Politics Centrelink

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PenfoldsFan said:
Scumbag organisation who hold you accountable but never admit fault themselves.
We have young children and receive family tax benefit and as is the norm every year, after doing our tax returns they reconcilliate and balance it.
As a habit we always over estimate our income to avoid a debt.
Last year my Wife went to the local office and whilst there was told she would be receiving almost 8k. She questioned this as it had never been anywhere near that much and after checking again was told it was correct, 2 days later it turned up in her account.
Fast forward to early January this year and she receives a letter saying we owe them almost 8k and pay up.
So we head down the office, nope not interested call this number.
2 hours later we'd been accused of underestimating as id changed mine 3 times, i said thats because my income changed, i went from working, to out of a job when COVID hit and a month later on to Jobkeeper so i adjusted accordingly and accurately, what more can you do.
Then they said my Wifes tax return was submitted late so they didnt get notification from ATO, nope, tax return submitted on 2/7 day after mine and finalised in 17/7.
Then they said they paid her the 8k because she hadnt worked in that financial year, nope, you dont do tax returns if you dont work.
It was then that the penny dropped, they did the reconcilliation without receiving one of the two triggers their system uses, either confirmation from ATO of tax return finalised or notification of being a non lodger.
I asked why that would happen as its never happened before, their answer, dont know, you can lodge a review of decision but as you werent entitled to the money you'll still have to pay it back regardless of how you got it.
So there you go, we did nothing wrong, were accused of doing everything wrong and when pushed to admit it was their mistake, washed their hands of it and said pay up.
I dont have a problem paying it back, we shouldnt have received it, but fair dinkum, own your mistake and stop treating people like criminals.
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Yep its never their fault - and the whole system of finding out way things happens is impossible. They want you to contact them but no-one ever wants to hear from you and handball it to another person who doesnt want to handle it. Its the way with all government departments.

Luckily you hadnt spent the money. To anyone out there, things like Family Tax Benefit or other benefits, if it sounds way to good to be true, it probably is and youre best not to spend it for the first 6-12 months as, like in this case above, they'll work out they ****ed up and come a-knocking.
 
PenfoldsFan said:
Scumbag organisation who hold you accountable but never admit fault themselves.
We have young children and receive family tax benefit and as is the norm every year, after doing our tax returns they reconcilliate and balance it.
As a habit we always over estimate our income to avoid a debt.
Last year my Wife went to the local office and whilst there was told she would be receiving almost 8k. She questioned this as it had never been anywhere near that much and after checking again was told it was correct, 2 days later it turned up in her account.
Fast forward to early January this year and she receives a letter saying we owe them almost 8k and pay up.
So we head down the office, nope not interested call this number.
2 hours later we'd been accused of underestimating as id changed mine 3 times, i said thats because my income changed, i went from working, to out of a job when COVID hit and a month later on to Jobkeeper so i adjusted accordingly and accurately, what more can you do.
Then they said my Wifes tax return was submitted late so they didnt get notification from ATO, nope, tax return submitted on 2/7 day after mine and finalised in 17/7.
Then they said they paid her the 8k because she hadnt worked in that financial year, nope, you dont do tax returns if you dont work.
It was then that the penny dropped, they did the reconcilliation without receiving one of the two triggers their system uses, either confirmation from ATO of tax return finalised or notification of being a non lodger.
I asked why that would happen as its never happened before, their answer, dont know, you can lodge a review of decision but as you werent entitled to the money you'll still have to pay it back regardless of how you got it.
So there you go, we did nothing wrong, were accused of doing everything wrong and when pushed to admit it was their mistake, washed their hands of it and said pay up.
I dont have a problem paying it back, we shouldnt have received it, but fair dinkum, own your mistake and stop treating people like criminals.
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Took us several years to realise it wasn't worth the buggering around, and to claim it with the tax return instead of getting centerlink payments.
The alternative is to duct tape a phone to your head.
 
FRUMPY said:
Yep its never their fault - and the whole system of finding out way things happens is impossible. They want you to contact them but no-one ever wants to hear from you and handball it to another person who doesnt want to handle it. Its the way with all government departments.

Luckily you hadnt spent the money. To anyone out there, things like Family Tax Benefit or other benefits, if it sounds way to good to be true, it probably is and youre best not to spend it for the first 6-12 months as, like in this case above, they'll work out they f’ed up and come a-knocking.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately Frumpy we did spend it as she was reassured that it was correct, now we have to make repayments every fortnight for about 2 years and they said they'll take her tax returns too which is the worst part as we usually use our returns for any larger household purchases, they've basically put us in financial hardship and have zero remorse.
If the shoe were on the other foot and we stuffed up they'd be all over us with threats of fraud.
Im hearing it happened to others too, the cynic in me thinks it was deliberately done to inject cash into the economy as it was opening up and now they want to balance their books its time to call it in.
 

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Its dog whistling - nothing more

Will they pay moving costs?
Will they pay accommodation expenses costs?
Will they find work for family members?
Will they pay for school transfers and sundry expenses?

Not one cent so its dog whistling
 
Figments in an idealogue's head, I think.

Having said that, I spoke to my mum today and she started frothing at the mouth over Jacinda Ardern - "thrusting her teeth into the camera all the time, I wish I could punch it through the screen" - the Nationals ****ed over New Zealand for many years but mum will still vote for them come what may.

Maybe there's more like her over here that have drunk deeply of the neocon kool-aid and believe the anti-welfare rhetoric?
 
yodellinhank said:
Hopefully you get the cheese gig.
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Thanks, but didn't hear anything more about it. JSP got me all revved up about working for an environmental company, on the road visiting building sites and taking soil samples, documenting them and taking them back to be tested. Heard nothing for a week and a half, chased up the JSP, heard back this morning that the soil samples was only part of the job, it was a labouring position mainly climbing into roof spaces and testing for asbestos, and was I still interested?

Yeah, sure, lets get a fat, inflexible, unfit late-50s guy to don full hazmat gear, squeeze through manholes and crawl about in your roof. :thumbsu:

Shits me because the whole soil testing lark was very interesting and something I was keen to do.

ITT: OTP cements his reputation as a dole bludging job snob
 
Over The Post said:
Thanks, but didn't hear anything more about it. JSP got me all revved up about working for an environmental company, on the road visiting building sites and taking soil samples, documenting them and taking them back to be tested. Heard nothing for a week and a half, chased up the JSP, heard back this morning that the soil samples was only part of the job, it was a labouring position mainly climbing into roof spaces and testing for asbestos, and was I still interested?

Yeah, sure, lets get a fat, inflexible, unfit late-50s guy to don full hazmat gear, squeeze through manholes and crawl about in your roof. :thumbsu:

Shits me because the whole soil testing lark was very interesting and something I was keen to do.

ITT: OTP cements his reputation as a dole bludging job snob
Click to expand...
That's a bit s**t. At least the JSP providing some avenues, back when i was on a new start allowance mine didn't do anything like that. Every job I've ever had, except my current, was thanks to a footy club.

Could you get into soil testing for new home builds? Paid those guys too much to tell me nothing much just recently. Seems it would be pretty easy coin if you could get it.
 

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www.abc.net.au

'You could live like a king or queen': Government promotes migration to regions amid rental crisis

There is a housing crisis in some regional towns but the Deputy Prime Minister is launching a multi-million-dollar "move-to-the-country" campaign.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

"You could live like a king or queen in regional Australia with, you know, five bedrooms, three bathrooms, three-car garage, huge backyard — all those things at a fraction of the price that you could, living in a boxed apartment, in a terraced house or whatever, in Melbourne or Sydney," he said.
He also said life in regional Australia promised shorter trips to work.
"I grew up on a family farm, it was the best lifestyle I could have had," Mr McCormack said.
"I'm so glad that I wasn't waiting for dad or mum to come home from work, be stuck in traffic for two hours every day and be a latchkey kid, I was very fortunate."

Margaret River's beauty hides homeless disaster as property prices boom
Simone's house option shrinks to caravan size, as rental stress bites in regional Victoria
Regional house prices soaring due to COVID exodus from cities but some locals now living in cars
Regional housing markets soar, outperforming capital cities for first time since 2004
 
Over The Post said:
www.abc.net.au

'You could live like a king or queen': Government promotes migration to regions amid rental crisis

There is a housing crisis in some regional towns but the Deputy Prime Minister is launching a multi-million-dollar "move-to-the-country" campaign.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

"You could live like a king or queen in regional Australia with, you know, five bedrooms, three bathrooms, three-car garage, huge backyard — all those things at a fraction of the price that you could, living in a boxed apartment, in a terraced house or whatever, in Melbourne or Sydney," he said.
He also said life in regional Australia promised shorter trips to work.
"I grew up on a family farm, it was the best lifestyle I could have had," Mr McCormack said.
"I'm so glad that I wasn't waiting for dad or mum to come home from work, be stuck in traffic for two hours every day and be a latchkey kid, I was very fortunate."

Margaret River's beauty hides homeless disaster as property prices boom
Simone's house option shrinks to caravan size, as rental stress bites in regional Victoria
Regional house prices soaring due to COVID exodus from cities but some locals now living in cars
Regional housing markets soar, outperforming capital cities for first time since 2004
Click to expand...

Its fake.
Australia is full of underutilised land.
They regulate how much is available for building, and if demand outstrips supply the price goes up.

And i'm not sure what happens for foreign investment. Maybe stamp duty should be waived for Australians, and increased threefold for overseas investors.
 
SaintsSeptember said:
And i'm not sure what happens for foreign investment. Maybe stamp duty should be waived for Australians, and increased threefold for overseas investors.
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Communist.

Besides, there are already not enough tradies in the building industry to get s**t done on time. Going to need people to build all these houses that could drive property and rental prices down.

We bought a house in a suburb surrounded by farmland 20 years ago for $260k, every time the valuation went up to $280k another new subdivision went in and the price dropped to $250k again. This went on until about 2015 when all the farms had been converted to tiny blocks with boxes. Sold after my marriage went belly up in 2016 for $360k, it was on the market last year for nearly $600k. :(
 
They have the power to raise the unemployment benefit but instead they blame unemployed Australians for not moving to the regions where there are jobs for (perhaps) 10% of Australia's unemployed population. All because of whingers who are surprised that people who don't live in a Third World country with a low cost of living don't want to do farm work. So all unemployed Australians need to suffer because a small percentage of them could theoretically be doing farm work.

Typical Coalition rubbish - all about posturing and nothing to do with logic.
 
Cost of living should be cheaper in regional areas, but i have to say the "apartment " ( flat ) market leaves me flabbergasted.

www.domain.com.au

Sold 5/69 Clow Street, Dandenong VIC 3175 on 07 Oct 2021 - 2016782774 | Domain

5/69 Clow Street, Dandenong VIC 3175 a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment sold for $408,000 on 2021-02-05T16:16:52.273. View listing details #2016782774 on Domain
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To me its insane that developers are buying a perfectly good house, knocking it down, squashing 6 apartments ( flats ) onto it and selling them each for the same price they bought the house originally. The insane people are those paying the money.
 
horsham 290.jpg

This humpy can be yours in Horsham, at just $190 a week. F'in Horsham. Of all places.

I'm paying $260 a week, in country Vic that would get me a pretty average 2br house or a 1-2 br unit. Either of which would entail me selling off most of my possessions because there's no room.

Apologies/commiserations to anyone who actually lives in Horsham.
 
Over The Post said:
View attachment 1079807

This humpy can be yours in Horsham, at just $190 a week. F'in Horsham. Of all places.

I'm paying $260 a week, in country Vic that would get me a pretty average 2br house or a 1-2 br unit. Either of which would entail me selling off most of my possessions because there's no room.

Apologies/commiserations to anyone who actually lives in Horsham.
Click to expand...

That's probably been built under bylaws as a granny flat, which means that technically , if the granny is gone, the flat should go.
 
I've found the biggest problem in regional Victoria is areas that appear to have never grown outside their original small footprint and all the houses are very, very old are very hard to find something you'd want to live in.

Better regional areas that have had newer houses built will offer a lot better and affordable options. You can get a fairly new 3 bedroom house for about 350-400 a week in some areas or an older style house for under 300.

It really depends on how many options there are in that market.
 
I remember when they first started developing Packenham as a suburb.
3 Bedroom house and land package was $80 000. ( But tiny and not even a carport ).

They replaced the rotten windows with new aluminium ones in the old fibre cement commission homes in Morwell and sold them off, my brother bought one for $28 000. Hardly more than a basic new car back then, and whilst the house was a dump, it was fit for renting and was on a full 1/4 acre.

Probably this sort of crap.
www.domain.com.au

Sold 2 Angus Street, Morwell VIC 3840 on 11 Dec 2020 - 2016580976 | Domain

2 Angus Street, Morwell VIC 3840 a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house sold for $168,000 on 2020-10-27T16:28:11. View listing details #2016580976 on Domain
www.domain.com.au www.domain.com.au
 
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