Katie22

do you mean Tony?!

"For people who genuinely need help it should be there" - exactly! But this budget is taking money away from these people, that's what a lot of us on this thread are so annoyed about. I don't see how $7 copayment is going to stop a dole bludger - I expect they're the ones who always go to emergency rooms anyway as I doubt they have GPs. Hospital admissions will increase due to reduced GP visits - prevention is far cheaper than cure - emergency departments will suffer even more. Homelessness will increase, poverty will increase, there will probably be a bigger social divide between the haves and have nots. Charities will have to provide way more ..... but it will be all worth it in the long run?!

in all seriousness though, I would delete that original post of yours if I was you

that's alright, I'm not really that interested! Just not great idea talking about your patients on an internet forum but we all do get a little passionate when it comes to politics!

I'll make a guess that it's in Perth?!

So what's the answer guys? Stop all benefits full stop, after all why should us tax payers pay for other people's luxuries. If you lose your job tough poop until you find another one. If you are behind with bills etc and in danger of losing your home tough poop - go out get a job. If you can't afford rent so will be made homeless - tough poop, I've heard park benches are really quite comfy. If you're disabled - hey that's no excuse even if you've got numerous chronic health issues and wheelchair bound - you can still work. Single parent with disabled child who needs lots of care - tough poop go out and get a job, why should the government help you? Oh and don't forget lets sterilise anyone who has the slightest inkling that their other half will do a runner, these single parents are a menace to society. Australia needs more families like the Abbotts! Sounds a bit silly,of course it does? So do some of the posts on here that seem to think that this budget is only affecting the dole bludgers.

So how is this $7 copayment going to stop the people you mentioned attending your emergency department? And so much for confidentiality - I'm presuming they're not real people? And how is taking Family Tax B away from a single parent who works, who does not take her kids to emergency when they're ill but attends a GP (there are some out there) and receives a low income fair? I for one am not talking about the bludgers. There must be other steps put in place to stop these people not by reducing innocent peoples incomes. I pay tax too and I want my tax to go towards people who need it.

That's certainly what Mr Abbott is doing! I have absolutely no issues with high income earners but I think that they have less to complain about after this budget than the low income earners. Take away their debt tax and they can still afford their mortgages, bills and still put money aside for a rainy day. Take away my family tax B and I can still pay my bills and keep afloat but I will miss it - BUT I refuse to make out I'm hard done by as it's my contribution as I've said before - so if I'm not moaning then I don't quite get why high income earners are whingeing. All they say is why should they pay for the dole bludgers - everyone should work blah blah blah! I want to get rid of dole bludgers too but not at the expense of other innocent people. And here in australia it's usually only the concession card holders, patients on low incomes or people who have sympathetic GPs that get bulk billed, the rest of us who can afford it pay a copayment anyway so the liberals are specifically targeting these people. And they are also making cuts to the health service too so just stupid really.

I don't agree that the tone of this thread is against high income earners at all, I get the impression that most of it is against the $7 copayment and the drastic cuts to family tax and benefits. Sure I'll admit I got a little uptight hearing from people insinuating that times are hard when they earn about $120,000 more than me - and there was me feeling sorry for people who earn less than me! This budget is not only attacking welfare recipients, it is attacking people who work and have low incomes - YES they work! So do you think that's right that they should be penalised?

I am not saying that you should be paying more tax at all, I'm trying to emphasize with the low income earners who are undoubtedly the worse hit. Also I am not questioning the struggles you have had in your life to get you where you are as I have no idea, just as you have no idea of the struggles other posters or myself have been through but this post has nothing to do with that, I'm trying to think about people who have less than me and I know some of them too. This budget is not only attacking people on benefits, it is also attacking people in low paid employment who are seeing their family tax being taken away which is NOT a benefit so they are certainly being asked to pay just as much if not more tax than the high income earners. Once again let's get rid of the stereotyping. What about the disabled? What about the single parents with disabled children. It's all just so wrong.

Rupert - no-one on this thread is expecting you to have 90% of your income taken away that's just silly! It's just that this budget has specifically targeted a certain group of people so it seems to be more than a financial decision I believe. No-ones doubting that you've worked hard to get where you are and have struggled along the way - I'm sure the majority of us on this thread have also regardless of our incomes. I believe society needs to have empathy for people less fortunate than ourselves and the people who will be affected quite badly by this budget but will just soldier on regardless - they are not the dole bludgers, the single parents who would rather reproduce than work, and the lazy youth of today! That is stereotyping people and by trying to slam down on them, it will be the innocent who suffer. Low income earners work hard too believe it or not. I'm not a loony left, I just despair sometimes of the stereotyping and not even wanting to try and understand or want to know how difficult it is for other people less fortunate.

Give some people power and they abuse it, they obviously haven't thought it all through nor know the facts themselves to sell this budget. Tony Abbott made a comment yesterday that "the unemployed have no right to hold out for a dream job" - of course they don't but what a condescending inappropriate comment and what is that saying to the unemployed who are actively trying to find a job? He is tarring everyone with the same brush and I hope that the people who voted for him in good faith are seeing him for the person that he really is. And he should also understand that he's the prime minister of all of Australia, regardless of wealth, so maybe he needs to be advised to show a little compassion or even if he doesn't posses that, just show a little tact. If the liberals want to stay in then they need to find someone who commands a little more respect. And as for his daughter's scholarship, I'm sure she was awarded that when he was a politician, and a politician in a party that believes we should all pay our own way. And here is is spouting on that the changes to education will be helping low income earners - how?! Double standards. Do what I say, not what I do.

and taking it away from someone on a salary of $30,000 and less is madness too - in my opinion of course!

I think politics should be discussed in any way and everywhere when it affects peoples lives and livelihoods, and the comments in this thread show that people care and are passionate about their beliefs. To be honest I was never really interested in politics until now but this government has triggered something in me to want to try and stick up for the vulnerable people who are going to be affected and who find it hard to have a voice in today's society. For most of us who can afford it we are not bulk billed anyway so this $7 is manageable, the majority of people on concession cards are the ones who are bulk billed so it's pretty obvious they are being the ones targeted. The liberals want to get rid of the dole bludgers, want people to be more responsible about their health, and they want single parents to get out and work. So they're attacking everyone on low incomes to target that minority. And how is taking my Family Tax B away from me encouraging me to work when I already do and always have, I'm only entitled to it because I earn below the specified income and I'm a single parent. But I feel I have no right to complain as there are many other single parents who earn far less than me and consequently are going to miss it and it's my contribution to help pay off the country's debt I suppose! So you're taking that away then you're also telling them they have to pay co-payments for GP visits for themselves and their children. And not all single parents are single due to choice either. And then to top it all you see the man responsible for these cutbacks from the vulnerable having had his daughter receive a $60,000 scholarship for a degree when evidently other fellow students didn't even realise that a scholarship was available. I thought scholarships were there for not only high achievers but for high achievers on low incomes who otherwise would not be able to afford it? It stinks and it confirms it's not a question of what you know but who you know.

Crikey, you've got to have a pretty cold heart to think the budget is not that bad

a poke in the eye is #MorePopularThanAbbott!

He reminds me a bit of Mr Burns from the Simpsons.....!

Interesting though hearing in the news today that evidently Australian children are some of the most inactive in the world - and this is in a developed country with beautiful blue skies and sunshine most of the time - pretty sad really

Salisbury - spent several happy years there. Surrounded by some lovely villages with welcoming pubs too....

I did a sponsored FebFast where I gave up alcohol & sugar for the month of February - the alcohol was easy but sugar was so hard - there's sugar in just about everything nowadays and that seems to be the main culprit for obesity. The big companies are reducing fat but adding sugar. Boy was I happy when 1st March came along!

I work in the private health system and come across quite a lot of people on not large incomes, especially pensioners, who budget and do without to pay their private insurance premiums for their own protection and peace of mind. In fact I used to have it myself but it got to the point that I had to choose between private health insurance or school fees, the school fees won so I had to give up that insurance as just couldn't afford it anymore. So not everyone who has private health insurance is wealthy and the same with school fees. My daughter's friend, has a part-time job to pay towards her own fees as her mum is on a low income - she's 16 yrs old. I can't say if I think this 2% levy is unfair or not, maybe if I was earning that much and seeing that money being taken away then I would be angry. But sometimes I think people should be thankful for what they have rather than what they don't have, sure they're being hit by the budget but if you compare income, are they being hit harder than the poor? Denying benefit to someone under the age of 30 who may become unexpectedly unemployed is just criminal, and if that person was on a low income anyway, there's very little chance of them having had enough income to put away to be able to support themselves and possibly their family too until they find another job. Of course people who have health insurance and private education relieve some of the pressure from the public system but they also may need that public health or education system one day - life is fickle and unpredictable - one day you can have everything and a moment in time can take it all away and then you'd be very grateful for a little help.

I'd agree with the previous threads. First try and sort out your relationship if you can. Then go back to England, if you don't you'll keep thinking "what if". And don't worry too much about if it'll work out or not. Just sort out the now and follow your heart.

You've got me angry again!

Very true, certainly not criticising you personally but at the end of the day the government want to save money, that money has to come from somewhere. A large proportion is going to come from the lower and lower middle income earners who will be far worse off. Is that where it should stop? Thankfully though I've just read that people with chronic illnesses who have health care plans will be exempt from the co-payments which is something I suppose. Did anyone see Mr Hockey on question time last night, what an arrogant man.

i know for a fact that if I was earning $180,000 myself and my kids would definitely be living the life of riley as that's a damn site more than I earn and can ever dream of earning!