Norman Lindsay has a lot to answer for. Successive generations of Australian children have grown into adults believing that government welfare is a magic pudding that's always there and available to all. "Eat away, chew away, munch and bolt and guzzle, Never leave the table till you're full up to the muzzle."
Successive generations of politicians have bribed them with more and more of it and armies of accountants and financial planners have shown them how to still partake of it even though they live in million-dollar houses and own half of BHP. "We've Puddin' here a treat, We've Puddin' here galore; Do not decline to stay and dine, Our Puddin' you'll adore."
And they're the legitimate ones. Add the millions who keep their money under the mattress or in trusts, who work in the black economy (or deliberately not at all), who fake illness or identity, and you arrive at today's staggering welfare bill of $300,000 a minute! A MINUTE!!!
And there's that army of accountants and financial planners ready to tell anyone who's interested how to squeeze the system until the pips squeak. I read in an online forum recently of an old man in his late 80s who has $500,000 in his superannuation account but still receives a part-pension from the government of $14,000 a year. He wanted to know how to rearrange his affairs to receive even more welfare!
At his age, half a million dollars in the bank should see him through the rest of his life without ANY welfare payments, and yet under our overly generous social security system he still qualifies for an extra $14,000 a year - plus all the non-cash benefits which well exceed that amount.
Under a fairer system, the asset test would be adjusted by age so that an older pensioner would be allowed fewer assets than a younger one. After all, someone just starting out in retirement may well want to preserve his $500,000 in the bank for longer than someone who is approaching his 90th birthday. The latter should be expected to start spending his half-a-million dollars before claiming additional welfare at the expense of other taxpayers. Tanya Plibersek, are you reading this?
(Of course, there are always those who find ways to circumvent the system such as spending their money by UP-sizing to a more expensive primary residence which is exempt from the asset test as well as from tax, or giving their money away, or - I kid you not - even burying it in the garden, which is exactly what a neighbour did - click here.)
I'm standing my ground and expect to be made 'Australian of the Year' very soon for being the only one left who's not yet a pudding thief. A $300,000-minute! Their own children ought to call them welfare thieves because by the time it's their turn, the pudding will have lost its magic and there's nothing left. "I hope you get it hot, You puddin'-eatin' lot !"
P.S. If you want to meet some of the people who drain the country by $300,000 a minute, click here.
