Category: Community and Values

THE MONEY MYTH

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Elections, Government, Infrastructure Rail, Air, Sea, Infrastructure Water4 Comments

Controversy has raged around the five million dollars in salary and bonuses paid to the Chief Executive of Australia Post and the ridiculous manner in which those who were responsible tried to hide their stupidity.

Clearly, there is something wrong when the CEO of a Government Corporation is paid nine times that which is paid to his boss, the Prime Minister. Eye brows also rise when that CEO buys a home for around twenty million dollars and then spends five million renovating it. The underpaid postmen out on the beat in hot weather were somewhat less than impressed.

But, it did give the leaders like Wayne Swan an excellent platform to relaunch their much needed drive to have inequality taken seriously by politicians, voters and economists.

The Board of Directors of Australia Post is clearly to blame, absolutely out of their depth. Their Chairman is a politician with no business experience who was given a ‘job for the boys’ when his political career abruptly ended. Quite obviously, that type of political appointment must cease as it is of absolutely no value to Australia. Continue reading “THE MONEY MYTH” →

WARPED WELFARE WAILING

On By Everald ComptonIn Ageing, Business and Enterprise, Community and Values, Environment, Government, Seniors13 Comments

Contrary to what we are told by politicians and the media, the cost of welfare is not a major element among the issues that we face in achieving and sustaining the financial viability of Australia.

Currently, the crippling costs to the economy are –

Corporate handouts and concessions.

Tax Avoidance, particularly by multi-national corporations.

Negative Gearing.

The costs of Direct Action on the environment which should be paid by a tax on polluters.

Gross waste and inefficiency with Defence.

Superannuation tax havens.

A hugely bloated Public Service.

Enormous duplication costs between Federal, State and Local Governments.

The totally unnecessary costs of perpetuating racism at Nauru, Manus and Christmas Island

Added to these will be the proposed tax cuts which are based on the blatant lie that the benefits will trickle down from the rich to the poor. It never has and it never will.

Nevertheless, too many politicians have always believed that there are lots of votes to be won by belting citizens who are old, handicapped, unemployed or homeless. So, they commit perjury every day as they blatantly dig deep to reach the darkest elements of the voting public. Continue reading “WARPED WELFARE WAILING” →

THE YEAR THE MUSIC STOPPED

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Elections, Environment, Funding and Finance, Government, History10 Comments

My end of year travels enabled me to take in some Christmas functions in Adelaide Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane. Inevitably, the conversations got to focus on the sad state of politics and a few facts became indelibly clear.

Malcolm Turnbull has reached rock bottom and few now listen to anything that he says. No matter whether people are left, right, centre or swingers, they are utterly unanimous in this view and highly unlikely ever to change their minds.

They are also unanimous on another matter. They do not want Bishop, Morrison or Shorten to replace him. They just want politicians to get lost.

In fact, they all see Christmas 2016 as the end of the line. It concludes a shocker of a year when the music stopped. Continue reading “THE YEAR THE MUSIC STOPPED” →

PENSION WITHOUT POLITICS

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Elections, Government, Seniors16 Comments

At Budget time every year, and at every election, Australia’s Age Pensioners take an unwarranted political and social pounding.

They are accused of being an intolerable burden on younger taxpayers who are concerned that most pensioners may be welfare cheats.

The cynical aspect of it all are that their accusers are mostly tax evaders who constantly cry out for more corporate welfare such as tax cuts, subsidies and low interest rates.

Nevertheless, the fact is that the Age Pension today amounts to a payout of 45 billion dollars a year, a figure that will double by 2030 as more Australians grow older and take a lot longer to die.

The question for us all is how we finance it without sending oldies to the gas chambers as some fascists would like to do.

We can start by taking an objective look at the current situation and work out how to turn it into a positive.

The Age Pension is indisputably inadequate, very close to the poverty line, and has been for a long time. Continue reading “PENSION WITHOUT POLITICS” →

IN SEARCH OF A NATION BUILDER

On By Everald ComptonIn Business and Enterprise, Community and Values, Environment, Government, Great Food Bowl, History, Infrastructure Water5 Comments

Australia is a disgracefully underdeveloped and poorly planned nation, the result of hugely neglectful politics over a long period of time.

Because no thought has ever been given to balanced development, most of our population is crammed into capital cities where the price of housing is exorbitant, roads are clogged and suburban rail systems are primitive.

80% of our land mass is sparsely populated and poorly serviced by internet, hospitals, water, railways, roads and ports. Continue reading “IN SEARCH OF A NATION BUILDER” →

2016 – Turnbull year of destiny

On By Everald ComptonIn Australian Republican Movement, Carbon Debate, Community and Values, Elections, Environment, Government, Mining and Resources, Seniors8 Comments

My holiday reading included a very readable book called Born to Rule, an unauthorised biography of Malcolm Turnbull by veteran journalist Paddy Manning. I enjoyed it immensely.

Paddy makes it clear he is not a Turnbull fan, but he treats the Prime Minister in as unbiased a manner as is possible in politics and journalism. However, it is interesting that, in the end, he acknowledges that Turnbull has what it takes to be a great leader of the nation if he conquers a few idiosyncrasies. Continue reading “2016 – Turnbull year of destiny” →

THE CLIMATE GUYS HIT PARIS

On By Everald ComptonIn Carbon Debate, Community and Values, Environment, Government, Population3 Comments

I am a committed environmentalist, actually a conservative Green, but I am convinced that Climate Change Conferences are a colossal waste of time and money, as was proved by the ridiculous disaster of Copenhagen a few short years ago. Continue reading “THE CLIMATE GUYS HIT PARIS” →

KILLING IN GOD’S NAME

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Government, History3 Comments

Every religion worships the same God.

We have different names for God and we worship Him (or Her) in different ways. Even within a particular religion, there are wide differences of opinion about how God should be worshipped and how the major book for that religion shall be interpreted.

All of these differences can be accommodated by reasonable people in a peaceful world, but there is one major issue that divides all religions.

Is God a symbol of hope, love and compassion or is God a dispenser of punishment for sins who appoints followers to be killers of sinners in His name. Continue reading “KILLING IN GOD’S NAME” →

The Royals and the Nazi Salute

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Good Books, Government, History, International1 Comment

I was at Primary School when Hitler rose to power in the pre-war era of the 1930’s and thought of him as a big joke. Continue reading “The Royals and the Nazi Salute” →

The Blueprint on Ageing is tackling tough economic & social issues.

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Funding and Finance, Government, Seniors

Copy of my national media release dated 23 December 2013.

Everald Compton and his research partners at Per Capita will commence community consultations in early 2014 to seek public opinion on the key issues Australia must face in handling the economic and social impact of the ageing tsunami which will hit the world over the next quarter of a century.

Compton said today that some of the most controversial questions and issues are –

1. Should self-funded retirees pay income tax on the drawings from their superannuation fund? Unless this happens, Australia’s young taxpayers will bear an increasingly large taxation burden.

2. Will Australians accept laws which prescribe that neither the aged pension nor superannuation can be accessed before 70? This will become necessary as most people can be expected to live to 90.

3. Will the option of drawing superannuation as a lump sum need to be banned so that monthly drawings will last for at least 25 years?

4. Should the superannuation guarantee be increased to 15% immediately if retirement incomes are to last until age 85?

5. Should employees over 70 have access to workplace cover, if currently they don’t?

6. Age discrimination is rampant in the workplace with seniors being denied jobs for which they are well qualified. Governments are among the greatest discriminators. A huge change of attitude is needed.

7. Is it possible for seniors to be encouraged to train for a new occupation which brings them the vigour of a second life, thus ensuring that they will want to stay in the workforce until they are at least 80?

8. Will governments who want to sell real estate assets at maximum prices be willing to make land available at low cost for age friendly rental housing which is now in very short supply?

9. Can we encourage seniors not to go to doctors and hospitals unless it is absolutely necessary, while ensuring their health does not suffer, so that Medicare will not be bankrupted? This will require a major national campaign of preventative health.

10. Will venture capitalists invest in new recreation industries for seniors? Many may have up to 40 years of retirement in which they need to keep physically and mentally fit. Most will be willing to pay for interesting and challenging recreation.

11. Is the nation willing to invest many millions in research and treatment of all forms of dementia? It will become the world’s most prevalent ailment and the one most feared by the elderly.

12. Seniors provide most of Australia’s volunteers, but they want to undertake more interesting tasks than making the tea and providing transport. They want to use their life experience to give personal and practical help to people with social problems so long as professional groups and trade unions will allow it.

Everald Compton said “there are many more issues of ageing to be assessed and these cover important matters including but not limited to lifelong learning, carers, technology, nursing homes and travel insurance, but there are too many to cover in one statement, which is an indication of the gravity of the situation”.

Executive Director of Per Capita, David Hetherington, will call for expressions of interest in early 2014 from those wishing to take part in community consultations and have a direct input into these and other ageing issues. Consultations will be held in all capital cities and in a number of regional towns. There will also be provision for comments on the Per Capita website – http://www.percapita.org.au

The Report will be issued before 30 June, 2014, and will make specific policy recommendations to all three levels of government on all action needed now to enable Australia to turn the ageing tsunami into a community asset. Per Capita will then embark on a plan to follow up the report relentlessly until governments take action.

Everald Compton was one of the founding directors of National Seniors Australia in 1976 and was its Chairman for 25 years. He was appointed by Wayne Swan to be Chairman of the Federal Governments Panel on Positive Ageing but was sacked by Joe Hockey in November, 2011, as was the entire Panel. Per Capita, an eminent not for profit think tank, invited the Panel to join them to complete the Blueprint on Ageing using private funding. Panel members Brian Howe, Gill Lewin and Neville Roach joined Compton in this important task.

David Hetherington is a highly qualified and experienced researcher who is Executive Director of Per Capita.

….ends

Everald Compton is available for comment on 0407 721710

David Hetherington is available for comment on 0413 863068

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Positive winds in the Ageing Tsunami

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Government, Population, Seniors1 Comment

That the world will be hit by an Ageing Tsunami of huge proportions is beyond doubt.

That governments are asleep at the wheel in planning to meet the greatest generational revolution of all time is also an indisputable fact.

To emphasise the gravity of the issue, it is mind boggling that the Australian Government does not have a Minister for Ageing and has sacked its Advisory Panel on Ageing in an act of sheer vandalism.

Added to all of the above is the tragedy that Ageing has several positive elements in it that provide opportunities and advantages for asset creation.

Let’s take a look at just five of them.

At least a million of Australia’s retirees would like to stay in the work force, or return to it, for a variety of positive reasons. A few examples of this are important matters such as their need to earn more money, contribute extra to their Super Fund, pay school fees for grandchildren, keep the brain active etc, etc.

But, absolute and unjustifiable discrimination by employers stops them in their tracks.

We can fix this by legislating that 10% of employees of any company employing more than 10 people must be older workers. This sounds like a regimentation of the workplace, but it is the only way that employers will face the fact that older workers are not over the hill and are needed if our economy is the remain prosperous. Indeed, they are reliable, loyal, trustworthy and experienced. They are profit generators and cost reducers for those who give them a fair go as they are highly unlikely to look for another job. This tough initiative will produce the benefit of adding billions to the economy every year.

Far too many seniors spend too much time visiting doctors and staying in hospitals. Most times they have no need to go, but they were bored, needed an outing and just want company. Many routine medical issues can be handled by qualified nurses, often online, at a huge saving in cost to Medicare. Most times, it will be found that better diet and more exercise would have fixed any health issues, so there are profits to be made in those two opportunities alone.

Lifelong learning can be a huge income generator for Universities and TAFE Colleges as many Seniors, in younger days, were denied the chance to get a degree or a diploma in any area of study, particularly women who, because of social pressure, were forced to be housewives only. Many now want to reverse that lost opportunity and they are willing to pay the costs of study to get a degree, even in their nineties. Some want to qualify for a profession. Others just want to prove they can do it and look for study courses that broaden their minds in a subject of special interest.

Recreation is an open door to the creation of a new service industry for older people. Every day, thousands of Seniors go on bus trips, often travelling to the same places. They get little exercise, sitting on buses for hours, and there is little educational content in the excursion.  Professionals who can design and create new forms of innovative and interesting recreation can make a fortune, particularly young people who can bridge the intergenerational gap.

Age Friendly Housing is almost non-existent in Australia. We build small houses for older people, but they lack features to help those with arthritis and heart conditions etc, while almost totally ignoring technology. The property industry is losing vast quantities of profit because they do not recognise that the world is ageing and needs new specialist housing in its millions.

There are many more opportunities than the five I have mentioned above that await the valiant out there in the greying world, eg, volunteering, particularly where seniors can use their skills rather than making the coffee and driving cars; a revolution in the way we grow and manage retirement incomes; starting a movement to retire and investing in rural communities etc.

All of these will be outlined in policy form in the Blueprint on Ageing on which I am working with the progressive Australian Think Tank, Per Capita. It will be ready in June ,2014, and you can register your support and interest on the Per Capita website.

After doing that, go to see your local Federal MP and ask him or her to recognise that ageing is expanding challenge of living and is not going away. It will be either an economic and social disaster or a time of great prosperity and high quality of life. It’s time for politicians to decide whether they are part of the problem or the solution.

The vital issue is that we must move on it now and make some sound decisions that will initially be unpopular but will prove to be long term triumphs.

Can Australia survive without mining?

On By Everald ComptonIn Business and Enterprise, Community and Values, Government, Mining and Resources

Any nation that aspires to have sustainable prosperity should have an economy that is equally reliant on agriculture, manufacturing, professional services, tourism, education, retailing and mining. It must be led by a lean, enlightened and compassionate government that creates a level playing field on which all of its citizens can be creative and competitive. To be heavily reliant on one industry is not smart, yet Australia currently places too much reliance on mining.

So, what should we do about creating a balanced economy in which mining is a stable cornerstone? Continue reading “Can Australia survive without mining?” →