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So They Want To Give Australia A Quad Whammy Do They?

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By , January 30, 2009 2:15 pm

I am having a difficult time understanding some sectors of the Australian community at present, particularly the opposition leader and the Business Council.

Australian EconomyThey want to bring forward tax cuts to Australian workers – who doesn’t. At he same time they want to increase welfare payment to the elderly by $30 a week, and that sounds reasonable as well – actually the latest call from some sectors is to also increase welfare payments to the unemployed by $30 a week.

It all sounds great. More money for those on welfare – and they do need it. More money for workers and small business – and they need it too. However, there is one little tiny flaw to everyone’s thinking and that is employment. Unemployment is set to rise steeply in 2009.

Can you tell me any budget that can handle a reduced tax on a reduced workforce whilst paying out extra in welfare payments to more individuals receiving those payments.

I’ve heard of a double whammy before – is this an economic quad whammy? Really, can we afford to go down this track or is there an alternative. Employement needs to be the Governments primary concern. Employment reduces two of those four budget drains, fewer on welfare and more paying tax. Perhaps then you can look at tax cuts and welfare increases. They are needed – we just cannot afford them at present.

Australia Day In Retrospect

By , January 28, 2009 12:42 am

January 26 is Australia Day, officially our nations birthday. It’s also a day for tradition and being the height of summer, the backyard barbie (bar-b-que for the uninitiated) is the choice for many Australians.

What are we celebrating? I said it was our birthday and it is. January 26 was the day that Europeans, more precisely the British, established the first settlement on Australian shores.

Australia Celebrates Australia DayFor our indigenous population, some consider it invasion day. For others, it is considered dumping day – the day the English ‘dumped’ their unwanted on Australia. We have a reputation for being a nation built on criminals – convicts to be precise, many of whom were sentenced to transportation to Australia for simply stealing a loaf (or less) of bread. This included homeless children who could only eat and survive by taking what they could find.

Some senior leaders of our indigenous community have called for a change of date for Australia Day.  Rather than holding a celebration on invasion day, they would rather select another important date.

I think the argument is moot in today’s modern society. We no longer celebrate Australia Day for the events of the past, we now celebrate it for today, the here and the now. We come together as  one nation, as ‘mates’, hence the backyard barbie.

Thousands of immigrants choose Australia Day to become Australian citizens. I am sure the events of a couple of hundred years ago are irrelevant to them – what is important is they now have a new nation to call home – and they are proud of it.

I am proud to be an Australian. ‘When’ we celebrate Australia Day is not as important as the why and how. The way we come together as one, many indigenous peoples as well, is  a reflection of our strong modern society. We may be young as a nation, but we are strong.

We have been able to avoid many of the worlds financial ills to date – we won’t avoid them for much longer – but, we will be one of the last to fall and one of the first to recover – it’s the Australian way – the Aussie battler way. Australia Day is not about dates, or the events of the past, it is about all of us coming together as one nation – and growing stronger because of it.

links for 2009-01-24

By , January 25, 2009 3:02 pm

links for 2009-01-15

By , January 16, 2009 3:01 pm