Swagman wrote on Oct 30^th, 2015 at 6:55am:



Who said it is free money it is only your opinion

I am on the old age pension and I work for 50 years paying my fair share of taxes, and I never complain about the amount  of taxes I paid.

I know that the taxes I paid back then help to paid for the pension to the people that done it hard during the depression, it also help to paid for the veterans that fought in the first and second world wars to make as free. It also help to built public schools and hospital that you can use today. My taxes I paid back then when I was working, also paid for the roads that you are using today, not like today when they built a road the put a toll on it if you want to drive on it.

So never come and said it is free money we have paid for it many times over, just think yourself lucky that we paid taxes and built all the infrastructure that you are using today.

Labor voter wrote on Oct 30^th, 2015 at 8:34am:



Well put!  Points a finger like a searchlight at some aspects of the reasons behind the decline of the West - the big sellout and selloff that has wrecked everything, alongside the ultra-socialist nonsense seeping out of Darkest Europe these days.

mariacostel wrote on Oct 30^th, 2015 at 8:40am:



only from dumb rightards

John Smith wrote on Oct 30^th, 2015 at 8:44am:


Spot on - what lifestyle is there on $250 a week?  A little desperate drug dealing?  the inability to even get pissed to forget for a while?  Shagging a scrag since no woman of class will look at you?  Cop a rousting from the constabulary because you must be no good if you've got nothing?  Fail another job interview because Mary Rich with the private school  education's parents can dress her better and you can't even afford a haircut, and even if you get to Uni you can't live on student money alone, which is all you've got?

Oh - yes - I forgot - sitting on the beach all day taking in the rays (man), and just enjoying that outdoors life while sucking back a case a day and eating like a king.... all on $250 a week.

Reminds me of The Last Tycoon.... guy had his kitchen table set up on a beach and wined and dined a classy lady while wearing a tuxedo.. all on nothing....

May I just say that it is you people - you John, Grappler (whose rant I just enjoyed immensely) and the rest of the mainly left - who want these government monoliths staffed by as many public servants as you can stuff in.

What the hell do you think is going to happen when you give so much power to jumped up little bureaucrats, unless you happen to be someone who they are not sure might not know people of influence?

Soviet Russia, East Germany, Red China - that's what's going to happen.

bogarde73 wrote on Oct 30^th, 2015 at 9:09am:


Sounds a little extreme - having enough people to do the job is what is required - but a better alternative is for government to actually function to reduce the NEED for people to do that job, rather than just cutting them out to save a few shekels.

Government does that by actually producing work opportunities rather than level-pegging and then laying claim to having 'created' jobs, while the reality is that not a single job has been created EXTRA to what was already around - just a few deckchairs were shuffled for a better view of the iceberg.

Having enough low order public servants to do the actual work won't lead us to a Communist style state, just to one where the stress level is ratcheted down a level or two.

John Smith wrote on Oct 30^th, 2015 at 9:01am:

This is called "deeming" and it is a crock. It is one of the few interest rates in Australia that is not set by the RBA or the market. It is set by a Minister in the government (Minister for Social Services, not the Treasurer or Minister for Finance) and it is pure fiction.

The deeming rate currently has a maximum interest rate of 3.25%. This is higher than the highest market rate with the major banks, which is about 3%.

It is also interesting that the DHS page on deeming explains what happens if the actual interest rate is higher (the pensioner keeps the extra income) but does not explain what happens if the actual interest rate is lower (which it is likely to be currently): money is taken from pensioners. Because the deeming rate is higher than the market rate, pensioners all around the country are being robbed.

Deeming is one reason why we should consider abolishing the means test for the aged pension (so everybody over the retirement age can access it) and pay for it by abolishing tax concessions for retirees. Deeming would go. It greatly simplifies the tax and pension system and provides better balance. This simpler system would also be less costly to administer.

John Smith wrote on Oct 30^th, 2015 at 9:01am:


Its called the 'deeming rate'.  It has been around for decades.