The rich get richer.... Poor get...

It has to be the height of arrogance to even raise this subject.
We can only think that the person that began this discussion regards themself as pretty damn good, or rich. Damn good and rich are pretty much the same in his thinking. Rich = good Poor = bad.

Some of us believe we should pay taxes for the common good. We don't look for every little loophole to avoid it. Being in business gives you much greater access to tax lurks than an employee. Employee pays tax, employer gets it back in the form of a deductible lunch or new car.

Some of us would rather not own rental properties and exploit those that can't afford their own. We might believe that its the role of government to provide housing (at a cost of course).

There are probably some of us who have a philosophical opposition to buying and trading shares. They would rather do work and be proud of what they produce rather than speculate on the markets and not produce anything but a profit for themselves.

I spent 25 years as a union official and did see some cases of workers ripping off employers. Every hour of every day there was an employer ripping off workers, ripping off the tax department or ripping off other employers.

The employers got rich and the workers got by.

Its offensive to me and I suspect a lot of others to beat your chest about your success and what you claim is others failure.

Remember : its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven !

Both Tombie and myself are of equal age, both of us are on a decent pay.

This is where the story ends.

Differing lifestyles and geographically diverse residences lead to a varying amount of expenditures during a fiscal year.

Whilst I'm not exactly poor, I'm not driving an Aston on the weekends.

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Originally Posted by moretonisle

I spent 25 years as a union official and did see some cases of workers ripping off employers. Every hour of every day there was an employer ripping off workers, ripping off the tax department or ripping off other employers.

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mmmmmm...Craig Thompson, AWU, Training coal mine, if I remember righty John Coombes from the MUA had a million $ winery in the Hunter and lots of speculation in the west about a CFMEU official with a penthouse on top of the redeveloped Raffles just to name a few.

Aint all one sided I wouldn't have thought with plenty of evidence of unions ripping off the low paid and the employers as well. :D

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Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

Cash poor, life rich?
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cash poor and life poor. I have done the supposedlly right things in life. A tertiary education, attempts at skills upgrading and investments. At this point in my life for very little result. Through secondary school the "word " was to take a generalist degree to allow future flexibility. Not much call for a B A in Sociology these days. Later a foray into the public sector working with the arborists, where I was to take a Tafe equivelent course in tree lopping was cut short. Council amalgemation put me out the door Christmas Eve. The rest of the crew was gone in a year.since then taken whatever I could get often casual roles and built up a bit of a investment portfolio that was to get me through periods of unemployment[ such as the last 30 months] But this went pear shaped as well. Let with just our house.Take two in these past few months taken whatever comes up. Three occaisions where the casual job will lead to permanent. Let go , once for a new group of casuals [ promised the job after taking medical exam] another for myself and a colleague to be replaced by a work experience student.Last week for no reason other than being a casual and no excuse needed.Ask an employer to hire a long term casual as a permanent and enjoy the reasons why not.
I have done my own attempts at business including cleaning toilets , and worse for a Kings X adult club. Still feel sick at the memories.
So where next ? Centerlink wont have a bar of me, as my partner earns a bit more than the threshold . The one investment we have now wont prove cash positive for a while but not worth selling now and will supplement the meagre super I have garnered. In the meantime call the temp agency daily and apply for what I can. Still no money to be able to participate in the economic and social world. A great downward spiral.

Oh, Union bashing, this is heading toa political argument were passions can upset few members ;)
I would suggest on the spirit of harmony in the forum to tone down the union bashing or stop it altogether.
People never know what were the experiences in life of some of the AULRO members.

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Originally Posted by moretonisle

------- Remember : its easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven !

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I think hell would be trying to stuff a reluctant camel through a small space.

I am waiting for an opportunity to come along that's within my physical and intellectual capabilities, meanwhile I am quietly enjoying life with what I have.

This doesn't stop me from helping others that are finding it tough. Tasmanian Asylum Seeker Support - Home
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Not sure why but this springs to mind :D


Monty Python - Four Yorkshiremen - YouTube


Having been seriously skint and rich for a day :D I can honestly say it didn't change my life, it maybe made me sleep better at night

Unfortunately not that simple.
First point I make is whats the point if you are putting all your money into investments and not actually having a life?
Second what about those of us that have done this and then gotten burnt by the ATO, ATSIC or failed investments that were supposedly bulletproof and approved by the above. I know we have been there and are starting again.
The damage to super with the GFC? We have all lost so much on this alone.
Cost of just living these days is horrendous, try buying a decent house in WA for under $400k, get closer to city and more like $600k plus and there is a huge chunk of your income gone, then add kids etc
Then what about the low to mid income earners? I am on decent money and just seem to spend forever trying to get ahead let alone a family that may be on sub $50k per year.
Being in mining my income could cease at any time, and very nearly did earlier this year after only being in the position just over a year and a new mortgage, what then?
Not as simple as you may think to amass investments. Circumstances change and not all of us have good results from investing and I did not get burnt as bad as some I know. Some I know will never recover from these investments and worse for some families where people have suicided.
Our system is so lop sided and I am one of the ones now back on a great income. I really feel for families not on $100k a year plus that are trying to pay mortgages, raise kids etc and still have a life.
Look we should have 2 investment properties and an investment portfolio at this stage in life but dont because of circumstances outside our control and believe me if I did not fight the ATO would be a damn site worse off and have had to start again.
I was also a union rep for a long while and not going to get into the employer bashing, but it is alos naive to theink that employers dont rip off workers. They do and while it may not be a significant amount per employee it can be significant for the employer. There have been multiple prosecutions in WA. Having said that it is not that common and most employers try to look after their good employees. There is also the flipside to the coin where employees rort and bludge.
To be honest my wife works a damn site harder than I do physically and earns about a 1/4 of what I earn.

The union support team has arrived I see.

The employer bashing started first .... "Every hour of every day there was an employer ripping off workers, ripping off the tax department or ripping off other employers."

There was acknowledgement of that there were "some cases of workers ripping off employers" but apparently union officials ripping of union members never happens. It is only ever the big bad boss.

Obviously balance in debate is still not allowed under Team Puce rules :D

However, I am happy to vacate the debate as I have important things to do like selling a Landie to buy another one and trying to further improve the sealed air duct system for Defender drivers :D

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Originally Posted by CraigE

Our system is so lop sided and I am one of the ones now back on a great income. .

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Can you be more specific about this lopsided system?