Joe Hockey, asset or liability?

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romeoh said:
e.g. Melb uni where my daughter goes-The union fees support a range of student services and amenities including: the Rowden White Library; the Computing Centre; the Student Union Advisory Service; subsidised legal, health and dental services; a campus information centre; and common areas in Union House. This allocation also covers salaries, upkeep and development of the student union's buildings.
Maybe sport facilities too?
Doesn't seem that unreasonable to me but each to his own. Have found that people who complain about union fees are regularly the first to avail themselves of its facilities when they need help.;)
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I went to Melbourne Uni in the late 90s and the student administration fee covered the costs for the same types of expenditure.
 
Gough said:
The only thing I can imagine Hockey feeling strongly enough about to march for these days is free Hungry Jacks
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I think you'll find that he has lost a lot of weight. He swapped HJs for a Cigar based weight loss program.:p

The umemployed are also about to go on a diet. Its called 'use it or lose it'!! ( ie use that fat arse or lose your income & starve it off). But its only because Smokin Joe cares about them.:rolleyes:
 

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sherb said:
Also, it seems that protesting on the street and a free education was very important to our Man of Principle when he was at university.........
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I think it goes to show if you are a 'me, me, me' person then looking at life as an unemployed 22 year old student and looking at life as middle aged man who is comfortable with what he has achieved you are poles apart, even when the same person.

I hope if nothing else Hockey learns that lesson, because at present he is turning his nose up at the kind of people he used to be and still would be if he was in the same situation. The major difference now is that a university degree used to allow you to walk through the door and have ample opportunity, it doesn't in this day and age and a lot of young people are frightened of being heavily debt laden with an education debt that might not even deliver a decent job.

Young students have very legitimate concerns, especially if the government's draconian budget is going to put the squeeze on our economic growth and make employment prospects poorer. If you come out of school and the 10 year treasury bond rate is 6% or higher and you borrowed $100k for your education that is another $6k you have to pay off after year 1 even if you can't find a job that pays more than the threshold.

They are under a lot of pressure as soon as they leave school.
 
mottrain said:
No nothing of the sort. The $250 that the protesting was over is the embezzlement fee for student unions that people were forced to pay to fund the marxist clubs and a whole bunch of other left leaning lunatic groups and union as a whole. Seems significantly identical to the perception he has of such fees today and also why they were abolished rightly in the first place pretty much.
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This is a lie.

It wasn't about union fees at all.
 
sherb said:
What services did the union provide though?
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I was the treasurer for the student union at RMIT in my final year while I was studying there, we had a budget of around $1m back then, it is up to now $2.5m last year. The student union provides tons of services, a lot of support for students and also support academic, cultural and social student clubs, mostly academic though. A lot of events and programs, providing support for students, etc.

An important part of education which is not covered in your course include your social skills, creativity, mental development and the like, the student union helps to make sure there is a broad selection of events, programs and activities which help give people a well rounded education. Your ability to memorise and regurgitate stuff from a book only gets you so far in life, being involved in voluntary philosophy groups and programs or the like on your CV will likely tell an employer a lot more about you than adequate academic results.

Employers want thinkers and candidates with people skills, the student union provides a lot of the secondary educational services which students should make the most of.
 
Docker Clint said:
No no, administration costs are just a commie plot.
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It was the first step towards HECS. Nothing to do with the union.

They added a similar fee for dealing with international students, along the lines of a VISA processing fee. In other words, mottrain is talkin bollocks in an attempt to cover Hockey's behavior by framing it as an anti union thing.
 
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DivideandMultiply said:
It was the first step towards HECS. Nothing to do with the union.

They added a similar fee for dealing with international students, along the lines of a VISA processing fee. In other words, mottrain is talkin bollocks in an attempt to cover Hockey's behavior by framing it as an anti union thing.
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Or socialism by stealth.
 

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Geelong_Sicko said:
It IS interesting, now that you mention it. I wonder if the police have issued a directive to the media not to show violent protest? I wonder if Mr Hockey himself 'manhandled' any of the security guards to get inside?
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Will there be a journo who would dare to play that clip in front of Hockey & then ask him for a comment?
 
noddy said:
Will there be a journo who would dare to play that clip in front of Hockey & then ask him for a comment?
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They did.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...g-against-university-fees-20140528-394jn.html

When asked about his student protesting days on television last week, Mr Hockey said that in your 20s you complain and in your 40s, you explain.

"We obviously were concerned about the fact we were paying fees upfront which no student has to do now," he told Channel Ten.

Mr Hockey said, in response to the unearthed footage: "My involvement in student rallies is well-documented and well-known and there was no HECS scheme at the time. We had to pay upfront without any loan scheme."

On Thursday, Mr Hockey said: ''When I was 21 I thought things would be free and now in my 40s I know they are not.''

The Treasurer brushed aside criticism that he was a hypocrite, telling the Seven Network ''fair dinkum we are a bit more mature in our debate. What we are doing now is very different to 27 years ago''.
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Turning out to be a good test of Hockey's mettle. Up until now always had a freedride from media which wants to promote him as credible threat to Abbott.
Now getting the taste of the media blowtorch.

Still Joe has walked Kokoda trail when he was fat, fat. fat so luvvies shouldn't be getting over excited yet.
 
Maggie5 said:
Does anyone really think that if the Libs continually talk about the debt emergency and refer to billions, the man in the street is still listening?
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The number isn't as important as our ability to repay that number.

The problem is it is hard for the man in the street to relate to politicians telling them the age of entitlement is over when they are paying $50,000 of taxpayer money for a dinner. The 'do as I say, not as I do' message is not one that usually goes down well.
 
Tas said:
The number isn't as important as our ability to repay that number.

The problem is it is hard for the man in the street to relate to politicians telling them the age of entitlement is over when they are paying $50,000 of taxpayer money for a dinner. The 'do as I say, not as I do' message is not one that usually goes down well.
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If that number is correct, what I meant that after the budget and the affect it is going to have on them, the Lib can keep saying what they want, they have stopped listening.
Also agree with your second point.
 
Maggie5 said:
If that number is correct, what I meant that after the budget and the affect it is going to have on them, the Lib can keep saying what they want, they have stopped listening.
Also agree with your second point.
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Those excessive dinners hiring the best chefs to come out and provide meals for visiting bureaucrats isn't really anything new, this is largely the problem with the public service, including politicians of every single party.

The age of entitlement is far from over, the sad part is nobody is motivated in terms of funneling our resources in a manner which will enlighten our society and make it functional to the best of our ability. We accept shoddy standards, we accept inefficiencies and accept bloated leeches sucking the blood from the people and justify that it is okay because anyone else has the power to do what I do and enjoy the perks of what I do.

This is meant to be our incentive? To be some fat, pompous toad croaking to the masses that they should accept and welcome hardship just because they are the least worst candidates the public could find to run for office?

How sad our society is, we have the means to achieve so much more than what we do but we are dysfunctional working without any harmony and motivated by self-interest. It is why nobody gives a s**t in the message because this nation just has no direction and no leadership. It hasn't for a very long time.
 
Tas said:
Those excessive dinners hiring the best chefs to come out and provide meals for visiting bureaucrats isn't really anything new, this is largely the problem with the public service, including politicians of every single party.

The age of entitlement is far from over, the sad part is nobody is motivated in terms of funneling our resources in a manner which will enlighten our society and make it functional to the best of our ability. We accept shoddy standards, we accept inefficiencies and accept bloated leeches sucking the blood from the people and justify that it is okay because anyone else has the power to do what I do and enjoy the perks of what I do.

This is meant to be our incentive? To be some fat, pompous toad croaking to the masses that they should accept and welcome hardship just because they are the least worst candidates the public could find to run for office?

How sad our society is, we have the means to achieve so much more than what we do but we are dysfunctional working without any harmony and motivated by self-interest. It is why nobody gives a s**t in the message because this nation just has no direction and no leadership. It hasn't for a very long time.
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That would be bank managers & their ilk, on $millions irrespective of how they perform or whether or not they benefit the community.
 
Tas said:
Those excessive dinners hiring the best chefs to come out and provide meals for visiting bureaucrats isn't really anything new, this is largely the problem with the public service, including politicians of every single party.

The age of entitlement is far from over, the sad part is nobody is motivated in terms of funneling our resources in a manner which will enlighten our society and make it functional to the best of our ability. We accept shoddy standards, we accept inefficiencies and accept bloated leeches sucking the blood from the people and justify that it is okay because anyone else has the power to do what I do and enjoy the perks of what I do.

This is meant to be our incentive? To be some fat, pompous toad croaking to the masses that they should accept and welcome hardship just because they are the least worst candidates the public could find to run for office?

How sad our society is, we have the means to achieve so much more than what we do but we are dysfunctional working without any harmony and motivated by self-interest. It is why nobody gives a s**t in the message because this nation just has no direction and no leadership. It hasn't for a very long time.
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Post of the year for me
 
madmug said:
That would be bank managers & their ilk, on $millions irrespective of how they perform or whether or not they benefit the community.
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Bank managers and their ilk do not have the power to change the direction the nation travels, they just operate within the rules our society dictate, and at present we have no real leadership or direction so individuals just keep stuffing their pockets with as much cash as humanly possible, dodge tax, dodge responsibilities because we do not demand a higher standard.

We generate more than enough taxation revenue, despite people cheating the system, to double or triple what we spend on education and implement an educational system which seeks to achieve the highest level of education possible in the world with more emphasis on science, mathematics and technology combined with better access to mental and social development programs. We want to educate the new generation, not just process new consumers.

We have the resources to generate a better education than what we do. That doesn't mean we should piss money away but teaching should be a revered position where we have enough resources to bring back people who have a lot of knowledge and experience to impart that on our next generation. With the wealth we generate to be cutting spending on education is a national crime. We should always reduce waste, but what is saved should be used on improving the quality of education.

We generate more than enough taxation revenue to support our social welfare programs, we don't need to put the hurt on low income earners.

We waste a lot of money in almost every department of government. When Howard first came into office I was contracted to investigate and report on waste of resources and duplication in the research and development arm of the government, because the federal government both gave grants directly as well as money the federal government gives to the states being used for grants on R&D to each individual state. There was chronic waste both with the federal and state governments giving grants for the same R&D but also the different states duplicated the same type of R&D programs. We are talking billions of dollars over a period of time, a lot of these programs were on agricultural and primary produce R&D, research on the various grains and livestock markets yet there were dubious quantifiable improvements related from the programs themselves and ethical questions about why tax payers were funding R&D instead of the people who benefit from the R&D.

But, nothing changed. Why? Howard relies on the rural vote.

Our political parties bow to the political pressure from the mining industry who contribute * all in the form of taxation income, there are so many exploitable loopholes that they can get away with paying a lower proportion of tax than a hamburger flipper at McDonalds while raping the nation of it's natural finite resources.

Norway has a 50% rent based tax on resources plus 28% company tax with no deductions at the company level for rent based tax, Norway largely extracts petroleum. Norway has been using the natural resources to fund the future development of the nation. When you compare that to the effective taxation rate of our resources companies and company owners you have to wonder how we can possibly allow so much to be taken from the nation and so little being given back. Yet there is a fierce resistance to change, as soon as these toads smell momentum against them they produce their political propaganda ads on television to generate sympathy with the working class and they have the political parties by the gonads.

It is all about self-interest and exploiting to the letter of the law. 70% of our largest companies use off-shore tax havens to dodge taxation responsibilities. What has happened to the morality of our nation? To our ethics? Taxation shouldn't be seen as something to avoid, tax office will hound a mum and dad for being unable to justify a deduction over $300 but there is this national blindness when it comes to corporation implementing taxation avoidance schemes to steal from the nation they belong to.

We are morally and ethically corrupt, we need politicians that provide leadership, not also look for every opportunity to line their pockets with cash. You would hope people who already had wealth leading into politics wouldn't need to further rape our nation, but greed is a sickness and it doesn't matter how much money they make, it is never enough.

It is really up to the people to force change. None of these toads are going to do it out of the goodness of their own heart.
 
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Just flipping through the budget, as light entertainment, wondering were all the hard earned taxpayer money is going to, let me throw a dart into the cauldron of waste and see what it lands on.

ANSTO. Didn't even realise we have an Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

Estimated opening bank balance: $77,989,000
Proposed budget: $159,113,000
Total funds from government: $252,803,000

Providing radioisotopes for medical procedures is the only productive use coming from this department, mostly for cancer treatment which they estimate will generate $75,700,000 from the sale of these isotopes... to hospitals which get the money from... the government.

So we maintain OPAL an Open Pool Australian Lightwater 20 Megawatt nuclear reactor which uses low enriched uranium fuel.

So for something that produces $75m in isotopes we are going to spend $252m plus juggle another $75m around between government departments to run a nuclear reactor for 30-35 days a year, we either get serious in terms of nuclear research and the use of nuclear power or s**t like this should be canned, we can get the isotopes from overseas who actually have an interest in nuclear power and products. Besides, we are meant to be a nuclear free zone and we have a nuclear reactor, seems a bit misleading.

Really, this isn't even a major waste of money, I'll periodically post more of the shockers but to provide an accurate picture of some of the more obscure classified portfolios needs further investigation.

If you just ask 'do we really need to spend this money?' and 'what outcomes do we get from the money spent?' questions you find it is pretty easy to save a lot of money outside of essential services.

If the government was serious about reducing spending then why keep programs like this going?
 
Caesar said:
Truth be told I don't have any particularly strong opinions on the guy. Seems to me like a lightweight who's fully aware of it, and enjoys comfortable mediocrity. Whether he's capable of more I'm not sure, but he certainly doesn't seem too motivated either way.

People like him though.
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What's your appraisal of Joe and his budget now?
 
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