That great sector of the Australian community, retirees, is being set upon again by government. The issue has passed barely noticed in the media but the political consequences for the Turnbull Government are sure to be profound.
On January 1, 2017, changes to the aged care assets test will see more than 100,000 Australians lose their part pension payments in entirety. More than 300,000 will have their pension payments cut.
There is a perception many retirees are rolling in money. They have assets many could only dream of. Perhaps that’s why the media has shunned the issue.
Let me ask the question, who among us could lose 20 per cent of our household incomes and come away unscathed?
It gets worse. With the loss of the pension, the government will also cancel retirees’ pensioner concession cards which allow them to enjoy discounts on council rates, car rego, energy bills and public transport tickets. Back of the envelope, that’s three grand per annum retirees will have to find.
Full column here.
John,
“He would say that, wouldn’t he?” that was the mistake she made.
i think there would be a pretty good argument that Ms Butler inferred that the student had lied about the Facebook post, and as i believe he said this in evidence, perjured himself.
My recollection is that the students who paid the 5k to settle the QUT case did so well in advance of any offer of free representation to the remaining students, so the students would have faced, at the time they decided to settle, the possibility of paying Fed Court costs for themselves and possibility of paying a share of a judgement and the costs of Ms Prior.
5k probably seemed the least worst option.
Ms Butler, well if my long ago experience of these matters still holds up, would have been receiving free legal services from a Labor law firm and free assistance from experienced counsel. She would have been assured that, provided she and the Party were in agreement as to how to proceed, then she would have any settlement or judgement and costs ordered against her covered by the Labor Party.
in addition she is a well paid MP, was a lawyer for a long time and i expect be would be in a much much stronger financial position than the students who settled.
As Mack says you are comparing apples and oranges, and she had little incentive to settle quickly unless the case was a loser.
Spot on Jack.
Terri Butler sponsored by Maurice and Blackman. Cindy Prior by Aboriginal Legal Services. The two complainants from WA, sponsored by WA Aboriginal legal services.
As for the QUT “defendants”, self represented until Terry Morris QC saw the injustice in how this whole sorry episode was unfolding and offered to represent pro bono.
I have to admit I didn’t hear her say that, Greg Sheridan was shouting so loudly over the top of her. I still think it’s drawing a long bow from that to an implication of perjury in the context of the exchange, which was the question of whether the Prior case was frivolous. Butler’s point was that it was not frivolous because the allegations were serious, not whether they were true or not.
BTW, you have to admit there’s a certain inconsistency in saying that the Prior allegations were frivolous as a basis for an 18C case, but serious as a basis for defamation. You can’t have it both ways.
I’m not privy to the settlement details of the other students (perhaps Razor is?) but I find it incredible that young University students, who are presumably both smart and poor, would hand over 5K without getting legal advice first.
John, whether the case was frivolous was the beginning of the discussion, she said the allegations were serious, Sheridan pointed out that the particular allegation against the student was not accepted by the court and that was her response.
to me the response pretty much accused the student of perjury, which is clearly defamatory, there was no need for her to say it, and it was not a great moment for someone who was in the middle of spruiking her knowledge of the law.
of course there is always a risk of embarrassment when any of us do that.
it was not the Prior allegations which were the basis for the defamation, at least not in my view, but the inference that the student had lied on oath about them, so the seriousness of the allegations really doesn’t come into it.
fibbing about a bottle of grange cost Barry O’Farrell his job, swearing an affidavit about a speeding ticket cost a former judge a year or two.
i seem to recall that the students did have some legal advice before settling, which they were paying for, but that doesn’t change the situation they were facing.
Jean Baptiste (9.28pm 17 Dec)
You offer me an “essay”, sponsored by a dubious outfit to say the least, promoting itself as an “Information Clearing House” warning of “climate collapse and human near-term extinction”, including a prediction (let me repeat – “a prediction”) that we’ll all be extinct within 14 years. The article is dated 17 December 2014.
That’s 2 years ago, yikes! We’ve only got 12 years left!! And you present this ICH piece as a serious expose on AGW!?
It’s no wonder I’ve been concerned about you for sometime me old mate. I’ve come to the conclusion that you unnecessarily expose yourself to fear and anxiety-arousing publications such as those presented by ICH and others. You need to be aware JB, that the sensory inputs that prompt your fear/anxiety are the very spurious (if I may say so) pieces of alarmist nonsense that you apparently seek out. You really do need to “unlearn” your apparent present ‘doom and gloom’ condition. I think you should at least attempt to not so fiercely disparage those who may harbour a different view to your own on AGW (however slight and uncertain that may be).
If the so called AGW scientists are concerned about our survival (which I very much doubt) why don’t they (or their colleagues) also warn us of our peril from the Earth’s ongoing and incessant movement of the Campanian volcanic arc? That’s were the African tectonic plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate. Blind Freddie knows that this movement allows a build up of pressure that causes violent volcanic eruptions such as those experienced by Mt Vesuvius in 79AD, Mt Etna, Krakatoa, Mauna Loa in the Hawaii Islands, Mt Pina Tubo, Mt St Helens, and so on.
The wretched souls who have already experienced and survived those onslaughts didn’t ‘go to water’ and become blithering idiots. They ‘soldiered on’ JB. And so it shall be should we experience a slight fluctuation in sea levels, a blip in the mercury every now and then, or even a whiff of methane when the wind blows in our direction.
Get a grip me old mate, no more of that ICH stuff please.
Carl on the Coast and Jean Baptiste need to get a room they must be in love. Both clueless as to climate change they keep us all entertained year in year out with the same drivel. Give it up lovers.
JB Hi Fi ..09:28pm.
Geez you got me worried about this climate stuff man!
The old mate the late Nifty Wran NSW premier said if people throw enough mud , eventually some sticks.
Maybe that advice from from Graham Connors he’s going to build a beach house in the Blue Mountains may be the best options JB! Google that song and have a listen “Going to build a beach house in the Blue Mountains”
Good luck up there JB and make sure you take your heavy duty fishing gear catching a few sharks brought in when the sea levels rise.
Hi Jack, Hi all.
Just checking in to wish you all a Happy Christmas. Ive had my head down a bit because they ripped out my gaul bladder and all my precious stones I was hoarding. JtI my dear, you have my sympathies in spades mate, if what they did to me was half of what they are doing to you…. Keep your spirits up.
Peace and love dear one and all, remember its not about the shit and glitz, just breathe and smile.
For me, its all hail chicken soup and going to the pee pee by yourself (cos that’s a sign of life!)
cheers.
Go well, Wraith and have a great Christmas.
Have a great Christmas Wraith. Hope you are on the repair.
Keep kicking goals wraith
Thank you for the well wishes all. Husband isnt helping things. He thought it would be good to, you know, keep me laughing. So last night he sticks his head around the corner of the bedroom door and says something like “anytime you fancy a bit of sausage Shazza, you can jump on this”. I started laughing, stitches start hurting, nose runs, coughing. Ohhhhh, coughing not good. Heaving breathing, not the good kind.
Bloke copped a ‘p**s off you idiot’. He meant well.
cheers all.
Good one, Wraith!!
Come on Wraith! A bit of sausage never hurt anyone girl 😂
Ive had that Wraith. Its not fun. A small percentage of people have ongoing effects from that. If you, like me, are one of these, I find that a combination of nexium and iron tablets are pretty good at controlling the after effects.
wraith, good luck with the recovery
This is a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad government Bald
&
Tim FlanneryTimFlanneryTimFlanneryTimFlanneryTinFlannery?????What about NASA?WHat about 97% of the world’s climate scientists? Flannery is not a recognized climate scientists. Folloiw what the climate sciengtists say. Not the Geologists and Shock Jocks.
But the geological record can show us so much.
Correct – NASA by all means but…calm down Bassy. Have an egg nog and a good lie down.
Regarding superannuation, considering the rorting, or fiddling, and the moving of goal posts that has gone along with it I am surprised that some people still recommend the raising the %.
And as suggested by a few, these changes brought in by the ineffectual, or effectually dangerous and damaging, dud Turnbull will bring about those affected either spending their money on overseas trips (and the accompanying wad of travellers cheques), updating their car, purchasing a caravan or Winnebago, installing solar heating, water tank and pool, gifting it to their children to spend on tax free drugs, then paying ‘cash only’ tradies to renovate and upgrade their tax exempt house. Once they are below the limit they will then proceed to add further to the nations fiscal burden. This is remarkable in its uncanny familiarity with the sort of policy disasters thought (hehe) up by the likes of Rudd, Swan, Gillard, Swan. Personally, i’d be surprised if Swan didn’t have his clumsy paw behind all of this.
Ok you miserable individuals, time to celebrate. My birthday was yesterday, putting me deeper into those greedy old farts Dismayed so erroneously harps on about, 35 years married today, to the one and only girl, and our now pregnant second daughter just achieved first class honours in Psychology during a career break. So good to see many Gen Y kids ignoring the hardly done by woe is me attitudes of their Gen X predecessors and are getting on with achieving great things.
So there.
Happy birthday, Lou
Happy birthday mate and appears good news all round!
Happy birthday.
Lou happy birthday and congrats, i think i am edging close to the 35 as well, though it is in two seperate goes so i am not sure it counts.
Bassman 12 :46am.
Geez Bassman , you worrying me on all this bad news around the world making me think we better round up the old boys in the music game just to keep Malcom away having my super in jeopody.
Times changing Bassman having to keep our hands in our pockets worrying about our wallets .
Might have to send an SOS or pigeon message out for your old mate Tony to come back and rescue the country .
What about Joe ,. or even helecopter Bronny ah! What about sending a surveillance crew out digging around the bushes of Barnaby Rejoyce ! What about catapulting old Clive Palmer down into the grounds of parliament house or using a rigorous heavy lift helecopter . Maybe your old mate Tony Windsor with that ferocious angry canibalising look may come back and set up some more secret government info dealing on shonky coal investments again.
Beware of these blokes called Tony Bassman!
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/146138/100-reasons-why-climate-change-is-natural
Read this JB !
Ho Hum Rodent, that stupid list again. And again I will put up a counter list and again I will say that mine is bigger than yours https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php
You brain appears to be in a tiny little loop that it can’t escape. Maybe even tinier than this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq2_VfALKac
JB,..09:28pm.
While on this topic you mention about , I show greater resilence of waiting emphasizing in leaving the experts to conclude their findings as Graham Lloyd says in the Australian then pass on at a later date .I give way to your opinion as legitimately put forward but, it is at your peril facing you locked into a conspiracy ” abstracted of distorion ” that further worries me dominating your life. I do believe the earth has warmed coming out of the ice age as stated by many scientists.
We need to allow these blokes of academic achievements to do their work and “not ” interfered with by radical academic bias self interests mobs rejected filtering through the internet you tap into , Nasa has qualified personel while 50 rejects were tipped out of service causing a break-away group manipulating the findings trying to get
government grants being very left wing orientated. Prof Linzen is just one of millions circulating who says that science is not yet conclusive on Climate being so complex in atmospheric terms . These scientists often talk of El Nino and La Ninya which has a huge bearing altering global temperature over centuries,
We have locations here higher then normal temperatures and last winter recorded second lowest on record with late snow falls in late November.
Macfly made valid point long back how our cities afe running higher temperatures then ever in summer due to concrete jungles created with cement and glass sending high temperatures out.
Look now at world infrastructures at large JB.
Sydney has higher readings inner city now and one station measuring zone is the Airport Mascot having greater jets blowing out much more heat raing temperatures many degrees .
Just relax JB and don’t sabatage yourself meddling into crazy billionaires clubs around the world trying to fleece your wallet like the Rockefeller family companies involved with world banks .
Let the scientists in peace while trying to weed out the activists lobby groups trying to destroy their careers.
So far they the activists have successfully derailed themselves probing into science they know nothing about .
Just sit back JB like me , leave the vilification aside and skate around the lobbyists trying to ailienate societies.