Peter Martin suggests that we follow the journalists' adage "it's a stuff-up, not a conspiracy" to explain the Centrelink debt debacle ("Centrelink's litany of inhuman errors", January 5). While this adage is usually reliable, I have to wonder whether it applies in this case.
Senior Centrelink management would know, and would have told their ministers, that most people whose annual income is, or has been, some combination of paid work and a Centrelink payment would not earn their wages on a regular fortnightly basis. The seasonal and/or precarious nature of many workers' employment means that they alternate between periods of substantial paid work and periods of little or no work. Modern information technology systems exist that are more than capable of dealing with such fluctuations in people's circumstances (especially when this information is already in the system) in order to calculate whether a debt exists, rather than performing a crude long division of annual incomes by 26.
When he was Employment Participation Minister in the Howard government, Mal Brough openly threatened to inflict "embuggerance" on Newstart recipients. I don't think we can rule out the possibility that the successors of Howard and Brough are making good on that threat.
Paul Norton Nerang (Qld)
Instead of the customer aggression training proposed for Centrelink staff, I recommend they should all be made to watch the movie I, Daniel Blake before commencing employment ("Centrelink demands leave some 'suicidal'", January 5). It is the story of a 59-year old British man told to look for work after suffering a heart attack because the inflexible points system disqualifies him from receiving a benefit. Computer illiterate, unwell and confused, his attempts to navigate the appeal process becomes a Kafkaesque-like experience, eventually leaving him broken and broke. See it and weep with frustration at the avoidable absurdity of it all.
Alicia Dawson Balmain
Christian Porter may be pleased to see the dollars pouring back in to the government coffers, but his pet Centrelink is not the rosy organisation he paints it to be. Within our near family, a young student has to repay some two or three thousand dollars, despite constant reporting of casual earnings. It appears that the wonder computer program cannot cope with the fluctuations of casual employment. Then the child payments stopped when a spouse went overseas for study, on leave without pay. Without warning, Centrelink ensured that they were even worse off, by silently cutting the child benefits. Will Centrelink make up the shortfall of a revised income?
Donald Hawes Blayney
In the past six years I have been on Centrelink payments. I am casually employed and at one point my hours went down to zero. It then took eight weeks to get a payment. I am grateful to Westpac and NAB for their care and compassionate support during this difficult time. From that point I had to report my income every two weeks and if my and my wife's wages went above the threshold for three reporting periods I lost the benefit. After 18 months this finally happened. But in the meantime if I or she earned a lot for two fortnights and nothing the next, the pension still continued. But over a year we may have gone over the average fortnightly limit, as in some weeks I managed full time hours. But in others I didn't. So should I be expecting a nasty letter in the mail simply because a computer can't understand the Australian law applying to me three years ago?
David Neilson Invergowrie
I am not surprised that Centrelink staff need customer aggression training. Anybody who has tried to speak to a real person at Centrelink would need the patience of Job not to feel like inflicting pain on a system of automatons that denies you access to a fellow human being. Up until a few years ago you could go to a Centrelink office to be received by a customer service officer who efficiently and effectively sorted out any issues of concern. You could even ring and speak to a human being in a timely manner.
The current debacle regarding automatic debt recovery would have been avoided by more customer service and less automation. In the longer term automation causes more problems than it solves. There is a limit to how much you can blame the computers for.
Perhaps the money that has been "recovered" could be well-spent in hiring more front-line staff.
Mark Porter New Lambton
How many cases of underpayment has the new Centrelink data matching system identified?
Grahame Marks Manly
Child death traps
I refer to these terrible child drownings ("Let's be safe in the water", January 5), in particular those in backyard swimming pools. Years ago I was shown an exhibition of pitcher plants, gaily displayed with their receptacles for the capture and drowning of insects. Next day, I happened to be flying in an aircraft above Sydney. Looking down I saw a vast array of backyard swimming pools, patches of blue winking at the sun. The parallel struck me immediately. I thought of myself as an alien flying over Earth for the first time and looking down to see a vast array of child death traps.
There are a number of terrible traps for toddlers. One is the family driveway. I once went to to the garage to get the car out and left the door open to bring my two-year-old son out. My wife was delayed and he came out himself. Tragedy was averted but it was a warning, and from that time my son, and the two children that followed, were rigorously trained in car safety. Cars and driveways are with us to stay. But for every 100,000 of them there a statistic of child deaths. So with backyard swimming pools. For every 100,000 there is a statistic.
Leaving aside the luxury backyard pools represent, there is little that cannot be replaced by a visit to a municipal swimming pool, with far better facilities, lifeguards and a toddlers' pool. It makes the closure of Parramatta swimming pool even harder to cop.
Malcolm Brown Ermington
All jammed roads lead to past neglect
Sydney's road networks are the most congested in Australia due to the mindset of the current state and federal Liberal governments and former Labor governments who have blindly thrown their support behind the roads lobby since Sydney's outstanding tramway network, that was Australia's largest, was shut down in 1961 ("Our traffic is slower than New York's", January 5). Since the removal of trams, successive governments have neglected maintaining our public transport networks and have failed to invest in building enough new public transport, compared with the amount of taxpayer dollars they continue investing in building toll roads, inducing more cars onto our roads and appeasing the roads lobby. Sadly, congestion will worsen under this mindset.
Sandra Langtree Lilyfield
Watch the jib, yachties, and the penalty jibes
What a photo! ("Sundays not special anymore, say business leaders", January 5). I wonder if hanging around your very expensive racing yacht with your highly paid friends and the head of the Future Fund who advises on tens of billions of dollars of investment, and suggesting that your low paid workers should be paid LESS, is a very good look?
Probably not. At least former treasurer Peter Costello had the sense, in another report, to suggest tax cuts for workers ("Cut income tax, says Costello", January 5).
Good luck to the head of JB Hi-Fi. I'm sure he deserves his success, but it all just contributes to the "let them eat cake" image of the heads of corporate Australia, and maybe his employees don't read the Herald's BusinessDay section.
Watch that swinging jib behind you; it may hit you on the head one day.
Phil Kerrigan Mortlake
The survey of senior executives gathered at the Couta Boat Classic is far from some sort of Delphic pronouncement on the nation's economic needs.
No, it is really just a bunch of parasitically rich, privileged and overpaid individuals swanning around at a Sorrento sailing soiree, smugly pontificating on how the wages and conditions of the people whose labour allows them to be parasitically rich, privileged and overpaid are "holding the country back".
Not to mention congratulating the government for letting banks off the hook for potentially criminal behaviour, and greeting the election of a psychopath as the leader of the free world because he might make them all a bit richer.
Does it get any worse than this?
Michael Hinchey New Lambton
Costello's profligate advice
Peter Costello is proposing that the government provide personal tax cuts! Can he be serious? ("Company tax cuts the wrong move", January 5).
As the architect and developer, along with John Howard, of our current budget deficits due to profligate personal tax cuts made during their terms of office to ensure their re-election, Peter Costello is in no position to offer any economic advice to the current government.
It is unfortunate that most former politicians have an apparent blind spot about their ongoing relevance.
Ross Butler Rodd Point
Peter Costello is undoubtedly correct in suggesting that the company tax cuts proposed by the government should be scrapped because they will only increase the national income by less than 1 per cent over two decades. However, it is hard to take seriously the suggestion that the government should cut income tax from the man who created the structural deficit for the treasurers that followed him.
Peter Nash Fairlight
Market Gardens retained
In response to Eric Scott (Letters, January 5), the Kogarah Golf Club would like to clarify that the heritage-listed Arncliffe Market Gardens will be retained and upgraded. As part of the proposal to relocate Kogarah golf course, we are undertaking heritage conservation works to preserve the history of the market gardens and ensure that the gardeners can continue to operate into the future. These works have been agreed in consultation with the landowners and operators, and are consistent with the previous development approval dating from 2006. Further, the larger Kyeemagh Market Gardens, located on the eastern side of Muddy Creek, will not be affected by the proposal.
Tony Rodgers general manager, Kogarah Golf Club, Arncliffe
Blathering bravado doesn't tick this box
Barnaby Joyce is on yet another rhetorical rampage. It began with his spineless comment on Tony Abbott's habit of playing proxy-PM ("A talkative Abbott 'probably not' helpful", January 5). We were then treated to the usual diatribe that "all is rosy in the Nationals' garden (unlike those Liberals)". It ended with another "Depp Threat", this time to those thieving supermarket dairy honchos, yet again big on blathering bravado, empty on serious substance – just another case of "tick that box, see I really care about you". No wonder he is constantly ignored by the big end of town.
To say that, as Deputy Prime Minister of our proud nation, Joyce lacks gravitas is a gross understatement. He is an embarrassment, a foolish ditherer and a constant disappointment to his rural constituency.
Bert Candy Glenvale (Qld)
I am surprised that no one has written regarding Barnaby Joyce's admission that he has trouble explaining the Safe Schools program. Given he is on record as an opponent of the program, Nationals MP George Christensen thinks it encourages paedophiles and Mr Joyce occasionally stands in as prime minister of this country, I would think he would try to learn something about this worthwhile initiative so that he can explain it.
Kerry Nunan Wyoming
Australian 'humour' easily misunderstood
It is unfortunate that Australian humour is so easily misunderstood by some people in other countries ("Indonesia suspends military co-operation", January 5). Perhaps Aussies need a bit of a rethink in that regard.
Dimitris Langadinos Concord West
Support for disabled
Of course all children, migrants, everyone in this country should learn to swim! Where are the letters supporting Karen Fisher's article ("How China trumps Australia when it comes to supporting disabled workers", January 4) calling for innovative policies around Australia's employment of people with disability?
Judith Salmon Haberifled
AMA should be quiet
The AMA should confine itself to its core business of fixing shot-damaged bodies instead of commenting on gun ownership. It is high time it realised that only Senator Leyonhjelm is competent to address such matters (Letters, January 5).
William Franken Rose Bay
Give the man a clap
Jim Dewar (Letters, January 5), it can be a long haul to the grandstands where cricketers' family and friends usually sit, so I'm half expecting a celebrating cricketer will simply do a Mark Riddell: make a dash to the fence, jump it and then sit down and applaud himself.
Col Shephard Yamba
No touching please
Increasingly, communications to staff from my American employer encourage us to "reach out" to the writer for more information. I have yet to work out how to do this without infringing our sexual harassment policies.
Neil Mattes Normanhurst
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