Banter 2021 Off-Topic Chat Thread

[Art Vandelay_]

I agree it is definitely a bi-partisan issue and IMO payments should increase in line with inflation. However, it's frustrating that the payment is a mile below the poverty line. In Australia, Jobseeker is currently $565.70 a fortnight without the Covid supplement for a single adult with no dependents, and will be increasing to $615.70 a fortnight beginning in April, or roughly $44 a day. The poverty line is considered to be $457 A WEEK, or roughly $65 a day.

I work with people who as part time/casuals on 20 ish hours a week, and while as mostly young girls living at home taking home around $500 a week is more than enough for them as non-renters if Newstart was at the poverty line then they may opt for that $457 a week and that position now lays vacant, and a renter I doubt would be keen on it.

Therein lies the issue IMO. Maybe it does need a bigger increase, as expensive as that may be, but can't be anywhere near what the lowest earners get as they'd just take the dole and menial tasks and roles that minimum wage earners do get left undone. And, I don't think it is as simple as saying 'raise the wages' for these tasks. They are priced according to the skill involved and the demand for the service, as well as the net benefit they bring. Raise the wages of those people performing these menial tasks and it quickly becomes unviable for businesses. A balance that I don't think government, industry or employers will ever agree on. And will forever go unfixed.

I have no problem paying some extra tax for those on Newstart, and especially for those on the aged pension.
That is just ridiculous what they get paid.

We also make it very easy for the bludgers to get these payments long term, whereas it appears other OECD nations make it much harder and put short term caps on time you can receive payments, and there is not enough scrutiny and checks in place on 'search efforts' here to go along with the ease of long term access.

The work programs long term unemployed get put into is just a PR exercise by government so they can tell the tax payer that long term unemployed are being made to 'work' for their dole money. But the reality is that these people are just shoved into NFP organisations or fill the cracks in the minimum wage sector and do menial tasks that no one could be paid to do as there is no money to be made. All the while these providers receive $$$ to take in these dole recipients.

So sorry but I have a big problem with substantive increases to unemployment benefits. They deserve to be kept as low as they can be.
The sad reality of life is that not everyone will have a job. There is no country that has zero unemployment. The sad reality of the 21st century Australian landscape is that there is a real requirement for people to learn a skill. We have been moving away from a manufacturing based economy towards a service based economy for decades. Trades, diplomas are the way to go. But our Newstart work programs and education schemes don't do this, they allow for basic education courses from TAFE's like retail, social work etc which either lead to unskilled labour (retail) or require further studies to get a meaningful job out of. Which brings us back full circle to needing a skill in 21st century Australia.

Fully in agreement that disability (permanent) and the age pension need a serious review. The elderly and those who can't work should be looked after to an extent that they can live comfortably. Not have money troubles that cause them to skip meals or not turn on the heat in winter/air con in summer (especially for the elderly). Fully sympathise with them and have no issues if they got quite a bit more. Comfortable retirement is something we all strive for and if done well can be well propped up by our super, but our current generation of elderly didn't have compulsory super for their whole working lives so should be well looked after IMO.

 

[cats_09]

Speaking of work sh*t had a foreman go off at me for nearly an hour. No exaggeration, he just went on and on. Then kept going after that.
At 6.00 pm. He's getting charged double time + meal allowance etc.
Going on how one of heads of the whole project has rang my employers office and told them never to let me on his site again.
Then goes don't think I'm having a go at you cause I'm not. ????????
Then tells me what he wants me to do tomorrow morning.

And you can't do shit except stand there while this happens

That sucks, sorry to hear that happened to ya

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Faaarken ridiculous. Those who worry about giving extra to vulnerable need to have a look at the wastage and the rich that don't pay tax.

No problem with Uncle Rupe getting kick backs. His empire keeps us ALP free each federal election.
A national hero doing god's work.

 

[Spazz Cat]

And you can't do sh*t except stand there while this happens

That sucks, sorry to hear that happened to ya

Haha. Ta. It was allright. No trouble on double. Just zoned out and said Oh yeah or I hear ya every now and then

 

[Spazz Cat]

No problem with Uncle Rupe getting kick backs. His empire keeps us ALP free each federal election.
A national hero doing god's work.

Yet the only time you actually want him to do his job Dan Andrews ends up being more popular than God.

 

[Shell]

When his missus is chasing him with a golf club he is.
Did he crash normally?

Lol just look at the news. Its all over it.

Single car SUV crash, he ran off the road

 

[Shell]

Speaking of work sh*t had a foreman go off at me for nearly an hour. No exaggeration, he just went on and on. Then kept going after that.
At 6.00 pm. He's getting charged double time + meal allowance etc.
Going on how one of heads of the whole project has rang my employers office and told them never to let me on his site again.
Then goes don't think I'm having a go at you cause I'm not. ????????
Then tells me what he wants me to do tomorrow morning.

Did you try hitting him?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Yet the only time you actually want him to do his job Dan Andrews ends up being more popular than God.

Dan deserves to be reincarnated as a dung beetle. Utter cretin.
Truly is appalling that the LNP in this state is so limp wristed.

A competent opposition would have hounded him into resignation by now.
Fraser was the man to take down a shit government. This state has no Fraser. We don't even have a Snedden.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Did you try hitting him?

Haha. I really didn't care much. Kept saying how I don't give a f**k. He's kinda right.
+ he's not to bad a bloke usually.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Dan deserves to be reincarnated as a dung beetle. Utter cretin.
Truly is appalling that the LNP in this state is so limp wristed.

A competent opposition would have hounded him into resignation by now.
Fraser was the man to take down a sh*t government. This state has no Fraser. We don't even have a Snedden.

That's what I mean. One f**king time the Libs and Uncle Rupert could actually do something good for society.
But nup. They're even campaigners when they don't even mean it.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

That's what I mean. One f**king time the Libs and Uncle Rupert could actually do something good for society.
But nup. They're even campaigners when they don't even mean it.

Media did their part.
The talent pool is Tim Smith deep, barely puddle depth.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Media did their part.
The talent pool is Tim Smith deep, barely puddle depth.

I reckon the usual right media f**ked up. They got too opionated and turned everyone against them so everything looks like a witch hunt.
All they had to do was show the facts. None of the usual shit needed.

 

[Spazz Cat]

I work with people who as part time/casuals on 20 ish hours a week, and while as mostly young girls living at home taking home around $500 a week is more than enough for them as non-renters if Newstart was at the poverty line then they may opt for that $457 a week and that position now lays vacant, and a renter I doubt would be keen on it.

Therein lies the issue IMO. Maybe it does need a bigger increase, as expensive as that may be, but can't be anywhere near what the lowest earners get as they'd just take the dole and menial tasks and roles that minimum wage earners do get left undone. And, I don't think it is as simple as saying 'raise the wages' for these tasks. They are priced according to the skill involved and the demand for the service, as well as the net benefit they bring. Raise the wages of those people performing these menial tasks and it quickly becomes unviable for businesses. A balance that I don't think government, industry or employers will ever agree on. And will forever go unfixed.


We also make it very easy for the bludgers to get these payments long term, whereas it appears other OECD nations make it much harder and put short term caps on time you can receive payments, and there is not enough scrutiny and checks in place on 'search efforts' here to go along with the ease of long term access.

The work programs long term unemployed get put into is just a PR exercise by government so they can tell the tax payer that long term unemployed are being made to 'work' for their dole money. But the reality is that these people are just shoved into NFP organisations or fill the cracks in the minimum wage sector and do menial tasks that no one could be paid to do as there is no money to be made. All the while these providers receive $$$ to take in these dole recipients.

So sorry but I have a big problem with substantive increases to unemployment benefits. They deserve to be kept as low as they can be.
The sad reality of life is that not everyone will have a job. There is no country that has zero unemployment. The sad reality of the 21st century Australian landscape is that there is a real requirement for people to learn a skill. We have been moving away from a manufacturing based economy towards a service based economy for decades. Trades, diplomas are the way to go. But our Newstart work programs and education schemes don't do this, they allow for basic education courses from TAFE's like retail, social work etc which either lead to unskilled labour (retail) or require further studies to get a meaningful job out of. Which brings us back full circle to needing a skill in 21st century Australia.

Fully in agreement that disability (permanent) and the age pension need a serious review. The elderly and those who can't work should be looked after to an extent that they can live comfortably. Not have money troubles that cause them to skip meals or not turn on the heat in winter/air con in summer (especially for the elderly). Fully sympathise with them and have no issues if they got quite a bit more. Comfortable retirement is something we all strive for and if done well can be well propped up by our super, but our current generation of elderly didn't have compulsory super for their whole working lives so should be well looked after IMO.

What bludgers? Do you know any?
How do you bludge on 45$ a day?
Your just a being a pawn in the oldest game there is.
Get the middle class to focus on and blame the poor while the rich get richer and avoid scrutiny.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Also if your on the dole 10% of everything you buy goes back in tax anyway.
If you smoke, drink or drive a car it's much, much higher.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

What bludgers? Do you know any?
How do you bludge on 45$ a day?
Your just a being a pawn in the oldest game there is.
Get the middle class to focus on and blame the poor while the rich get richer and avoid scrutiny.

Got some land in a swamp I'd like to sell you...

Typical lefty ideology though, lift up the poor by taxing those that made something of themselves.
That's our great problem.

One party gives breaks to the high end of town, the other gives it to those that are a societal burden.
Neither is particularly right.

Corporations should pay tax but we shouldn't prop up the leaners. Government officials should receive less fringe benefits and allowances.
We should look after the lifters in that middle class - Joe Hockey parlance - but hardly think taxing wealthy Australian citizens (note: citizens not corporations) is fair either.

A man on 200k a year is still paying more tax at 20% than someone on 40k a year. Never agreed with the incremental tax system.
Slugs those who worked hard to get to where they are. That is not to say lower earners work less hard. Not saying that at all.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Agree with most of that. If those that should just paid their far share of tax everyone (including the loaded) wouldn't even need to pay 10%.
But is also hard to agree overall when you look at countries that are heavily taxed and subsidised. It works remarkably well.
Lifting up the poor helps everyone. Rising tide lifts all boats.

 

[cats_09]

Sorry if I'm interrupting anyones conversation, but just want to vent for a minute

Job hunting sucks and I had forgotten how much it can play with your emotions at times

This morning I was feeling good - had a pretty good nights sleep, got up and decided to give my new Ring Fit Adventure a go (something I had been looking at & last week I caught up with a friend who said buy it), and then it was getting through various tasks on the to-do list including reading through random emails

One such email was an update from Seek for a job I applied for last week - it was for a call centre administrator at Geelong Taxis, and while not the most exciting sounding job it was one I thought ticked the boxes for

This is part of the email:
You're application is unlikely to progress any further

Application feedback
61 candidates matched the employer’s preference question for this job.
Your answers matched the employer’s preferences.



At the time it was like "yep, getting used to these emails", but as the afternoon went on, I just started to feel more flat - like obviously employers can't interview everyone who matches the employers preferences, but matching the preferences, having the required skills & experience and not even getting an interview starts to get frustrating

And it then makes me more frustrated at not getting a temp job I did a couple of interviews for last month as the company made a last minute change to their recruitment strategy for the role.

Then a comment from my aunt is still playing on loop in the back of my mind - she's great at the backhand compliment. So when talking to her a couple of weeks back (before we went into that 5 day lockdown), the conversation turns to my job hunting and she comes with the following couple of lines:
- not to be mean, but you are getting old now so it's going to be hard to find something
- last year your cousin got a job working in a local pub. But he's a such people person

Btw, I love my cousin and glad to hear he's found work especially as he's living in Melbourne, but that last line was delivered in such a manner as to say I'm not a people person. 5 minute phone conversations with my aunt are more than long enough

In the past when I've got into this sort of funk I've booked a holiday and gone away for a few days - not exactly the easiest thing to do at the moment

Sorry, just been a flat afternoon - hopefully will get a good nights sleep and can reset tomorrow and then find motivation to tackle the next set of tasks on the to do list

 

[Spazz Cat]

Sorry if I'm interrupting anyones conversation, but just want to vent for a minute

Job hunting sucks and I had forgotten how much it can play with your emotions at times

This morning I was feeling good - had a pretty good nights sleep, got up and decided to give my new Ring Fit Adventure a go (something I had been looking at & last week I caught up with a friend who said buy it), and then it was getting through various tasks on the to-do list including reading through random emails

One such email was an update from Seek for a job I applied for last week - it was for a call centre administrator at Geelong Taxis, and while not the most exciting sounding job it was one I thought ticked the boxes for

This is part of the email:
You're application is unlikely to progress any further

Application feedback
61 candidates matched the employer’s preference question for this job.
Your answers matched the employer’s preferences.



At the time it was like "yep, getting used to these emails", but as the afternoon went on, I just started to feel more flat - like obviously employers can't interview everyone who matches the employers preferences, but matching the preferences, having the required skills & experience and not even getting an interview starts to get frustrating

And it then makes me more frustrated at not getting a temp job I did a couple of interviews for last month as the company made a last minute change to their recruitment strategy for the role.

Then a comment from my aunt is still playing on loop in the back of my mind - she's great at the backhand compliment. So when talking to her a couple of weeks back (before we went into that 5 day lockdown), the conversation turns to my job hunting and she comes with the following couple of lines:
- not to be mean, but you are getting old now so it's going to be hard to find something
- last year your cousin got a job working in a local pub. But he's a such people person

Btw, I love my cousin and glad to hear he's found work especially as he's living in Melbourne, but that last line was delivered in such a manner as to say I'm not a people person. 5 minute phone conversations with my aunt are more than long enough

In the past when I've got into this sort of funk I've booked a holiday and gone away for a few days - not exactly the easiest thing to do at the moment

Sorry, just been a flat afternoon - hopefully will get a good nights sleep and can reset tomorrow and then find motivation to tackle the next set of tasks on the to do list

Your aunt sounds like a real positive person.
It'll be right. One thing leads to another and so on.
Usually only people with nothing to say want to ask you about jobs and what you do anyway. Who cares?

 

[Spazz Cat]

There's been some ridiculous reasons why people are getting cancelled these days but I haven't seen this one before.

 

[Lana]

If dole bludgers bother you so much just think of it as a retail and rental property subsidy. The money I spend does significantly more for the economy then my productivity at work ever could.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Lol. It's for real too.
I thought Pantera stood for our country and traditional conservative values," adding "How wrong I was."

The page continues "Instead they PROMOTE RAILROAD TRESPASSING by sharing this photo of a scantily-dressed fan breaking the law!

 

[cats_09]

Your aunt sounds like a real positive person.
It'll be right. One thing leads to another and so on.
Usually only people with nothing to say want to ask you about jobs and what you do anyway. Who cares?

I'm just glad that my aunt lives in Qld and I live in Geelong - see her maybe once or at most twice a year, and talk on the phone a couple of times just to be good family

I get the idea that with parents you normally don't need too public with who you're favourite child is - well it's very easy to know who will take favourite kid is, and then easy to tell her favourite between myself & my brother

Basically, rather than not understanding the word subtle I think she understands it perfectly well but just doesn't give a shit

 

[Spazz Cat]

I'm just glad that my aunt lives in Qld and I live in Geelong - see her maybe once or at most twice a year, and talk on the phone a couple of times just to be good family

I get the idea that with parents you normally don't need too public with who you're favourite child is - well it's very easy to know who will take favourite kid is, and then easy to tell her favourite between myself & my brother

Basically, rather than not understanding the word subtle I think she understands it perfectly well but just doesn't give a sh*t

F**k that!
Its the way it seems to go with older ladies sometimes. They seem to favour the sons/ boys more than the girls/daughters

 

[cats_09]

 

[winty]