get the dole. Obviously if you have money it’s much easier to make more. I sometimes think of him w/ his feet up on the coffee table…& also recall a top insurance executive who was a friend of my Dads that had a plush office looking out over Toronto w/ pull out bar & leather chair…& he spent heaps of time chatting on the phone, big noting himself & playing golf to make top-end-of-town contacts. He was paid a mint & I still can’t work out what he actually did…except SELL SELL SELL the company & himself via good food & recreation.
Turned out to be a nice guy when he left work…became gravely ill from it.
Gets me thinkin’ about this dude in Macquarie Bank…all those millions…yet I wonder if he’ll get off his butt & help plug the leaks in the Thames water system. His finger could come in handy. Just kidding…sounds like the problems solved: “Thames Water is currently on track to meet the leakage target for 2007/08″ (wiki pedia).
Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.
Karl Marx
Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the laborer, unless under compulsion from society.
Karl Marx
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.
Groucho Marx
Toll roads, right-wing drivers on the left-hand side, gas guzzlers, an oasis…a bunch of Panda Bears & golden heavenly arches everywhere…comin’ to a land near you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Tollway_oasis
hope not…sigh. How about some true blue Aussie companies? Must we always serve the Empires?
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Well done Ken, for so eloquently discussing the confected outrage that we have been sujected to. I have no doubt that some on the OAP are truly struggling, but the mob that chose to disrobe are not amongst them.And why did these people not complain when the rodent was signing cheques?
And Seeker, I agree with you. Raise the rate and then means test it to prevent the industry that thrives on teaching those with more than enough how to get the benefits that they don’t need, but for some perverse reason(GREED) feel that they are entitled to.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
What about the new Superannuation Rort. A person can, at the age of 55 years access their super fund and receive it tax free, then do a salary sacrifice to the same amount of super received and return it to the super fund, with a no net loss in super but a decrease in income tax paid. Another super rort by the king of rorts Howard, dating back to the late 70’s and early 80’s with the ‘bottom of the harbour’ rorts.
Apparently those that have it can continue to rort the system and those that struggle can continue to struggle with crocodile tears from Neslon and his rorting team.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
So, I guess it’s fair to say that we want Rudd to do some snip-rorting.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:53 pm
You don’t have a link for that by any chance? Sounds almost too good to be true.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Peter,
this link http://advisers.wrenresearch.com.au/factsheets/050430/index.htm will give you an idea of how it works.
Basically the idea is you access your super (in the form of a non-taxable annuity) and then reduce your taxable income by salary sacrificing the same amount as the annuity so your employer pays super contributions instead of salary. Reduces your current income tax AND gives you another bite at the concessionally taxed annuity from super when you finally do retire.
May 24th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Hi Peter,
Sorry I don’t have link, I heard it on the radio, an ad I think, about ‘financial advice’ or an opinion piece. Because one can receive part payments from a super fund as own contribution, which makes it tax exempt, also because of the new superannuation rules introduced in the 2006/2007 budget.
Found a link which gives an example from a financial adice web site,
http://www.asgard.com.au/For_investors/Super_changes/Super_opp/Case_study-55.html
May 24th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Thanks Muskiemp - very helpful link.
May 26th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I reckon I’ll take the tram, or is it a train(?) to Carole Park & visit the QLD swing voters who are family & friends…those tired of the Howard legacy now their eyes are more open…some, mainly women, are also tired of driving to work, and paying for oil barons to dance…
& wonder why they can’t be seen as INDIVIDUALS in later life when it comes to pensions & health-care cards…particularly the oldies…life-long workers, w/ the scars to show it, who paid dreadful levels of interest rates to own a little bit of land to grow nutritious veges & keep some of their less social, more shy family on…they might even have a wee caravan used to see their Land during retirement days - understandable considering how many trips & holidays they went w/out in order to pay the mortgage & bring up the kids – the type who NEVER took a penny from the govt. if they could help it…
the type of couple that after the initial “hard slog” of work & hand cleaning nappies found the nouse to buy a modest, rather old-looking coastal flat so the kids could learn to swim, walk beaches & learn to appreciate clean air instead of sitting in an expensive hotel watching TV…people who often paid for their kid’s education & paid heaps of taxes…but now are told “NO NO NO you can’t keep hard-earned assets & provide “hand me downs” & have the gall to think you deserve a pension & bonus…them assets MUST go”…
and they wonder if they’d be better off in Vanuatu…or somewhere stress-free…than in the Nation that is now letting them down in their twilight years,,,”thanx to John’s dictates & Peter’s big ideas” I said. And they nodded & talked about concerns over private Superannuation & can these companies withstand tsunamis.
If you go out w/ them there are many smiles & a determination to enjoy, they are so OVER the BAD NEWS…but the eyes & occasional outburst give hints of underlying worries about economic stability & pensions & job security. Most think ONE kid is ENUFF. For now.
And the same mixture of angst & “determined to enjoy no matter what!”can be seen in the worker who had a tough life in Inala & took on the Howard DREAM HOME only to lose it by too many credit offerings…& interest rate hikes & genies escaping bottles…he has little time for Coalition teams these days…but wonders about the new team because he & his partner of a few grown children & grandchildren couldn’t squirrel enuff money away due to low pay, health problems & previous divorce…& unfortunately this STEAK & BBQ eater now has heart problems & little work but can’t get a health-care card because of their partner’s wage…& wonders why the heck he paid so much tax when he sees the rich travelling on the dole…& the dole bludger living it large & not working at anything but manipulation. That’s his view & he’s hanging on to it like a rock.
And he speaks of more concerns as the Fed Govt. unintentionally brings to life (w/ the help of scheming insiders) his & his wife’s Hanson side by thinking about large-scale immigration when he reckons those BUMS on the dole could do the work instead…the kinda fella who can be kind and fun to chat too if you ignore some of the “off the cuff” learnt by rote & radio comments, and heed what he considers as TRUISMS…it’s noted he reads newspapers & watches news less these days…but still manages to hear & pass forward the DOPEY GOSSIP & RUMOURS spread from the MOUNTAIN of NY & such…and he can see the point of economic & skilled migrants but can’t be convinced…unless it’s explained to him full bore…
But all are patient…‘cause they are busy…& waiting for REAL RUDD & some COMPASSION & COMMON-SENSE to a degree, …and they make it very clear they do not TRUST the mainstream media & wish Rudd & co. would OUT them…they like it when he tells it as it is…doesn’t KOWTOW…
And they are angry with CEOs & the Rich who dine at their expense.
Unfortunately, most have a distaste for Whitlam due to a sense of economic mismanagement (sigh) & fail to see the benefits of his reign…unless they benefitted. And so it is in the world of the early school leaver…generally hard worker, dancers to Aussie myths & flyers of banners that read: “She’ll be right unless it goes wrong” & “I MUST mention how hard I work & how little I benefit everyday to prove I do my bit for THE COUNTRY, I’m no SLACKER…& if yer going to give me some support that I think I deserve, don’t do it whilst anyone is looking lest they think I’m a bludger”.
Sometimes they are a contradiction in terms…not so much by nature, as proved by some of their offspring…more by socialization, word of mouth, the grapevine, radio & hair stylists/barbers…& due to education or lack of…. I love them…but
no wonder Labor looks exhausted some days.
Anyway, if that public transport ever materializes I think i’ll take them some ice water to cool down. They seem to have a FEVER over these things…I know…I ate w/ 4 of them recently…a family gathering…
Interestingly, apart from those gripes and honest assessments they reckon they can stomach the rest…but not the Liberal Wars & the Old Imperial Guard.. Yes, stomach the restaurant food, bloody expensive…& the cost of fuel, bloody expensive…provided they can see a PENSION compromise at the end of the tunnel.
BTW, I’ve kept my views on the Pension issue & other such things to myself in this post. I thought the Workers of Sth East QLD, or at least 4, deserved to be heard after they let their hair down. And they looked VERY VERY tired. But not as irritable & negative as in the last days of King John.