Gina Rinehart took the time to sink the boot into Welfare recipients last week. Why? And why did her comments strike such a flat chord?
I want to spend a bit of time looking today at Gina Reinhart’s recent comments. I’m not even sure why. I just think it was one of the strangest spectacles we’ve seen in the public sphere for a while.
In case you missed it, she’s on the record as saying,
We are living beyond our means. This ‘Age of Entitlement’ and its consequences is creating problems for all of us, our children and our grandchildren.
Australians have to work hard or actually harder and smarter to create the revenue to be able to pay that bill … something has to give, we can’t do it all.
People on welfare are bankrupting the country and the long-suffering mining industry’s got to shoulder the burden… again.
So what do we make of it? Where do we even start?
The first thing to deduce from it is that Gina isn’t using a PR consultant to filter her messages.
There’s something incredibly unseemly about the one of the richest people in the world trying to give the poorest folks in the country a boot up the arse. It’s quite something to have her telling people to live within their means, when her own means are some $20 billion worth. Even if you agreed, it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
And even if she genuinely thought that was the biggest problem facing Australia, why would she use her image to try and push that message? As if a single mum in the Western Suburbs struggling to get by is going to hear that message from Gina and go, “Yeah! Gina’s right. I need to pull my finger out!”
It also plays straight to the characterisation of the mega rich as having a deluded sense of entitlement. That they’ve got to where they are, not because they married well, or inherited a business from their father, or happen to live in a prosperous country, with an established rule of law that allows business to flourish. No. They got what they got because they worked hard and they deserve it. If you don’t have what they got, then it’s your own fault. You’re clearly not working hard enough.
Again, not a good look.
But I guess that’s the thing about being mega-rich. You can say what you want and you don’t have to care what people think.
Take Clive Palmer for example. There’s a man who’s happy to talk first and ask questions later. And whatever the make of the guy, listening to him speak you realise how long it’s been since you heard a politician actually mean what they’re saying. It’s a breath of fresh air.
But given Gina’s got the luxury of being able to ignore everyone in the world, it’s hard to see where this broadside is coming from. It’s not your classic “Captains of Industry” speech. Normally, when CEOs wax lyrical on the challenges facing the country it’s things like productivity and innovation, industrial relations regimes, the exchange rate, integration with Asia. Big picture stuff.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard welfare cheats rate a mention before.
It’s really hard to imagine that when the executives of Gina’s complex $10bn Roy Hill Mine project sit down to lunch that dole-bludgers ever rate a mention.
So where is it coming from?
To me, it actually sounds like Gina sat down and watched a few episodes of Today Tonight to try and figure out what people are ticked off about, and wrote her article on that.
I mean, it kind of sounds like a really misguided attempt at popularity – connecting with the issues that matter to everyday Australians (with a smack of justification for personal privilege, and a dollop of small government ideology.)
But if that’s her ambition, she’s seriously misunderstanding the role Today Tonight, A Current Affair, Alan Jones, John Laws and the entire recreational judgement industry play in Australia.
When they encourage us to wag the finger at welfare cheats, what they’re really peddling is a sense of self-satisfied superiority. “How dare they? I would never do that. I’m a better person than that.”
But to fully load up on superiority, we need to be able to look down on the offenders – racially, socio-economically, morally, whatever.
And so an ethnic looking person working a shitty car-washing job swipes a couple of bucks from the dash. We devote 20 minutes of prime-time television to stringing them up.
I can show you a cabal of greedy, mostly white, bankers who almost destroyed the ENTIRE GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM in 2008, lined their pockets with millions and got off scott-free… and how much finger-wagging makes it on to Prime Time?
Zilch.
And we love to hate bankers but why is there no ‘fun’ to be had in judging them? Well, because contemplating their situation, their rich and ‘successful’ lives, only reminds us of our own lowly state. It’s might be disgusting and disheartening, but there’s no fun to be had there.
Judging some poor single mum in a housing commission flat on the other hand – that’s a sure-fire way to get a fix of feeling good about yourself.
But it’s junk food for the soul. The more you judge others, the more you judge yourself, and the more you need to judge others to feel good about yourself. It’s a vicious cycle that hollows you out.
And so I think we recognise that there’s something ugly in Gina’s comments – that someone who has the wealth and freedom to be gracious and generous is anything but.
It’s not going to endear her to anyone.
So my tip would be stick to what you know. She’s probably got a lot of interesting things to say about running a massive company. Less so on social policy.
… and probably grab a PR consultant while you’re at it.
Back in ’99 I had the opportunity to become a FAT CAT Banker but after 25 years of loyal service I decided I’d much prefer to lay straight in bed at night and whilst Ive probably earnéd at least 100k a year less than I could have for that decision, I certainly do sleep better at night.
Some one who would have trouble sleeping well at night is Gina’s daughter, the acorn has certainly fallen close to the tree there, in more ways than one.
She’s certainly going to need King size to keep her happy and probably not keep any mirrors in the boudoir.
I think she attention seeks. She makes us notice her money, her power, her odd choice in clothing and her dysfunctional family. I reckon we should ignore her stupid statements. She knows nothing of how a good family should relate to each other. I think she tests the water with us and our reactions for her self-centred ego.
What we can’t ignore is her larger and larger developments. I wonder how she gets so many bankers to take notice of her?
Jack – You are entitled to an opinion, but why is it you choose to make rude, sexist comments about Gina and her daughter’s physicality? I don’t see you making similar comments about Clive Palmer as a public figure and entrepreneur and what does it matter about how people look anyway? It’s time you and those of your eke quit denigrating women. I find it interesting that Gina is often outlawed for her entrepreneurship, yet her male counterparts go without mention. One other comment. I happen to know quite a few people on welfare who are masquerading as debilitated or single and unemployed, quite a few who came to Australia as emigrants. Sorry you are misguided there. Get rid of welfare cheats and promote the value of entrepreneurship and private enterprise and teach these subjects in school. I agree with Gina wholeheartedly.
What a fantastic turn of phrase “recreational judgement industry”. Probably the best description I have heard to date.
As for why Gina bothered making this statement. I don’t understand it. Doesn’t really accomplish anything for anyone.
I think Gina is a self-righteous disgraceful cow.
How dare she judge others and offer advice (on ongoing problem of hers) on getting ahead in life. She inherited her money, stature and success. She did not earn it from scratch, so she has no right to comment.
If she was 10% of the person she would like to claim she is, then there is no way she would have applied to the Goverment for the 457 visa employees; She’d have given all the thousands of Aussies out there willing to work hard a go, and trained them. Now that would be a better use of her breath and time, not passing judgement on those she has no right to.
Do us all a favour Gina, and shut up!
Well, the reason she chose 457 workers instead of Australians is that she wants to pay her workers as close to $2.00 a day as she can get away with. The only people who deserve to be paid fairly in Australia are people with drive, ambition and billions from Daddy – like her.
yes she is such a lovely woman..i mean it would be marvellous if all women were like her..we would perish as a himan race…for many reasons oh, just in passing..if you are all wondering where is malaysia airline plane….its at or was at diego garcia atoll since about midday 08/03/2014..its a rather tangled story…wherein two US navy seals have been murdered and eight bio disease scientists, four from usa and four from china were flown to diego garcia two days after the plane landed…carrying ‘suspicious cargo’…its a lot deeper than that but thats all i can say. even so..usa governemnts and china govetrnments must know something….makes one wonder about mainstream press and airplanes and ships running all over the place lol
Totally we have have probes in space machines on mars satilites orbiting the globe.
Seone farts the wrong way and the U.S knows about it. I seriously think it’s stupid to think no one knows about it.
Jon,
Well done that was a classic, keep up the good work.
Whenever I see or hear Gina’s comments I think to myself, if I work really hard today and then wake up the next morning I might be richer or I might be poorer; but it doesn’t matter what Gina does or says, she will still wake up the next morning as a fat & ugly bitch.
Love your fat ugly bitch comment as this is very precise. She wouldn’t have a clue about life or family relationships. How much of our lazy arse tax dollars prop her up with incentives from the government. If she was serious about Australia getting back to work then she would find ways to make that happen. In the end it doesn’t matter how much money you have, it’s what you do for humanity. This is what you will bd remembered for.
Walter and Carroll you are mysogynists. But hey it takes GROWNUPS to understand what that means. Go back and do some study 🙂
I find it Ironic that this opinion is coming from what seems like a fat, lazy, billionaire who’s own sense of entitlement/rich dad got her the start., to get her to where she is today!!
I guess Gina’s life experiences and point of view are extremely narrow. Maybe she could give a few people a hand-up. Perhaps she could start by some generosity, love and sharing with her own children.
What a brilliant idea Andream, but well outside the mental scope of this Gina. All my life I have noticed that generosity flows with those who can hardly afford it. But in earlier centuries it was the normal thing in any cultured society for those who could well afford it to give a hand up to those hard-working peasants living around them in a contributing fashion, not in a patronising fashion. It makes you ache inside to watch Australian moguls exercise their plunderous attitude and power as if the world and Australia is there only for themselves to make money from. Unfortunately their total lack of culture blinkers their humanistic view.
Hear Hear Carmel!
I think you should study history…. the wealth and well to do have seldom helped anyone other than themselves….Very few Kings have ever done anything other than plunder and pillage….
As people we give to charity for ourselves …to make us feel good. not for the people in need….. as humans we are a sick lot….. but there is room for improvement…… and the only way to cure poverty is not to join them..
Bill
These people and their businesses pay enormous amounts of tax to governments who claim it is their role to look after the socially disadvantaged.
The wealthy of the past did not have such disgusting greedy governments so they were more inclined to help the disadvantaged.
It us unfair too compare.
Gina is also right, why is it that people have missed that point? Hers was an excellent article and Jon, I think this is one of your worst, you joined the ranks of the recreational judgement industry, but choose to judge someone far more successful than yourself rather than someone less successful.
I am not sure what reality you live in or where you get the facts that support such a statement as to how much tax the wealthy pay. i suggest you take a peek at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) who have been investigating tax havens used by the worlds wealthy to avoid paying their fair share of tax. Estimates are between $20-32 trillion. And given the damage done to the world economy by the GFC its a hot topic atm with David Cameron putting it on agenda for G8 meetings. Most tax payers pay about 47c for every dollar whilst Reinhardt/Mudoch pay about 5c for every dollar.
It is a well known fact that the smart ones in the tax office don’t stay long. They get targeted by the rich to help devise legal loopholes to minimise the amount of tax the Richie Riches of this world get away with the least amount of tax possible. For this they get many more times the salary the tax office could afford to pay them. This is a fact of life where money rules.
Gina was either gloating or stupidly hoping to get her Roy Hill project sped up. She is far from my favourite billionaire for getting 457 visa workers on site and the government should have never allowed this to happen.
Clever article Jon. Gina’s comments did anger me for all the reasons you mention. I disagree about the Banks not getting criticism though. I think they do cope a lot of flak, which is also justified. It is just that in the eyes of the public they are faceless men so it is harder to pin them down. Plus they clearly spend a lot on PR.
Enjoyed your insight but don’t we all need some moral junk food from time to time? At least she’s given us a good combo to munch on. Now everybody together, Let’s beat up Gina….
i think gina should read all of these comments..and go on a diet for her own sake. i have been to many asian countries where the main lack is an OPPORTUNITY to better oneself..here in the land of oz there are countless opportunities to live a good life without getting fat. i sincerely hope that ms reinhardt(nee hancock) can travel to the many impoverished asian countries and help the poor people there to realise a dream they never really had..it may even be a wake-up call that these human beings are on the same mother earth as dear gina. definitely not inferior to her..no way..just lacking location and opportunity. ability is a wonderful thing..location is something else. i can agree on one thing though ..wages/salaries in australia are far too high to be maintained..but then we need to be retained in that structure..cos we have debited too much for the good life..taxation collections are manna from heaven for the government..still they are short or something. i do not know. where are we really going? perhaps the chinese leaders can give us a clue..ha ha!
And do you have a beer belly there Ron?! Take your own medicine…
omg sue! no i haven’t ..i am as fit as a mallee trout….maybe your judgement on me comes from a singularly self problem you have..are you fat? sorry darling your cheap shot is not welcome. my comments on gina were meant to make people realise that asian people are really human too…not two dollar a day exhibits on how to work hard as ‘cheap labour’. if you are one of that gang …i can’t help you…take a powder, grow a beard and go to bunbury.;
Ok you are a misogynist Ron. I thought so, It’s funny that you don’t have the insight to know you are one, You seem to have a swollen sense of self judgement and if you get back to the books you might find self improvement stimulating. The point is, Asians come over to work, mostly. They can’t get work in their own country so they take work where they can get it. They receive considerably less in the Middle East and other countries who use their labour. In the Middle East they have confined barracks and restrictive cultural norms to deal with into the bargain. You obviously don’t have a business ron. Business is about making money and looking after your workers. Gina works harder than you would ever know. She takes care of her workers and they get paid. They also send their money back to their own country. It doesn’t stay in Australia. So grow up little boy and start a business, you might learn something.
Interesting read Jon. Let me add two theories as to why she talked about Welfare, both coming from that they affect the bottom line of her business – of course.
Idea 1: if you leave from welfare and are not a single mum struggling to raise a young family, and you can have a decent life and can travel from additional occasional non-declared income (as there are cases), etc, then you need a very good reason to jump into a minimum wage salary and rent 8 hours of your life daily an lose your “freedom”. What’s the good reason? The minimum salary has to be higher, and with it all wages across the economy. You see, bad for her business.
Idea 2: the government runs the welfare system, and apart from being inefficient and probably not well monitored (as mentioned above), the government needs to get money to run it. From where? Taxes of course. So, in order to sustain the “fat” welfare system, companies and working individuals need to pay for it.
I don’t know how much tax Mrs Rinehart pays in her businesses as compared to competitors in other countries, and how salaries here compare to foreign countries in her industry, but I think her comments come from thinking that she could hit two birds with one stone by tackling, in her view, “this problem”.
Why does everything have to black and white? Why is it that someone like Gina comes out and makes a proclaimation about welfare fraud, or just sitting on your arse and letting other pay for you, that the commentators always go to the extremes.
Yes, Gina inherited her fortune, but she has shown diligence and intelligence to grow that opportunity. (NOTE: First listed as a billionaire in 2002, now worth $22 billion). So, I’d hate to say it she is probably someone worth listening to, especially when it comes to wealth creation, or working for a living.
As to the targets of her comments, why do you immediately use the lowest denominator? The single mother living in western Sydney is the archtype of all welfare recipients.
But, she’s not the target of Gina’s comments. The person sitting on their butt, living off welfare, when in fact they have every faculty at hand to do something for themselves.
This newsletter gives advice on how to invest and grow wealth, but the first thing that you need to do is have the willpower to do the work required.
Nothing comes to you in life without hard work, and nor should it.
Most lottery winners end up in a worse position within 5 to 10 years.
Most welfare recipients breed into their kids a level of contempt for hard work and a level of expectation that someone else will bail them out.
Gina, Rupert, other multinationals and the Libs want to fully utilize the Australian workforce to increase their profits. Slavery in Asia is not enough for these people. They do not want to invest in Australia while slaves are available elsewhere. Why should workers have rights or protections anyway?
Thankyou hergo007, thank god there are some people who ponder to think through their replies. There are definitely bogun thinkers at work on this blog who wouldn’t know what it takes to run a large company. GO GINA! I’m a Gina fan, and think she does a fantastic job of running the country. Gina packs a punch for Australia. Gina for PM 🙂
an interesting viewpoint Jon. It is not often that a finance/property/economic commentator takes a view this so understanding of the reality of people who are bouncing along the bottom of the economic stream.
And I agree that the phrase ‘recreational judgement industry’ is a brilliant description of those spruikers of discontent and disapproval.
A great Friday read!
The hard thing to determine is the truth to why people are where they are. Shes right to some degree as the recreational judgement industry is, that there are some scammers and users in the mix.
My thoughts on her comments, would be for her to use her position to help the truely poor people rather than spending it on lawyers fighting her kids..
If that money was passed on to those that needed it, each one of them would have more money than they know what to do with.. Philanthropy is a wonderful thing for you and recipients..
Jon, you could not be more right.
I think this article is a little misguided. Agreed, Gina did inherit her money and bankers do not get enough criticism considering the GFC and the profits they are making presently. Margaret Thatcher said something similar to this “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of someone else’s money to spend”…. sound like the Labor Party and their welfare programs.
The bankers and financial institutes in the GFC still managed to get bonuses because their losses were not as big as others….. WTF. Any other business that losses money does not pay bonuses, but I guess the bankers and financial institutions didn’t lose their own money, they lost other people’s money. Why isn’t there a banking tax or a super profit tax imposed on the banks like there is mining tax…. food for thought there? Why hasn’t the banking sector been forced to repay the losses back into the mum and dad accounts and pay for their GFC that we had to suffer.
The career welfare sponges that want special allowances for any and all conceivable burdens, whether imposed by others or themselves are milking the hard workers of this country via the tax system. What do I mean milking the system, cigarettes, alcohol and illicit drugs to start with are still bought with welfare money, that us hard working people pay for through taxes. We all dislike paying tax, but I personally don’t like to pay for someone else’s bad habits and luxuries. So Gina’s comment on the welfare system could help to relieve some of the tax burden the rest of us have to carry.
The FDR Percora Commission in the USA in 1933 put JPMorgan in gaol. The Commission needs to be implemented again. Noone has gone to gaol yet for the US taxpayers bailing them out. Everyone in the USA is working harder to “pay off” that multi trillion dollar
Here we have the Assistant Treasurer being removed NSWICAC.
The Bankers, the Lobbyists control the Goverment, also the “Fed Reserve”. How can you sit in judgement upon yourself. It’s a charade.
In 2014 we have no “bringing to Account” of the GFC in 2008.
The Australian Government had to give a Government guarantee for our Macquarie Bank and the “Big 4” debt at that time. All of a sudden Australian Government’s Federal Debt moved from $200 billion to $4 trillion. The people were not given the true reaity
The Australian people are being conned. No vision. No leadership, “Old fashioned” Government where any Law passed by any Australian Government can be overturned by the Queen.
No National Plan.
And a la “The Australian Government Assistant Treasurer”, Sinodinis, not honest.
John
That was a good read jon. I dont necessarily agree to what gina has said and its not her position to say in public but there is alot of dole bludgers out there and she is correct in saying its not sustainable. I like the idea of the welfare system as people can and do fall on hard times, what I think the government should be doing is to give food, accomodation and clothing stamps so then the money is not spent on drugs, alcohol and smokes and for those that have been on the dole for a certain length of time should be out sweeping the streets or doing something to smarten the place up then if they don’t like it they will put more effort in finding a career/job.
I wouldn’t agree that there are a lot of dole bludgers. We had a very low unemployment rate when the last government left office. I’d say the amount spent on welfare is very low compared to what we spend on, say, fighter jets. Or subsidising big polluters and mining companies for that matter.
I agree with your comments Jon, however I have to say in the industry I work in we do see a lot of welfare cheats who know how to work the system. Believe me…I also was a single mum who had to look after my two children when my marriage dissolved. However I worked hard and I know that my children at times missed out on quality time with me. I am all for the people who do have it hard and making a go of things whether on welfare or not. We can all fall on hard times and this is when the welfare system should be in place. But we have generation after generation of people who have been on welfare. This needs to be reigned in.
I totally agree with your comments June!
If the lovely Gina is so smart and hardworking, could i challenge her to donate her fortune to the Australian Government and show us again how hard work alone will win her another fortune.
In response to John Chegwyn’s comments: What thaaaaa ???!!! :-O
Now some info about how banks really work and what they get away with. The reality is that what banks call ‘money’ is created out of thin air by them, as a set of entries in their general ledger (T-account) when you take out a loan. This is not disclosed to borrowers when taking out a ‘loan’ contract and so most home loans and credit card contracts are actually unlawful.
The smoke and mirrors used by banks does not require any set ratio of deposits to loans – there is no connection there in actual fact. Try asking your bank to prove that they provided valuable consideration for a lawful contract and they get very agitated. Ask them which legislation authorises them to create money. There is no statute / Act that gives banks the power / authority to create money. If they then do so, they do so unlawfully (though not illegally, there is a technical difference). Your signature on the loan document is the only valuable consideration (promissory note), but they did not disclose any of that to you did they, so under contract law, there is no ‘meeting of minds’ / full disclosure as to source of funds and no valuable consideration from the bank (they unlawfully create ‘money’ out of thin air); so, no lawful loan contract !
Also, recently it was found that over 80% of loans do NOT have the proper paperwork in place to prove debt / mortgage security) ! The security instrument itself (the mortgage document) is usually no longer in possession of the bank and even if they can produce the original signed document (not just a copy retained when they onsold the security in an RMBS bundle and are thus no longer the holder in due course of that security), it is security in relation to what may be an unlawful ‘loan’ contract and thus it is all void ab initio (null and void from the outset).
Before you ask the question about collapsing ‘the system’ and the sky falling in / world ending, you can Google / research alternative monetary systems that de-power the banking cartel and restore common sense economic practices and principles. Many of these alternate systems are actually proposed by former senior bankers and economists who have become sick of the massive fraud and deception of the current status quo (no, not the down down rock group – LOL).
Anyhoo, I sure don’t claim to be an expert or have all the answers on this interesting subject, but see what you think. Is it all loony theory, or is there a genuine awareness of the truth sweeping the world, with people now actually fighting back, having the tools and information to clobber the banksters and end their racketeering injustices ?
see my comment today…. under amacdougall 😉
Well, we have a small business and offered a father of 3 a position at the award rate for the industry we are in plus overtime rates (which there is plenty). This man agreed to start the following Monday however did not turn up. We called and had to leave a text message to get back to us just in case something had come up and as our duty of care. This father was recommended to us by his own father who said he was a hard worker, honest and reliable. He had spent half a day on the job with our team and said he was very keen to get started so we arranged everything our end for that to happen. When we finally found out why he didn’t show (or call us as to why the no show), we were told that he actually got more money on the Dole with his wife and 3 kids than what he would get working for us. Well, isn’t that something! It’s ok for us to go out and work, pay the taxes and expenses of running a small business just for a guy like him to sit at home and ‘spend’ the tax on keeping his family alive! Come on, I agree with Gina but she probably isn’t the best person to be saying it – people like us ARE!
$150 billion was spent on welfare last year and has been rising year on year. What part don’t you get?
You mentioned single mums….why should the state subsidize other peoples bad decisions?
Why should lack of planning on your behalf constitute and emergency on mine?
If I can’t afford to raise children should I do it and let the state worry about the giving me cash? or should I become successful enough to foot the bill myself then have kids?
Lefty ideologies have never brought about a nations prosperity. Welfare takes away personal responsibility for your actions.
I have been watching, (YouTube) programs of people on welfare in the UK. It’s interesting to see what’s coming to Australia.
Some years ago the Thatcher Govt. sold many Govt owned council houses quite cheaply to the tenants who occupied them.That was great for the tenants, (and the Govt. who no longer had to maintain them). That meant there were less homes for those in need, as the tenants became permanent residents.
After the GFC and the increase in UK welfare payments, the Govt started to look at the situation of the council house shortages, (housing Commission homes).
Next came the ‘bedroom tax’ …………..so named because people with a spare bedroom either paid extra rent for the privilege of having the extra space or moved to a smaller council house. The Australian Govt. is now considering this tactic.
I was really surprised to hear that the next step the UK Govt has taken is the people on disability pensions having to prove their disability. Many who could not, were transferred to the dole and told to look for work. Next they started cutting back on dole payments.
These cuts have increased the shoplifting rate of crime, as people can’t afford to buy things retail. If the UK can do it, then Australia can, (and will) do it too!
I understand that there are times in people’s lives where things have been dire. I would hate to see the safety net removed for unemployed, sick or disabled people, but I see the writing on the wall when it comes to just how much taxpayers will put up with.
I don’t believe in telling people how to run their lives, but I do think that productive people are happier people. I also believe that parents with children who are claiming taxpayers money to live, shouldn’t be paid any extra for additional children they conceive after they find themselves in that predicament. If taxpayers can’t afford to have more children, why should they pay for other people’s children?
Tony
So you are saying that when my (now ex-) husband left myself and my 2 children, destitute, unable to pay the bills, including his, that somehow I am a single mum through all my own fault?
It has taken me years to get to a stage where I could buy a car. I’m still paying off his bills – so please get rid of your opinion that single mum’s are bludgers.
Thanks for taking the time to understand that everyone’s situation is different – not!
Wouldn’t it be nice, productive and many other things for Gina to use some of those billions to start up a foundation for education, health, life improvement, sponsorship, mentor-ship, technology, micro lending to single parents wanting to start a business from home, or implementing trash to energy recycling such as Sweden does to fuel their country. Heck! Gina could even leave a great legacy behind like using thousands of miles of semi arable land, west of the Great Dividing range to create massive farming land for vegetables and orchards; by laying pipelines from the east and north at various points (perhaps fixing the desalination mess at Tugan too), creating dams in the west, which would in turn create jobs on many levels, which in turn would encourage communities to be built, ere go-more skilled people are needed for both the agriculture and the community services, these farming communities could provide jobs and housing for Aussies and new immigrants who would probably be happy to have a way to contribute and earn a living in their new country (one would like to think). One could even negotiate a few prison farms, which could contribute instead of costing the tax payers. And perhaps commercial aquaponics, which would also yield farmed fish, crays and use less water. And we have jobs for fisheries right there as well. It would probably take 20 years to come to fruition-can be started in 5; would cut the jobless; get rid of the carbon tax-because all the greenery growing now fixes that alleged problem; increases the GDP and places Australia in a strong position for the coming food shortages based on population growth, weather etc. Perhaps that is what the previous government should have done, they may have still spent the same amount of money, but Australia would be reaping the benefits in a few years…instead of paying. That said…..To a small degree she has a point (lacking in finesse as she does); if everyone lived within their means-myself included, what would the national credit card debt be? Or the bank profits? To a degree, we have made the banks what they are. For many though, they are on so small an income…there is just never enough no matter how they try. Gina might look smug but I think she looks unhealthy and unhappy, and I feel sad for her lack of unilateral vision, Gina could be so much more than just her Father’s daughter. Most people judge the world from the limits of their own field of vision- wealthy as Gina is, she is just a person and probably no different in that aspect.
I think i’ve just fallen in love with Sharyn See. lol. Well said.
Ms Rinehart keeps a low philanthropic profile “partly to stop being harassed by other charities on the lookout for new blood to tap for money, and also because in preference to “keep her affairs private”.
Following the 1992 death of her father, Lang Hancock, Ms Rinehart launched the Hancock Family Medical Foundation (HFMF), which is responsible for a range of charitable donations, but few specifics are readily available to the public.
We do know that the foundation is a large supporter of Swimming WA, and has made contributions to various medical causes including the development of a Cancer Centre at the St John of God hospital in Subiaco, WA.
In a 1997 Australian Story profile, which featured a rare interview with Ms Rinehart herself, she spoke about launching two foundations, including the HFMF, after her father’s death.
“In my father’s will, although there was a mention of a heart foundation, there was absolutely nothing left in his estate for such a foundation, and so what I’ve done is I’ve started a medical foundation and later on a breast cancer foundation,” Ms Rinehart said.
Hancock Prospecting Information Manager Mark Bickerton told GiveNow: “Like many wealthy families, Mrs Rinehart prefers to keep her philanthropic endeavours private.
“It has already been published that she does help women’s and children’s charitable interests, and medical causes such as cancer and heart health. However, her philanthropy is not limited to that.”
Ms Rinehart was nominated for a National Living Treasure award earlier this year, presented by the National Trust of Australia and Woman’s Day magazine.
In a profile published in the lead-up to the award, the magazine describes Ms Rinehart as a “keen philanthropist”.
“Rinehart has financially contributed to a wide variety of causes, from swimming to health and medical research, including the Hancock Family Breast Cancer Foundation, Princess Margaret Hospital and the Bendat Family Comprehensive Cancer Centre at St John of God Hospital in Subiaco, Perth,” Woman’s Day said.
“She has also worked with the Mannkal Economic Foundation, which mentors young West Australians, and has helped Pilbara women artists achieve their dreams.”
The magazine said Rinehart was on the advisory board of the South East Asian Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities, aimed at putting a halt to human trafficking.
Gina is a quiet philanthropist. Do your research guys. Don’t you get it? If your’e not a friend of the press, you cop the attacks. Gina has always copped the attacks needlessly, she just doesn’t deserve it. I guess there are those prefer to be sheeple….
So Gina wants to take away our Age Pension?!! My hubby is 77 and I’m nearly 70 with disabilities! Between both of us, we’ve worked 98 yrs full time paying our taxes! From previous marriages hubby brought up and provided for 5 children and I, as a single mum, struggled to but succeeded in bringing up two daughters! All 7 are now responsible adults, working and paying taxes as well as bringing up their families! Surely we have done our ‘bit’ for Australia – the Pension is almost poverty line it’s so low and we struggle from week to week barely able to pay all the bills and feed ourselves! In our minds, we’ve been thrown out on the rubbish tip as we’re no longer ‘productive’!!!!!!
So Gina Rinehart how easy for you to criticize from your lofty heights and want to take away our fortnightly pittance!!! Instead why don’t you use your massive wealth to help those who’ve done their best – come up with positive, practical suggestions – give of yourself and your wealth – oh and come down from your self-appointed pedestal!!! When you’re on your death bed, your money will count for nothing – you’ll just be one of us – a human being at the end of your life!
Thought this blog was for people trying to improve their opportunities to provide for their own retirement and not live off the pension – there may still be time…
leigh..don’t be a smartarse..some people don’t have the ability or the opportunity to self fund their retirement..and for whats coming buddy you might not have one either..watch out for the feds next move and the usa banks demise..our banks are inexricibly tied to american banks..remember 2008..three of our banks went cap in hand ro the fed for a life saver..AU$4.9b for the nab, AU$1.9b for wespac and AU$.77bn for cba..of course they never informed the asx..the banksters are above the law..wow,..better get some extra food man you might need it next gfc
Have to wonder why you subscribe to this – supposed to be for self improvement not bemoaning our lot in life. Get over it
leigh poor man you are worse off than i thought ..i am quite comfortably well off thank you ..no debts plenty assets and cash in the bank (though i dread the thought..i need to do some head thinking here:-).i want to support those who haven’t got that through no fault of their own dear man..you would make a good fuedal baron..and thats b.a. ..its the old brit saying i’m. ok jack how are you goim’..oh amd i have paid taxes for over 50 years..yougun’
Go share your wealth you good man – I do too but don’t ask for praise. Just cant take self-pity. You and Gina, as rich people, should not be blamed for the lot of the less fortunate. “Onya”!
Australian wages and salaries are what they are, because of the cost of living, the cost of accommodation in particularly in each major capital city. To put a cap on wages, you really need to start at the TOP END of town and then work your way down. No one will respect the need for capping wages and salaries if we are not seeing restraint and wage/salary cuts happening with CEO’s and politicians.
You do know of course that when a politician leaves office, they walk away with a pension, superannuation, travel and other perks for life.
If you want to target something, target all of that bullshit first, that’s the biggest bleed on the State and Federal balance sheet. But here’s the rub, how to wrench a pollie pig out of the golden trough.
And the day when CEO’s are only being paid 10 times the salary of their lowest paid employee, then they will be worth their salt when they get up for work every morning.
The cost of accommodation is the biggest driving factor in our economy. The lack of new land for building homes and flats etc, an increasing HUMAN population, placing contraints on land release and infrastructure by State Governments, especially in NSW, because the State Government wants to keep it that way to reap the Stamp Duty and other revenues, it so desperately craves.
You can’t cut wages unless you lower the population, have a housing glut to lower the cost of homes / accommodation, which will lower the need for wage increases to keep up with the inflation that the property market is creating.
Instead of paying around 30% of one’s income in rent and 45% on a mortgage, people are now paying 45% of their income on rent and 60% on a mortgage, crazy and ridiculous.
The way to reduce wages is to remove awards and minimum wages.. This will createan open market which will push its way up, everyone will be paid according to their ability to be productive, if the government also got out of the way of business with relentless red tape they would have more margin with which to pay employees.
What planet do you live on? Ever heard of Walmart? Have a look at their employment policy and rethink what you just said. Walmart, in a country that has little in the way of minimum wage protection also has, believe it or not, a minimum salary cap below which the employer does not need to provide medical benefits. Guess which end of this figure good ol’ Walmart pegs their wages at. In case you also didn’t realize it the highest percentage of residential loan foreclosures in the USA is from people who cannot afford their medical bills. Ronald Reagan introduced the notion of trickledown economics to the USA – allow the rich to become wealthier and wealthier and this prosperity will trickle down to the less fortunate. This is the policy that has reduced the standard of living in the USA to the point where one of the largest department store chains (Sears?) went bankrupt due to the utter disappearance of the middle class.
Do not delude yourself with the nonsense you write.
excellent……I enjoyed the entree…..Bon apple tea
Gina, Gina, Gina… Oh dear sweetie, “PLEASE SHUT UP”, nobody cares about how tuff you’ve got it… Soooo please get off the cross as someone else needs the wood!
Besides, sooner or later the masses will wake up and realize that the ore your pulling out of the ground belongs to all Australians of The Commonwealth of Australia, and certainly not just you’re company or the foreign registered political party masquerading as de jure Gov’t in the form of “The Federal Gov’t of Oz”
To quote a former High Court Judge:
“I therefore have come to the conclusion that the current legal & political system in use in Australia and its States and Territories has no basis in law.” …Sir Harry Gibbs
So if you reading this and thinking I might be crazy, ask yourself this: Why is the media in Australia almost silent on the one of the worlds biggest oil finds in Coober Peddy…The size of which is mind blowing. More than likely, we will end up subsidizing the developments infrastructure of this resource whilst paying top dollar at the bowser (don’t even consider getting tax free money like our Arab friends) just so some foreign multinational corporation can get the benefits and the Australian people if they are lucky may have a job or two… nice one Ehhh!
Hell if you think that is bad enough wait till you hear why Her Majesty the Queen and our constitution ( the real one of 1901) are about to go on trial in the international courts for breach of contract and our loss of legal standing as people…. but you wont hear anything about that in the popular media either….
Baaah…Sheeeple Baaaah…
It may have been put in an aggressive and offensive way and I am a strong advocate of social justice, I must admit though that there are quite a few people that have been abusing the welfare system for years just as mining moguls abuse their workers. Maybe fairer pay so there is not such a huge divide between the have and the have nots. We don’t need millions to live a civilised life/lifestyle. We also need to respect that the government doesn’t have endless resources. The government in turn needs to mentor and coach welfare recipients which it doesn’t so they are not stuck in the welfare rut. I think we are all responsible as a society for helping people stand on their own two feet and not have them live with the stigma of welfare recipients.
It is though vital to be more vigilant about granting help to those in genuine need rather than those who know how to “work”(read abuse) the system.
Which Gov’t are we talking about here… The de jure Government of “The Commonwealth of Australia” or the foreign registered de facto Gov’t a.k.a “The federal Government”
Sounds like a nice plebeian paradise you are describing, not the “Nanny fascist system in Australia…lol
Inevitably all democratic nations end up sliding toward socialism and then despotic fascism…. Australia is no different! Besides calling Australia a Democracy is a bit of the stretch of the truth don’t you think, really!
I would guess that most welfare recipients are in the unhappy state of worrying solely about survival let alone progress. But then again I am not sure because I have no research to back up my statement – just like Gina.
The comments from Gina Reinhart should not come as a surprise to anyone, given the current climate of wall to wall coalition dominance,(winning over the electorate by sprouting all the B.S as the only ‘Born to Rule Fraternity”) to deliver the best outcomes for this country.
Their all too highly opinionated and arrogant stance of superiority is an insult to most forward thinking people in this country.
It is no wonder that the likes of Gina Reinhart wish to join the ranks of Alan Jones and John Laws to serve as the mouthpiece of the ‘Born to Rule Fraternity”.
She is a seriously deluded woman – and I can’t even use the word sadly. Well said Jon
G’day John and y’all,
Geez John. It’s great to hear you speak like this. I can almost trust you to deliver quality, value for money training in real estate after noting your positive, non-judgemental philosophy/attitude here. I agree with you, and kudos to you for putting your thoughts out there to your subscribers.
Best wishes, Greg.
What kind of silly media would bother to give air to such sensationalism ? Who is most to blame for this rubbish getting such wide coverage ? Perhaps those dedicated journalists should spend more time learning what happens in the antithesis scenario. When a comment is brainless, rather ignore it – treat it for what it is – an ill-timed comment from someone who couldn’t possibly know the truth. Let them wallow privately in their own ignorance instead of giving them a public mouthpiece.
While you’re grabbing a PR consultant Gina, you could probably do well to hire a dietician, a hairdresser, a personal trainer and a fashion co-ordinator, just to begin with. Spend some of your “hard earned” money on having the rest of us work harder why don’t you. If you’re so busy working so much harder than everyone else, where do you find the time to be so critical of the rest of Australia – or is that what you’re working hard at?
fantastic turn of phrase Jon “recreational judgement industry” and spot on
I find it hard to swallow any advice over being lazy from a woman who is obviously too lazy to run a brush through her hair….Seriously Gina get a makeover if you insist on being in our faces all the time, you are an eyesore and your comments make my brain cry every time you open your mouth
You’re an idiot. The only part I agree on is I don’t really like white people. You have twisted and misinterpreted Gina’s words and their meaning. Sounds like you are for the hunt for what really ticks people off and write an article about it. You sound like a white DH.
Are you for real or are you a space cadet?
While we’re on the subject of the public purse……………………..
Surely one out of four (or more) generations of residents in housing commission homes in Australia’s most expensive city were able to get out of public housing!
It’s not important if they were paying market rents, in fact that’s even more annoying because it tells me they can afford to move out!
They were stopping other poorer people from renting them who couldn’t afford to pay the going rates elsewhere. I think that taxpayers shouldn’t be housing people with harbour views at all as it’s a disincentive for people to move out.
We appear to have forgotten what housing commission homes are all about. They are a TEMPORARY solution for people who, (depending on their circumstances) need assistance for a limited period of time. I’ve seen families grow up in them, have their children and remain there………. with so many cars outside they have trouble juggling them in the driveway. There’s no shortage of smokes and alcohol either!
I don’t agree that charging them more rent in a fair solution…….they need to rent their OWN homes!
I can’t believe that people are on TV refusing to move to another HOUSING COMMISSION home in the suburbs from their harbour views……..they should be grateful they had it so good for so long! Perhaps if they’d moved generations ago, they’d have a new circle of friends and wouldn’t miss the tightly knit community they will be wrenched from!
I agree with you Eileen. It seems that a lot of people have abused the welfare system which is a great shame as there is nothing left for those who truely need it. I think vigilance should be in place as well as on going mentoring and support to ensure that people can get back on their own two feet as quickly as possible. Those who are in need miss out because greed and selfishness sets in by some who think the government owes them a free ride in life. There is so much education on self sufficiency which the government can provide so that their coffers don’t run dry and so that they have to raise taxes all the time. This opens up another can of worms in relation to who pays tax and who gets away with not doing so.
Whilst her comments may be misguided, at least Gina and her family started their business and invested heavily in it – in fact Gina has been far more successful than her father. Compare this with Mike Smith of ANZ who never started the bank or risked his capital for it and got paid an incredible $13.5 million just to put his feet under the desk in addition to his outrageous annual package as the most highly paid banker in the country. His excesses know no boundaries and he, additional to his fantasyland package, takes over $100000 pa from shareholders to fund his personal tax consultants and personal life insurance. This is the stuff we should focus on. Executive greed with no skin in the game is worse than welfare bludging because they and their boards should know better. No wonder socialism survives!
Calling Gina a rich ugly bitch is disgusting and those commentators should be ashamed of themselves – I neither know her or care but these personal insults don’t do you any credit.
Leigh I think your comments are worthy of credit and reflect intelligent consideration of facts, coupled with the capacity to put forward a good argument. Some of the comments in this blog are disgraceful, indicative of a societal force that holds us back in terms of evolutionary progress as a human race. The power of the press is there for us to behold, no more obvious than the denigration of Gina, reduced to the sum total of her physicality. It’s easy to see why women in third world countries are being raped and murdered when in an affluent country like Australia successful women draw such vehemence…
her physicality is fact and the fact is she’s fat….if she was skinny and svelte would you also have a problem with a description. BTW The statistics on homicides in most third and 1st world countries are that men are murdered at a much greater rate than women…so get off your soapbox and stick to the issue at hand Gina’s biased and incorrect views on welfare and .take your emotive feminist agenda to another story where there are similar bespectacled single middle aged cry babies who agree with your rhetoric
I can see why the country is the way it is. I can’t believe the hatred/jealous sentiment behind most of the above comments. Simply a you owe me attitude. You obviously wrote your article to get noticed.
Australia used to be about giving people a fair go. Its easy to criticize a person on the dole or a single mother. If you are unemployed and had employers state experienced needed and have employers not willing to train people then there is a problem with the system. How do the unemployed feel when they are constantly knocked back for jobs I have a degree but found employment in my degree field was impossible in Australia due to the experience required and excessive competition. When you do not have money its hard to start a business with the government charges and legal requirements these days. Gina needs to freeze her wealth and then try and get a job and survive on the dole payments before she is qualified to comment, Maybe Gina could look after two young pre-school children and try and get a job that allows Gina to looking after two children while trying to live on a single mothers pension in a housing commission house. I had to work for free to gain experience to get into a lower field of work. Employees are people with feelings rather than productive units that get tossed in to the scrap heap when times are tough or when a corporation rather makes more profit than support the Australian economy by giving Australians employment.
why train people in new technologies when you can rort a 457 visa and bring slaves to the country to replace them……that’s what most of the low paying poorly skilled ‘student’ temporary workers are here for. The last cabbie I rode with is in the final year of his master…so he says….and yet he can also complain about 14 hour days in his cab, so doing a masters seems a stretch…….then he can’t deduce how to deduct a $12.30 cab fare from a $20 note and asks if I have a credit card so he doesn’t have to work it out
Firstly – Gina, and others who think working hard means more money, should spend a week as a childcare worker. There are many people in Australia caught in situations with no chance to grab opportunity – and we don’t want to be like Asia.
Second – NOYB .. fully agree with your comments re pollies and CEO’s, but not the bleating about cost of accommodation and “lack of land”. Obviously you are in a city – please get out and see the rest of our wonderful country! Read Sharyn See’s comment – it would solve SO many problems – but we lack governments with vision. Hopefully some people of Gina’s wealth could leave a legacy of a prosperous Australia instead of a damaged one. We need sustainable enterprise in rural communities creating more jobs- get people out of the main cities – revitalise ‘the bush’. Sydney rellies thought we’d paid a million for our house with stunning rural views (Sunny Coast hinterland – not exactly a cultural /foodie wilderness!) – nup $350,000 – and we look out and thank God every day. Also, a third of our neighborhood run businesses from home (and would like NBN!). So many beautiful rural areas – cities are ugly!!!
good stuff..live and let live…..i think if people are on a pension because of age thats ok with me..some people are on benefits who cannot do for themselves ..they probabl;y need help in our dog eat dog society. we grow up in a society of ‘go get’..and if you fail…wow..thats real bad. its all about opportunity and attitude..not judgements..nothing worse that judgements based on igniorance of the facts. cheers jenni
Love Sharyn Sees work, now there’s a lady that truly should have inherited the earth, rather than just strip it out and flog it off as raw product Sharyn’s being so much more creative and imaginative with her resource and views and created a communal system that could support and enhance society and Mother Earth to everyones benefit.
Don’t know what its going to be like after 2016/18 when all the other manufacturers have pulled out of Victoria and S.A. All those people with skills and attributes of creating product (something that has had value added from its raw state that has increased its value) will all be facing their employment woes.
How can you recreate 10 000 jobs lost from Ford, G.M. Toyota, Qantas, et al. and expect them all to go out and work harder tomorrow when all they have is to buy imported products made from our raw resources and are expected to pay 120% for the privilege to maintain their cost of living.
It just doesn’t add up or make any sense, and neither did or does Gina H!
Well done Jon, you’ve certainly let the Lions amongst the monkeys with this one. love your work.
Yes but you still didn’t go into any explanation as to why Gina made this statement in the first place. Obviously given she is not any sort of qualified adviser to Australia and gains nothing to make statements like this it can only be in regard to the impact it has on her own business. In my opinion she seems to be prepping people to accept that being paid less than the minimum wage is OK, because that means you are working harder. I believe she also thinks she can use her influence in the media (of which she actually has no real influence, she is only deluding herself thinking she does) to pedal the coalition’s agenda of workplace reform, ie removing all workers rights and paying less than the minimum wage, once again prepping us/brain washing us so that when it happens we will accept it.
She doesn’t really honestly care about government waste, after all why would she worry when she pays little or no tax? And if she really did care about waste and removing entitlement there are plenty of other things that could be scrapped, like subsidies and handouts to rich companies (such as her own). No, she is purely interested in how can my bottom line be even higher than it already is? Which is just pure greed given she is already the wealthiest woman in Australia, and whose wealth continues to grow by approximately $20 billion per year.
Greed……now that’s a word I would never have associated with ‘wanda the walrus from the west’
You again Wagon Wheel. Why are you using low level thinking in a considered debate.
Please check your self, lift your aim and your game.
So wrong Andrew, all you will get are the bottom of the barrel scum feeders, taking advantage of workers with crappy AWA’s individual contracts that don’t work for people with basic skills and even middle of the roadies like me, would have trouble getting fair wage treatment without an EBA. And I have seen all the ends of the scales, ropes and whatever. And as a Union Delegate I can vouch for the power of collective bargaining.
And everything does depend on the skills you have and how much they are in demand. And everybody chooses to do different types of work, from retail, to clerical, nursing, mining, tourism etc. In case you haven’t noticed there’s already is an open market, minimum basic wages makes sure that people are not treated like second class citizens in their own country, unless of course you do think that earning a pittance working in a Bangladeshi style workshop is the best the average Australian is worth, I do hope you will be first in line to take up that experience.
Whoa! Hold on, I never said I supported working for less than the minimum wage, I just stated that it is my opinion that is what Gina is not so secretly trying to push. I really despise the idea of underpaying workers because for one, like you said I believe you get what you pay for and those with skills will simply go elsewhere (perhaps leave Australia?) which is not good for the country or anyone else, and secondly I actually don’t understand how it benefits anyone because if the workers get paid less, the government gets less taxes and the people themselves have less disposable income which then means they can’t afford to buy things, prices come down, profits fall and the economy collapses. Its just madness. The best way to support the economy is to actually put more money into the hands of the middle class = more spending = more demand = more jobs = more investment = better economy.
TOO TRUE… as opposed to the Government and NEOCONS ding their damnedest to wipe the middle working class from the face of the earth…
Jenni – I have several blocks of land in the Jervis Bay Area, rural land as you put it, that I have been trying with several other land owners to achieve rezoning for residential status from rural status. I found MY piece of the Country and it is also on the Coast, but the pre-existing greenies have fought us tooth and nail for the land we own. I don’t want a big acreage spread and I don’t need one either. I liked the land I bought because of the surrounding nature and amenity, and a desire to be a part of the existing community, but not anymore.
They have sought to keep out undesirable ethnics like Greeks and Italians, but they are already there, so what’s all the fuss about? A handful of vulnerable species? Hah.
You go girl (Gina)!!!!!
At last, a rich women with balls who doesn’t give a rats how she comes across!!! (It really is now one’ s business)
Many of your lot are just envy!!!! Very saddened by the sexist remarks, aren’t we better than that!!
I am too, sick of paying so much tax for people that choose not to work and that we have to pay for, (not talking about single mothers but young people and those that are able to work)!!!!
And I know for a fact that I would pay much lesser tax if it wasn’t for them!!!!
I know, we Australians work hard but we choose to have everything bigger and better than our neighbours or friends.
Fact is Gina has inherited a mine that was not profitable at all, if it wasn’t for her hard work and dedication and let’s not forget the risk she had to take, there would be many Australians without work and I personally know Australians that get a healthy salary from her mines every month.
why don’t you shut the fuck up you dumb *****!
couldn’t agree more! finally some sense! as a young person – I’m sick of hearing everyone talking about youth allowance, and how they’re spending it all on going out, alcohol or music festivals. I work 30 hours a week, at least, and attend university full time – and get straight HDs. So if I can do it, so can you. Australians, youth, or unis students are just lazy. get the f*** off the doll and work b***s. I’m sick of paying tax for a bunch of party animals that “live for the moment”. Good on you Gina!!
Apart from being hopelessly misguided, you can’t even spell correctly. Straight HDs shows me that just as we give money to lazy ‘party animals’.;..that you have the audacity to call people, we obviously give HDs to dummies. It’s ‘dole’ you half wit? Despite want you WANT to believe the days of trying to live on $260 per week and being proud to do so are over. And if you knew what a person has to do to even qualify for this pittance you would learn how to spell and show a bit more compassion. BTW- I still can’t find a swaer word that starts with B and ends in S…so you got that one wrong too.
A few points Wagon Wheel:
You made your own spelling mistakes.
You missed the point.
You should not feel defensive if you know you are (self) justified.
If the person cannot spell “dole” its probably a better reflection than those who know exactly how to spell it.
Calling someone a dummy for spelling mistakes and not checking your own spelling is not a good look.
“Bitches” starts with B and ends with S, so does Bums. So you just missed that one.
PS I don’t know why I am wasting my time trying to give you something. I am 43, worked my whole life, never relied on hand outs, someone vents frustration and tells people get off your ass, and you want to shame them….there is something fundamentally wrong with society if we cannot hear, interpret and consider, before retorting with defense and offence.
my mistake was obviously a typo. you’ve given me nothing but and opinion and a poor one at that. Like your perception that you are giving people money, you also have a warped opinion that by expressing your view (which is a large minority an this subject) that you are giving something away. I’m 53, never had the need to seek a handout and pay $60K tax per year. However, in this day and age, there are many people who rely on this safety net to feed children and if you could demonstrate any capacity to live on this paltry amount, I’m sure you would change your tune. Unless you’d rather some of these people rob you in the street instead?
To say that you are paying too much tax only because some people are unemployed is a shortcut to thinking and shows your susceptibility to propaganda. Unemployment costs the govt several hundred million dollars… as opposed to the war planes the government decided t buy 12.4BILLION Dollar worth of WAR PLANES (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-23/australia-to-buy-58-more-joint-strike-fighters/5405236).
Let me just say that just because you are working doesn’t mean you should be believing everything that comes out of that horrible bigoted ignorant horror’s mouth. You’re an idiot and will remain so until you start to think for yourself. 🙂
You obviously watch a lot of tela-vision…; )))). We pay taxes mainly to cover the interest on the money our gov borrows from a private entity, called “Reserve Bank”. – Ask the gov why do we have to pay interest on money that should in the first place be printed by them but instead is created out of thin air by a private organisation and lent to us on interest? Our welfare system is only a cover up for this sick arrangement, and how effective it is in dividing us!
Anna, open your eyes. And miss Gina,…; )))))))).
I think Gina just looked at the graph included in her tax return. Welfare is the largest amount, doubling health, quadrupling defence or education and almost 10 times what is paid on government debt interest. Thats the official statement from the government on my return. If they could get industry going and the able bodied into work we would all be better off. (I know, industry is a whole different argument.)
What risk?
Daddy left it all to her….
More Cheap Talk, Geoff. All your own pittiness exudes in that comment.
Faye Nurse 1 minute ago
Thank you Gina… Australians have to starting planning and making their own way in this changing world… we are too used to sitting back and being spoon-fed, too late now, time to start taking control of your own life, stop thinking someone will do that for you… I have never taken a dollar from the Government, in 70 years, start thinking the same way… lets be who we are, good upstanding people, have an opinion, educate ourselves and live good lives – now lets all be like that…
That’s rich, coming from Gina, who, in case you morons out there who are happy to jump onto her bandwagon don’t know, doesn’t pay anywhere even close to the percentage of tax that you payee taxpayers pay. Where’s her entreprenurial spirit, she obviously knows absolutely nothing about anything else but mining, because with her $20 billion she could be investing in smart technology that could put Australia ahead of the pack. Or god forbid, she could put some of that money into enterprises that actually employ more people than mining companies do, and get some of those people off the dole and into jobs. But not Gina, she’s TOO GREEDY!
I would suggest she has the worlds best vibrator collection…something to be really comforted by
Balanced State, Territory and Federal budgets with no overseas borrowing, no wasteful money handouts to projects that just make contractors rich, without accountability. As Obama implies accurate delivery of services. No hiding behind medical in confidence to avoid delivering of precise and affordable health care. Efficient local government to drive costs down. Maybe our prime minister may develop significant leverage if the requirement for immunisations to access benefits is enforced… … leading to other compliance pre-requisites. The ‘living within our means’ paradigm could be an important mindset for this and future decades.
Living within one’s means on welfare is approximately $300.00 per week these folk would surely like to swap shoes with Gina. Judge from their perspective sure the view would then be different.
The problem is we now have representation without taxation with more voters than taxpayers over 50 per are on a government payment so nothing can change. We have become a nation of leaners…
Maybe if the lovely Gina paid tax at the same rate as average Australians, this money could be used to fund better education programs and resources that would provide greater access to opportunities for the welfare recipients she is criticising. I was a welfare recipient for a short time after a divorce and with the help of some govt funded training set up a business that has allowed me to become a successful property investor. Go learn the meaning of the word ‘compassion’ Gina!!
a million people on the dole, times 300 / week is 15 billion, out of a welfare budget of 130 billion,
bureaucracy is the real welfare cheat, all of the pretend job finding agencies, the constant monitoring, the mindless programs
should keep all of the unproductive factories open, and anyone on welfare owes 20 hours / week, including the do nothing bureaucrats,
the savings in getting the bureaucrats off welfare into doing some small thing useful, alone would balance the books,
if anyone can do better than 20 hours in a factory for getting the dole, they can leave, a single mum could do her 20 hours while the kids are at school, she might like the break and the social interaction
Gina can I PLEASE have a full time job that pays enough to one day buy a house to give my kids a home?
Rich bitch put up or shut up.
No offense so many of us are working as casual slaves never going to earn enough to enter the property market.
Sadly for many without assistance from the government there is no way they could even pay rent.
Many of us are willing to work harder now show us to the employers willing to hire us for more than 4hrs a Fing day.
Gina if you want to reduce the need for assistance your going to need to start the change by creating fair jobs for ALL so assistance isn’t needed, seriously when you can earn more from working the only disadvantaged will be those physically unable to work.
A wonderfully intelligent analysis John. I think you’ve got the psychology behind it all spot on. The fact that none of the below contributions have picked up on your comments about “greedy bankers” supports this. I’d love to see your ideas getting wider coverage. How can we get you on Q&A?!
Gina needs to pull her head in.
Everyone knows that big business has the wherewithall to hire top notch accountants and advisors to minimise their tax, and they do it….and governments know they do it.
because of the political donations racket, this will not change much…perhaps a little for window dressing to appease any protestestations.
We are not talking about a few hundred or thousand bucks here, but millions…every year.
Mining companies…the mining tax…..I saw a show on SBS about 2 years ago, before iron ore prices started falling. About Hyundi car manufacturing in South Korea. It was a revelation to me.
Guess how much iron ore, (value $$ that is) goes into each vehicle produced, on average?
$138.!!!
$138!!!……..not a misprint.
So a mining tax would have had virtually no impact on the selling price of a Hyundi.
But so much hoo ha from Gina and co.
Gina is worth billions……..people receiving welfare or not receiving welfare…….it would be of no consequence to her.
I am sure many welfare recipients would have worked hard in life if they had a parent who was worth millions, if not billions, to give them a start in life.
Unfortunately, most parents do not have a goose that lays golden eggs to leave to their kids.
So Gina , shut the fuck up and keep going to your lavish lunches and dinners until you eat one wafer too many.
Leave the battlers alone.
John I loved what you had to say about Gina and your analysis was great. Loved it Thankyou. How it seems to me in addition to what you had to say is that Gina is touting the Liberal line for them and supporting what many of their MPs seek to attack regularly…our so called crippling welfare debt. She lacks sophistication and perspective and i doubt she would listen to
a PR person, as you said she can get away with saying what she likes. The reality is that the Libs are grinding down on welfare as they know we are set for less employment as we robotise future work and 40% of jobs will not exist in 15 years. By reducing welfare now at every turn, they will pay less in the present and the future. At $38 per day now on the dole, you are already in poverty and they want to pay less. I am saddened how many readers somehow think they would pay less tax if there were less on welfare, as if that is how it works with Fed spending. The confidence with which they speak is astounding, since we have such high unemployment in SA and other states, are we going to pretend for ever that there are actually jobs for everyone that exist. There aren’t and that situation will increase. More is going off shore and more from elsewhere coming in that requires far less Australian workers. Get thinking Australia about what reality might actually be and stop regarding a mega wealthy woman’s perspective as capable of rating what life is like on the common street. After all, this is a woman that brings in Philippine workers and other nationals who are cheaper so the gall she has to speak so hypocritically. Lets not forget we are a diverse bunch with diverse circumstances and opportunity is different for us all. Better get supportive of each other as the future could be bumpy and words may well need to be swallowed. I doubt they will be yours John.
It’s right everybody is a pretend millionaire with kids that are olympians… it is a joke but all theses fools can’t see it until someone close dies.