It’s been disappointing watching politicians of all sides engaging in games on whether they could live on the Newstart allowance for a week. It’s typically ignorant of them to play these games. Media outlets run with the stories and the community remains poorly served.
Politicians who really want to empathise with and understand the challenges of their constituents would walk in the shoes of others for more than a week.
Take a small business like a local newsagency, a politician who wanted to understand our situation would live and work as a newsagent for at least a month. I am confident that such an internship would result in better small business policy.
I am not talking about a contest here, to see if they can make it. No, I want something more valuable, something real which they remember when they next consider small business issues.
They need to understand the challenges of government regulation, banking, retail tenancy, employees and competition – especially with the supermarket duopoly. Understanding can only come with them delving into the business. A ten minute photo opportunity may look good on TV or in the newspapers but it does not give them a lasting memory of what small business constituents go through every day.
Politicians of all sides have failed small business for decades. In 2013 I’d like to see genuine engagement in pursuit of genuine respect for one of the most important business sectors in Australia.
The dole is not meant for you to live on, it is meant to help you survive until you get a job.
Mark – I put it to you that more effective than having politicians trial life in small business for a month is for the community to encourage and support candidates who have prior real-life experience as small business owners to stand for election.
Megan which I agree with your proposal, we have to deal with the politicians of today. Major parties don’t go for practical experience and politicians once elected do very little for small business.
Luke, The problem is that people are living below the poverty line when on the dole. They’re choosing between which essentials they are going to pay for – rent, electricity, food, transport, water. We have groups from every end of the political spectrum calling for an increase – including the Australian Business Council.
The problem with people that have real life experience is that they are unlikely to have any experience in the areas which they would be presiding over as a politician – namely fiscal policy and legislation. Most small business owners would not have a strong enough grasp of the law or economics to effectively do the job independently.
Jarryd
I don’t think any one wants a parliament full of ex small business owners, just a bit of diversity instead of one full of lawyers,ex union officials and the odd merchant banker.
Steve,
I understand that people want diversity in the parliament – but if we want them to act independently of major party lines they need the skillet to do so effectively. That’s not to say they there are not some out there with that skillet, but I’d hazard a guess that they would be few and far between.
*skillset (not skillet). I’m not advocating for the bludgeoning of politicians with kitchenware.
Damn autocorrect!
A career path for an aspiring politician is via Political Staffer. This is what Mr Ashby was. Makes one wonder about the quality of people aspiring to be a politician.
Peter, an anecdote is not evidence of a trend.
Here is a trend.
If you remove union officials and political staffers from the current Federal cabinet of 30, you are left with two teachers, a tax lawyer, and an activist rock star.
James,
I’m not disputing that.
The issue is that we have hollowed out the public service. There was a time when senior public servants worked their way up from the bottom, knew their policy and how to implement it. These guys also knew how to stand up to the politicians when they were on a wrong path. Today’s senior public servants have a layer of party appointed advisors between them and the politicians plus their own appointment and tenure has become much more influenced by politicians. We need a better balance between the executive and legislative branches of government.
Dare I say an electoral system that encourages independents.
Mark, Spot on ,Party and particularly the discipline of Factional Voting is what I see as a major problem. 2 current examples are Eddie Obeid and the Tea Party.
I personally am in favour of Jarryd`s auto correct……bludgeoning Pollies with kitchen ware…….now there`s a reality TV show I would watch……LOL!!!
Quite right James, and I believe 12 of the last 14 employed to FW Aust are all Union. I see in last weeks Aust (mon)where at Noosa there are thousands of people holidaying, and only 2 eateries open (family staffed) The rest cannot afford the penalty rates. What a wonderful system we have.
Idealistically I’ve always thought that a government of independants is the ideal (less chance of shadowy deals and favours owed I imagine) but realistically that would wind up being the old “if you don’t want it done, form a committee” scenario.
I agree Mark – an electoral system that encourages independents. I would go even further and say one that, by way of encouraging independents, encourages minority government.
People in Australia tend to get angry at minority governments because they don’t like the compromise that it entails. I like them to the extent that they encourage a broader range of views and negotiation. However there must be safeguards to ensure minor parties and independents don’t unethically hold a government to random (as has been done with the current NSW government).
*ransom (not random)
Seriously auto-correct, get your shit together!
Nah don’t like the idea of independents. Too many risks. Single issue candidates, shady behind closed door alignments. Domination by lobbyists. We might even end up with parties that we can’t see. I’d prefer a better system for qualification and pre-selection.
Baz off topic. Simplistic view on penalty rates. If consumers want out of hours service they should pay a mandated surcharge. When was the last time you called a plumber in on a Sunday.
Maybe penalty rates are too high but anyone (including business owners) should have compensation for working on a day
that everyone else can have off.
Ricky, I disagree on the penalty rates – again OT I know 🙂
There are plenty of people that are willing to work out of traditional 9 to 5, Monday to Friday shifts (uni students, parents working around babysitting availability etc etc). There should be one flat minimum rate, 24/7, and after that let market forces decide. If you cant get staff for weekend work on the minimum rate, then you have to look at what you can afford and offer that bit more to attract the people you want, but it should not be mandated.
IMHO the concept of penalty rates is archaic and an impediment not only to businesses big and small, but also to many people trying to get work where there is none simply because penalty rates exist – ie all the cafes/eateries in Noosa that shut because they cannot afford staff. Saturdays and Sundays are becoming more and more blurred in terms of time off for many people. Many more people now have weekdays off or even a whole week or two off at a time between shifts and on day blends into the next. If you choose to work in retail or hospitality, then that entails 7 day and late hour trading and that’s what you agree to, or even want, by entering those work environments. Both employers and employees are missing out because of penalty rates.
Glen:At the risk of starting a complete other discussion ( Maybe Mark can start another post) 🙂 , I just want to say that I am not so concerned about penalty rates as such. I strongly believe that consumers should pay for out of hours service. Then we would see how real the demand for Sunday or public holiday trade is. In my view trading on these days does not add value on a full week basis, but it does add cost , penalty rates or not. In recent times consumers have become spoiled rotten with an over inflated sense of entitlement. Yes good customer service is important but we need to draw a line on over servicing
There are other posts here talking about penalty rates. This is an issue I have flip flopped on. While I think they need to be abolished, it needs to be done in a way that does not harm us. The Xenophon bill would have harmed us – in hindsight.
We get complaints here from tourists that there are not enough cafes open on Boxing Day but that is partly due to people not wanting to work public holidays rather than not affording to pay penalty rates.
It is the many young people who want to work especially weekends and holidays(my daughter included) I have a pile of one page resumes. They are annoyed that work is not available, because the rate is too high. I agree that where an individual works outside of the 38hr or standard shift, should get extra. But the across the board ruling sees others disadvantaged.
Ricky,
The last time I called a plumber his call out rate was $140 and he charged me $45 for every 15 minutes after the first hour. I don’t pay my Dentist that much.
Jenny do you have room to create a cafe in your newsagency?
Mark no I don’t, am in a shopping mall and I choose not to open Boxing day, New Years day and Easter Sunday.
It’s an idea we had years ago and if I was still in my original large shop in the main street of old part of town, and our business circumstances hadn’t changed it’s something I probably would be doing now.
I think newsagency/cafe in some towns is a fantastic way to go. Great simple food and a great range of magazines – something newsagents that aren’t in malls could look at doing, especially those with enough family to work it.
Direct quote this morning from owner of one of the 8 coffee shops surrounding our store ( we WON”T be opening another one LOL !).
“I started a new 19 year old last week and on friday she said to me
” I worked 6 hours and ten minutes today, and if I don’t get me 10 minutes, I’ll be going ya’ for it.””
Some people don’t respect even having a job at all.
h,
best answer to that one is “sorry you did not make it through your probationary period – seeya!”
And then ask her “what position in the Centrelink long-term unemployed queue are ya gunna go me from?”
In our business she would have been paid for 6.25 hours whether she mentioned it or not. In all the many years we’ve been in business we’ve never been spoken to disrespectfully about pay issues. Because anyone who works for us knows how scrupulously fair we are.
You reap what you sow.