If employers have to pay 15% super there won't be any small business employers left in Australia. Is this another ploy to make more slush fund money for the Union industry super fund racket?
Horse has already bolted. Sorry, but no one - and I mean no one - gets credit for putting forward a warning after the damage has been done. After a decade and more of Black Friday-esque style speculation, consumerism and gambling on cheap credit, it's both incredible how audacious instigators and proponents of this frenzy can now stand up and bleat a belated warning. You see this all the damn time now in the main stream media, who were not just complicit, but also profiteering selling advertising space to report industry propaganda as 'news' start to come out now and 'educate' and 'warn' the masses on the dangers of debt & unrealistic investment return expectations. It's equally incredible that when your snout is firmly in the trough (no matter whether you're the prime minister or the 'mum and dad' investor), you won't say a damn thing about the dangers, the risk or the associated damage participation might bring. How stupid are the people to assume that now the damage has been done, those who played their role in it and have the conceited audacity to try and come as a benefactor in bringing warning, actually have your best interests at heart? I think this is the sick joke of the cycle that all but the vocal minority who have been unreservedly bashed and ostracized for years because they had the 'audacity' to be the 'doom and gloomer' during the party will actually believe. It's an absolute farce now that those people who were key participants in these events would even try and claim to be a voice of reason now that the rent comes due and the inevitable is starting to unfold. "Mr Keating said Australians expected unrealistically high returns from their super funds, which in turn encouraged fund managers to take too many risks on the market." Sure and a decade and more of honestly expecting property to double every 7 - 10 years with speculative investment, driving the market to one of the most over valued in the entire industrialised world without any comment or warning is perfectly reasonable and risk free for people to continue investing into it, right? The blatant bias in this country from all public walks of life on market commentary is honestly sickening. 'Steer clear of those crazy, risk taking fund managers kids... but trust in mr real estate agent, he'll give you the honest truth!' is a joke!
So, in short, we should put more into super and then give it all to the government to look after, because the government is so good at making money
so would that extra 3% actually give a return, or is it just another tax on employers (because businesses are evil arent they? (not to mention the stink itd kick up if they taxed personal income an extra 3% instead))
Keating's ego is still so large that he thinks he is still relevant. Another has-been that wasn't even any good in his "prime".
I hate Keating as much as the next bloke (IMO he is a downright awful person)...but he notched up more achievements (good and bad) than any politician since...that includes Howard. The rest of 'em are just "waster's" compared to him...it just goes to show what an unhealthy ego can achieve.
Doesn't sound like an investment at all, just blatant spending. That's forcing an equivalent of 3% of the citizenry's income to be sent somewhere with no say in where it goes. And it doesn't sound intended to be used to buy pharmaceutical company shares, just spend more money. Just another tax increase.
If we don't get a concession on Company tax rates,a refocus on government incentives for business,a realistic employee termination clause and subsequent support structure,a flat tax concession for the preparation of all BAS statements and my personal favourite but in the wish list basket-The use of SMSF money via a trust to invest in up to 50% of a PPOR with capital gains tax exemptions as per Personal Capital Gains Tax exemptions on a PPOR.. :lol: REDBACK
For small business,Its not worth employing people these days. I had 4 blokes contracting for me for years, to put them on full time just wasnt worth it, fat chance of me contributing to anyone elses super, pay ya own. The worst part of it all is you cant get rid of them, you should be able to terminate employment on the spot. Notice the massive cut in full time jobs over the years, companys and business pushing for more contract and casual workers, easier to get rid of them especially where unions are involved. Small business can no longer sustain all the government BS, coupled together with employee "entitlements". Something has to give and in the end it will be the employees job. While I may sound cruel and harsh, this is the reality for small business at the moment, the government and unions have turned a once thriving workforce easy to sustain, into an employee being a liability.
Thats true ice blue,i now view employee's as exactly that -a liability Speaking around the traps we are not Robison Crusoe's either. You don't sound harsh by any account but you have to have been a small business owner to understand that. This not being able to sack people on the spot is almost insane-its we who are employing them. Here's some of my thoughts for a restructure. 1.No sick day payments-Who pays the employer when their sick?.Its an inconvenience as it is with those last minute calls..and then you have to pay them for inconveniencing you. 2.No long service leave.The employer should be getting 1 free week of work from the employee for providing full time employment for an extended duration. 3.No holiday pay,if the employee can't budget throughout the year thats not the businesses problem 4.No public holiday pay. 5.Mandatory accountability of Doctors writing notices like'Recommend 2 days off to recover from a cold' its the first question i get asked if i ever present at the doctors office.Would you like me to provide a sick day notation. I will keep dreaming!! REDBACK
Ahhhh, but there's also blowback on the other side of the fence too that you have to consider. A good employee will have far less loyalty to you or your business if you don't commit to them either. They have bills to pay and a life to lead as well, hence they'll be more likely to want to settle where an employer is willing to commit to them. Further more, for businesses to remain viable (cost wise) they have to continue to slash benefits and entitlements. So what can they do? Damned if they do, damned if they don't? In the end, Australian workers already do some of the most unpaid overtime hours in the entire industrialised world (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-10/australians-donating-70b-in-unpaid-overtime/2331062) and employers are more concerned about whether they can cut back further or drop them at a moments' notice... but can't fathom why they can't retain their loyalty or get the best out of their people? Now throw in the 'out' cards on the rat race with leveraged, publically funded investments (negative gearing) and a very ample and generous welfare system, you create a situation where the burden is transferred and more so, the beneficiaries become those who opt out of this system, rather than trying to make it better. So between government programs and intervention, you get strangulation of the economy and business. It's a vicious circle, chicken before the egg situation that will create issues for employers who have trouble finding and retaining good staff. But I will say this for sure. We are moving from an environment where a large portion of the population are moving from the workforce to retirement. You can import all the cheap labour you like, but I think we're going to have one hell of a problem on our hands in this country over the next decade or two. FYI I'm not pro union - I'm just looking the situation rationally from both sides of the fence.
^^^ Yep, Couldn't get a job as a contractor...they wanted me locked in. As a contractor I was going to be able to charge them for 12-16 hour days, plus get tax concessions on my vehicle and work related expenses. And I could take as long a holiday as I want, when I want. Now they get the same 12-16 hour days but only have to pay me for 8 hours. They get the tax concession's of the work vehicle, phone, computer etc Holidays are limited to 4 weeks a year, when it's conveinient to the company. Who's better off? What's my loyalty level?
Auspm I agree with loyalty, in the past you would have rewarded good workers and done anything possible to keep them working for you, however even with the most loyal it only takes a good offer from elsewhere and they are out the door, all employees are dispensable, as a business owner you must take this course and not let emotion play a part. I also agree that it has now become a viscous circle - created by the governments of Australia,unionized or not, Employers are not at fault, neither is the employee, the current situation has been created by bureaucrats from within the governments. I was engaged by a large multinational company (many years ago) to infiltrate the union, basically spy on them, gather info and intel in various ways, was good fun, however the unions agenda most of the time 95% was to look after themselves, members are revenue. The games they play, the propaganda they speak and what goes on behind closed doors would disgust even the most diehard union loyalist, nothing is what it seems. A union member is nothing but a pawn in a much bigger game, the game is politics, and union funds pay for it all. So between governments and unions, the workforce of Australia has become a liability even for big business let alone Mum and Dad trying to make a go at things. It is a sad state of affairs all round and until we get a government with a backbone full time Jobs will become harder and harder to find.
Very true, but by the same token, we are moving towards and environment where good people are going to become very hard to find and what's more, we're going to move strongly to a sellers's market on skilled labour, regardless of what the union movement or governmental regulation assumes and wants to enforce. As mentioned, we have a lot of people currently shifting from employment to retirement. We have a government out of control with regulation and taxation and union movements who act little more than thugs with their collectivist bargaining (and corruption on both sides!) It means the only imports we can muster to make up the shortfall will stem from people migrating here as a lifestyle decision, because sure as hell you can get much better paid elsewhere and have far more free time and personal liberty. So we're getting a lot of immigration from 'lower tier' societies, who bring lower tier qualifications, knowledge and experience. I cannot recall another time in Australian history where the value of human labour has been as low as it is, or personal wealth generation through actual WORK has been so badly undermined as it is today. We are living in a speculative driven investment society right now where 'working 9-5' is strictly for suckers. Yet, we have a growing demand from intelligent, competent, skilled workers. Where will this see the country moving to in the future? I like to take a step back and look at the macro picture level. It's the eye in the sky view of things that you can really understand and appreciate how so many issues in this country (and the western world for that matter) are tied together and impact each other. We are currently going through a very large shift in society on many levels (financially, economically, socially, politically, religiously etc) and not many people seem to be able to connect the dots on it or see how they're all related. Bottom line is, things are changing right now and where we will end up after this paradigm shift (I believe) will be almost unrecognisable to where we stand now and what we take for granted as true.
Spot on, absolutely. You said it all here, "We are currently going through a very large shift in society on many levels (financially, economically, socially, politically, religiously etc) and not many people seem to be able to connect the dots on it or see how they're all related. Bottom line is, things are changing right now and where we will end up after this paradigm shift (I believe) will be almost unrecognisable to where we stand now and what we take for granted as true." Couldnt agree more.
