A report by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), released in March, found the majority of welfare recipients lived below the poverty line.
Why would we want to give welfare to people who were not poor?
A report by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), released in March, found the majority of welfare recipients lived below the poverty line.
Why would we want to give welfare to people who were not poor?
Should the Aussie taxpayer be supporting uni students who wish to live away from home? Should the taxpayer be supporting non-citizen uni students as well, as the article also suggests?
As a taxpayer, I naturally tend to feel that, if they can’t afford to pay for a uni degree, they should get a job.
And yet the lengthy article fails to mention precisely what subjects these supposedly unfortunate students have chosen to mortgage their futures on.
Also – what is the definition of “the poverty line”?
The headline seems to imply that these people are below “the poverty line” *after*, not just before, they have received their welfare payments.
One of the examples was putting aside more than one-sixth of their income after housing costs towards paying for their car’s registration ($1300 or £694 per year – it’s £55 one-off in the UK). Maybe VICE means road tax (up to £165 pa in the UK). Their easiest solution to avoid poverty would be to swap the car for a bike.
It also appears that our paragons of virtue who study medicine at our expense are leaving #OurNHS, which as we all know is the best in the world, and going to Australia where it appears students can’t afford to get healthcare. Serious irony here.
In the last couple of days I saw a twerp state firmly that someone (UK) on an income of 60% of the median, or less, is in “absolute poverty”.
They’ve no idea, have they? Nor any imagination.
Last week I was amazed at the number of deliveroo deliveries coming to 2 of the neighbours who do nothing, on benefits. I wondered why. I checked and it was the time for the government cost of living crisis payments – for those that live in such poverty.
The NHS appears to have been sending staff to Sudan as well, judging by all the calls for the government to “bring our NHS staff back from Sudan!”
Maybe VICE means road tax (up to £165 pa in the UK).
You sure about that john? The last car tax I paid in the UK was over £500/year. It gone down or something? Hard to believe.
@ bis
I was in a hurry so I googled it. Now found my July 2021 DVLA demand which was £170, searched my July 2022 bank statement which shows DVLA £165, so it *has* gone down – mindboggling!
I’ve just paid my car tax, and it was £165…. plus £15 late payment penalty, damn!
@jgh – “The NHS appears to have been sending staff to Sudan as well”
No. The NHS has been employing people who are either Sudanese or have Sudanese relatives. These are the people who were visiting Sudan and are to be brought back to continue their employment by the NHS.
UK Car Tax is now a Byzantine calculation involving fuel type, CO2 emissions and list price. Fortunately my PHEV comes in at £0, but I still have to register to pay my £0 every year.