I was waiting for a family member to come out of recovery and up to the ward last night. I listened for over ninety minutes to the chirpy hospital staff discussing & dealing with some serious patient issues. Given they were on the night shift, they seemed overly enthusiastic to my tired ears. I thought about what remarkable people they must be, dealing with such horrible and stressful things, giving up their nights to help strangers (and thus their days too).
I finally left and walked to my car, just as a shift change was going on in one of the other buildings. A number of young people in hospital attire were making their way to their cars. Young people who had chosen this life of service to others.
That's when it hit me how truly awful our Treasurer's comments were, that people should get a better job if they wanted to buy a house. It's not only impractical, it's insulting.
It concerns me that the person with the fiscal plan for our nation is thinking we should call a stock broker or merchant banker if we're hit by a truck. Is that the plan? If everyone gets better paying jobs, then who's left to do the essential services? What kind of alarming economic policy is that?
However, maybe he means to increase the wages for all the teachers, police, nurses, paramedics, firefighters and other essential services that we as a nation need daily. I don't mean by the miniscule 5% that they have to fight tooth and nail to get every few years. I mean jack their income right up, well into six figures so that they don't need to quit and become barristers.
Who would pay for this, you ask? Well, I guess all those industries that rake in huge profits and in topsy-turvy land somehow managed to be tax exempt. Of course, that's just my uninformed guess, I'm sure the Treasurer had something in mind when he came out with that line about getting a better job if you wanted to buy a house.
So Mr Hockey, what is the plan?
Linking up #OpenSlather
Please note, as always, you don't have to agree with me, but you do have to play nice. I will delete any comments that are rude or disrespectful to me, other commenters, the Liberal Party or Mr Hockey.
I hope you're family member recovered ok. I absolutely agree with everything you've said. Perhaps Jo Hockey should wait in recovery for a family remember and take a look around him. Maybe then he'll realise how hurtful his words were.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the treasurer had anything in mind. I think he is so ridiculously out of touch with everyday Australian and that comment- along with others he has made (poor people don't drive cars springs to mind) illustrates that perfectly. (Sorry if that is rude to him- but hey- he started it!)
ReplyDeleteLydia, that is a perfect illustration of why this narrow-minded douchery coming out of Canberra is so unfair.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I totally agree with you, I just took out the last line: Yep that's exactly it - who will teach Joe Hockey's kids or care for his family when they're ill if everyone goes out and gets a 'better' job?? The assumption that better = more money is ridiculous. Is a merchant banker 'better' than a nurse? A lawyer 'better' than a teacher?
DeleteNot a fan of the current Government especially Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott, they both seem so out of touch with how things really are.
ReplyDeleteOur government is making such bad decisions and statements at the moment that it is truly embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more. Hockey and the entire coalition have no idea. I'm so fed up with all these stupid comments he makes. And it can't be a one off. This comment about how people should get better jobs is a sequel to the "Poor people don't have cars" What the ???
ReplyDeleteI had trouble with Hockey's comments this week too. We know the people who choose the jobs like nursing aren't doing it 'for the money'. They do it as they have an intrinsic need to help people. The government wants everyone to get a 'good job' (high-paying) but what we really need is a society built on the type of people who care. (Whether in their job or just in general.)
ReplyDeleteI don't get it either. I remember reading a Catherine Deveny column a while back that said we should ditch private schools and just start paying teachers at public schools $80k minimum, $100k preferably. Had me thinking. It was years ago, and I'm still thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteThat was such a sh!tty comment. Most young people do work hard but choose their passion which only makes for a happy life
ReplyDeleteWell, it was a silly comment, and not only did it relate to salaries for different professions (my husband is a nurse, so I have some idea of what is involved in their work and the pay levels for it - I think you've covered the discrepancy issues), but also the means of making housing more affordable. There are so many more options to achieve this than just 'a good job with a good salary' - the government has a review from the senate to consider on this, for instance, and that's what he should have focused on (affordable housing is one of my work areas).
ReplyDeleteThe arrogance and disconnect of that comment just confirms my opinion of the man. You have nailed it with your post - I think merchant bankers make a world of hurt while those caring professionals make the world heal - we live in a mixed up world in terms of how people get financially rewarded (in terms of job satisfaction I'm backing the nurses, teachers etc over the bankers any day).
ReplyDeleteMy mother made a comment to me the other day that she is glad that part of her life is behind her and that she would hate to be a young person trying to buy a house today, the prices are ridiculous. Maybe something needs to be done to reduce the prices rather than people needing 'better' jobs. Well we are in that place trying to save a deposit and every time we think we are there, prices have gone up by another 10 or 50 or 100 thousand and we need more money ... maybe that is what needs fixed.
ReplyDeleteSome damn stupid comments have been coming out of the mouths of politicians these days. It's infuriating, frustrating and bloody embarassing! There are many occupations that I believe should be paid so much more than they currently are as they provide such vitally important services to community. So frustrating!
ReplyDeleteI was only talking about this with my family in Adelaide over the weekend. The jobs situation in SA is terrible. Dumb arse comments from the treasurer don't do anything for moral of those people who are really struggling.
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