Aussie dollar to drop below 66c - "benign" collapse ahead

Incidentally, an article in the Herald Sun today reports that the Defence Dept has 76,187 credit cards (est. 77,000 employees) and ticks up approximately half a billion a year on them.

Mind you they do have limits. 35k for domestic travel and 50k for international.
 
Guilty as charged, but nowadays it's not like it was. When I started there were some slackers for sure, most that were pushed towards redundancy or early retirement. It's been downhill for the last 3 years. Maybe I'm just a sucker that likes taking on higher duties without higher pay, but our staff level has been decimated and no-one's being promoted. No doubt some depts get it worse than others, but it's far from easy street on my block.
 
smk762 said:
Guilty as charged, but nowadays it's not like it was. When I started there were some slackers for sure, most that were pushed towards redundancy or early retirement. It's been downhill for the last 3 years. Maybe I'm just a sucker that likes taking on higher duties without higher pay, but our staff level has been decimated and no-one's being promoted. No doubt some depts get it worse than others, but it's far from easy street on my block.
Click to expand...

I have a few friends who'd fervently disagree.

To put it in a word or two: hierarchical middle managers.
 
smk762 said:
Guilty as charged, but nowadays it's not like it was. When I started there were some slackers for sure, most that were pushed towards redundancy or early retirement. It's been downhill for the last 3 years. Maybe I'm just a sucker that likes taking on higher duties without higher pay, but our staff level has been decimated and no-one's being promoted. No doubt some depts get it worse than others, but it's far from easy street on my block.
Click to expand...
Interesting to hear about big staff level reductions. Happening where I work too (private sector). Everything is cut to the bone. Entire floors cleared of people over the past 3 years - people cut or moved offshore. Things won't get better.

Do you still at least have fixed work hours? Back when I had had a public sector job, pay was shit but the hours were good. Anything over standard hours and we got overtime pay or time in lieu.
 
smk762 said:
Time in lieu still active. No overtime except during summer if there is a really bad fire.
The stereotype of lazy overpaid public servants is outdated in WA for the front line workers.
CSIRO was hit hard - http://www.news.com.au/finance/econ...rch-in-australia/story-fn84fgcm-1226937209145
It's been as bad or worse for most other departments (excluding defense).
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Slash it, slash it, slash it, slash it, slash it. :D

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZQjAA5TUfg[/youtube]
 
The thing that I find funny about people in the public sector is that they pay taxes. As if somehow they are helping to pay for themselves.

It's kind of like Apple charging their customers twice as much and then giving half of it back and saying "look how generous we are to our customers".
 
smk762 said:
Time in lieu still active. No overtime except during summer if there is a really bad fire.
The stereotype of lazy overpaid public servants is outdated in WA for the front line workers.
CSIRO was hit hard - http://www.news.com.au/finance/econ...rch-in-australia/story-fn84fgcm-1226937209145
It's been as bad or worse for most other departments (excluding defense).
Click to expand...

Depends in which part of the public sector you are in I guess. The reality is though, taken as a whole, you're way too expensive.
 
smk762 said:
Yeah, but if we didn't there would be outrage. Strangely no-one blinks twice at the tax free pensions for judges politicians.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...ption-on-pension/story-fn59niix-1226613680013
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This:

THE federal government has decided to exempt state judges and politicians from its planned tax on defined-benefit pensions in order to avoid the risk of a constitutional challenge.

The government is also considering legal advice on whether the risk of a challenge justifies extending the exemption to the federal judiciary.
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So why not a constitutional challenge from the rest of the poor bunnies hit with the planned tax?

NR where is this petition for a referendum you spoke about?
 
hawkeye said:
The thing that I find funny about people in the public sector is that they pay taxes. As if somehow they are helping to pay for themselves.

It's kind of like Apple charging their customers twice as much and then giving half of it back and saying "look how generous we are to our customers".
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if we didn't there would be outrage. Strangely no-one blinks twice at the tax free pensions for judges politicians.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...ption-on-pension/story-fn59niix-1226613680013

hawkeye said:
Depends in which part of the public sector you are in I guess. The reality is though, taken as a whole, you're way too expensive.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, and Ron Swanson is a real man. All depends on how much you benefit from the funded services. If you are relatively self sufficient, you get a raw deal come tax time. If you need to drive on roads, visit national parks, be tended to by nurses or have your house saved from fire, then maybe it's worth it. If you want us to be involved in war in the middle east, stopping the boats and surveillance at home, you're getting your money's worth.
 
smk762 said:
hawkeye said:
The thing that I find funny about people in the public sector is that they pay taxes. As if somehow they are helping to pay for themselves.

It's kind of like Apple charging their customers twice as much and then giving half of it back and saying "look how generous we are to our customers".
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if we didn't there would be outrage. Strangely no-one blinks twice at the tax free pensions for judges politicians.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...ption-on-pension/story-fn59niix-1226613680013

hawkeye said:
Depends in which part of the public sector you are in I guess. The reality is though, taken as a whole, you're way too expensive.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree, and Ron Swanson is a real man. All depends on how much you benefit from the funded services. If you are relatively self sufficient, you get a raw deal come tax time. If you need to drive on roads, visit national parks, be tended to by nurses or have your house saved from fire, then maybe it's worth it. If you want us to be involved in war in the middle east, stopping the boats and surveillance at home, you're getting your money's worth.
Click to expand...
I only want half of that will you take a 50% pay cut ? :p:
 
hawkeye said:
The thing that I find funny about people in the public sector is that they pay taxes. As if somehow they are helping to pay for themselves.

It's kind of like Apple charging their customers twice as much and then giving half of it back and saying "look how generous we are to our customers".
Click to expand...

It's a psychological tactic to make them feel like they're "Doing the right thing".
 
JulieW said:
This:

THE federal government has decided to exempt state judges and politicians from its planned tax on defined-benefit pensions in order to avoid the risk of a constitutional challenge.

The government is also considering legal advice on whether the risk of a challenge justifies extending the exemption to the federal judiciary.
Click to expand...

So why not a constitutional challenge from the rest of the poor bunnies hit with the planned tax?

NR where is this petition for a referendum you spoke about?
Click to expand...

I couldn't read the article. Why would there be a constitutional challenge if judges and politicians were subject to the same taxes as everyone else?
 
smk762 said:
Yeah, but if we didn't there would be outrage. Strangely no-one blinks twice at the tax free pensions for judges politicians.
Click to expand...

But the reality is, let's say we pay you 100K and you pay 50K in income taxes (I'm using round numbers for convenience) or we pay you 50K and you aren't taxed. That's ultimately the same amount of money for the taxpayers.

The former just implies that public sector workers are taxpayers but, in reality, is blatantly false. Don't you think it would be better to have clarity rather than this charade?
 
If the system was transparent with sound logic to back up the decision, either if fine. You could argue in favor of the a reduced workload of the ATO in processing returns, and therefor even less public servants on the payroll.

TBH, I'm in favor of zero income tax all round, with varying rates of GST depending on the good or service. Social essentials would be exempt (food, education, healthcare, rent, fuel, phone, electricity, internet). The highest rate would be on newly legalised drugs, with strict QA to medicinal standards imposed, shifting the budget expense of policing instead towards science.
 
I love that the government creates laws they believe to be unconstitutional and then exempts themselves and their mates from it :lol:
 
If public servants didn't pay income tax, how would you work out how much HECS to deduct or second income etc. If there are two public servants on 75,000 doesn't mean they're in the same tax bracket at the end of the financial year. How would work out real estate income losses?
 
Revils said:
If public servants didn't pay income tax, how would you work out how much HECS to deduct or second income etc. If there are two public servants on 75,000 doesn't mean they're in the same tax bracket at the end of the financial year. How would work out real estate income losses?
Click to expand...

Easy. Eliminate HECS and make everyone pay for their own education.
 
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