Govt payment of $950...is it going through or will the opposition block it?

[briggsy's girl]

news this morning said there were heaps of changes made to the package in the senate so it will have to go back to house of reps to be passed there again, then back to the senate

looks to be at least another week before decisions are made

[CathyS]

Ok..doesn't sound like it will go through. But you never know..

I'm so glad they are helping out the bushfire victims though. They really need it the most right now.

[Phteven]

Stimulus discussions to continue

But all seven senators want the Government to make changes.

Family First Senator Steve Fielding wants $4 billion spent on job creation in local communities.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon wants cash bonuses slashed and that money pumped into the ailing Murray-Darling Basin.

The Australian Greens have concerns over access to the dole and the one-off cash payments to millions of Australians, with Greens leader Bob Brown saying the money could be better spent.

"We are not going to stand in the way of the nation getting an economic stimulus, but it doesn't mean we have to accept everything that's in the package," he told ABC radio.

The one-off cash payments was the weakest part of the package, he said.

TBH I'm quite impressed by these politicians (although I'm not comfortable with the overall platform of one of them). It would be so easy to take the populist road and give everyone $950 but instead they have chosen to follow a less popular path and say that all those $950 payments should be spent on things that they believe will be more beneficial to the community as a whole. It's so rare that politicians have the courage to be unpopular.

[Trillian]

Personally, I think the Murray Darling basin is a lost cause - what Nick Xenophon wants is just unrealistic - he wants the Govt to buy back the water licenses, but all that will do is make that farming land unsaleable because it's usually unproductive as anything else BUT irrigated farming because of the way it is set up. Plus if there is no one growing the fruit and vege that rely in irrigation in those areas, then that becomes more costly to us as a whole as we have to rely on imported foods - meaning that they are kept in cold storage for longer and we are being forced to buy sub-standard food. It was the Governments fault in the first place that it's in the state it is in by over-selling the water allocations (seriously, they have sold more water than what is even in the river to start with) so they could get their greedy little hands on more money for essentially nothing.

Even though the cash handouts are the weakest link, I still think it will go through with some modifications to it, maybe that we don't get as much etc - it's ridiculous that if it went through as it was I would get nearly $5000.

[Inanna]

I hear what you are saying Dachlostar. However, I think it will go thru much as it is - it's just being pulled apart.
Analytically it will be political suicide for the opposition to stop the cash payments - & I may be proven wrong but methinks that will not happen (the opposition stopping the cash payments).

More likely the money will be more equally divided between education, environmental support and health (I think).

Cathy the payments will not be stopped because of the fires - that funding is quite separate. Economically the fires will help to boost the economy due to the rebuilding that will be necessary. That may sound odd but that is how the economy works...

[morgan78]

Its funny because I had to ring C'link the other day and they have a recorded message informing ppl of what dates these payments will be made between.
If it hasnt been passed in the Senate yet how can they know if or when to make these payments.

[Inanna]

I think Morgan as it's more unlikely that it won't - AND because people have the Lemmings affect and it just blocks up phone lines.

It will take a lot to over turn this - & again I think it's unlikely.

[Trillian]

Morgan, they may just have had the dates to ward off people asking kwim? If that's all you wanted to know, then you'd hang up and free the lines etc.

Deb, I read some articles on the Age online and it said that the approval rating for Labor has increased and the opposition has dropped back, and KR is preferred PM by a long shot now, but I don't think it has come down this, I just don't think LIbs are very appealing to the voters atm, although this certainly hasn't helped. Also 52% of people said that they thought the coalition wouldn't have had a better package if it were them, so I don't think that people are 100% happy with it, but they just don't think the libs could have done better.

And yeah, as odd as it sounds, what's happened in vic and qld will help to boost things along, it's just and awful catch22.

[briggsy's girl]

Its funny because I had to ring C'link the other day and they have a recorded message informing ppl of what dates these payments will be made between.
If it hasnt been passed in the Senate yet how can they know if or when to make these payments.

working for c'link, i can tell you they'd have put that reference up based on what was released to them to get people off the phones ASAP - the volume of calls coming in when something is announced (even though not passed) is HUGE and it impacts on the number of calls for genuine enquiries that can get through. IF the payments are changed when the stimulus package passes through the senate (which, to a degree, you can guarantee it will be passed in some form) the message will reflect that.

just judging by the initial thread in here in which there were at least 30 or 40 individuals asking questions, imagine the phone load if everyone with questions rang! those people just from BB would be enough to tie up one person for at least half a day, longer depending on how long that customer asked questions for - and we only have 13000 members here. imagine the call volume from the wider community.

this is ESPECIALLY relevant now that c'link are also taking calls for the bushfire grant packages - several staff members (at a guess, i'd say at least 1 of the call centres, perhaps more) have been taken OFF general enquiries to help the members of the community that need to get those grants paid ASAP. bringing in temps to cover things like this just isn't viable - training to use the systems, even for the most basic of enquiries, takes a minimum 2 weeks, usually more...