Australians #12
The other day I was watching the news while having dinner (or more like the news happened to be on when I was having dinner; I can't be bothered with Australian news to be honest) when I happened to overhear this report. Apparently Kevin Rudd is enacting some new law where young adults either have to be employed or in school, not bumming around.
Naturally the youth are in uproar, and the TV crew went down to the beach to interview some youths catching the last bit of sunshine before winter. Every single one they interviewed was crying foul, saying things like they originally wanted to take a gap year but now they have no choice, why is the government so unreasonable, forcing them to work or go to school, etc.
Even I thought, wah this is a bit too much siah. Until I decided to find out a bit more about this and this is what I got:http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5533363/rudd-tells-youth-earn-learn/
Rudd tells youth to 'earn or learn'
April 30, 2009, 6:56 pm
Teenagers must "earn or learn" while jobless under-25s will be guaranteed a training place as the federal government prepares Australia for rising unemployment.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says a Jobs Compact with young Australians, agreed by federal, state and territory leaders in Hobart on Thursday, will provide up to 135,000 young people with higher qualifications.
[...]
While the meeting discussed the swine flu outbreak, Mr Rudd told reporters the focus was on handling the impact of the global recession, in particular equipping young people facing unemployment with new skills.
This meant preparing "the tradespeople and the professionals of tomorrow" once the economic recovery was under way.
"We cannot allow and we will not allow as governments the skills and training needed by a growing modern economy to skip a generation because of the global recession," Mr Rudd told reporters.
"The point of these measures is as follows: we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past whereby young people who lose their job today become the long-term unemployed of tomorrow."
As part of the compact, COAG committed to increasing the school Year 12 retention level to 90 per cent by 2015, a target brought forward by five years.
It also requires people under the age of 20 who do not have a Year 12 certificate to be in education or training before they can receive the Youth Allowance payment.
Parents of young people in the same position must meet the same requirements if they want to receive Family Tax Benefit Part A.
Anyone aged under 17 must be in full-time school, work or training while jobless under-20s will receive a training place with first priority for a Year 12 or equivalent Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification.
Jobless under-25s will be guaranteed a training place to ensure they have necessary skills for the recovery.
Revised forecasts released last week by the International Monetary Fund show unemployment in Australia will rise from its present 5.7 per cent to 7.8 per cent by 2010.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout welcomed the compact, saying it would help deliver jobs and the skills needed for future growth.
"The measures will help individuals affected by the economic downturn to be well-placed for skilled employment as the economy improves," Ms Ridout said in a statement.
But Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said while they welcomed the youth training initiatives, there was little to assist business such as payroll tax relief.
"COAG has today squibbed the payroll tax issue, risking unemployment queues in this recession being longer than needed," Mr Anderson said in a statement.
Mr Rudd said as part of the job compact the federal government will provide a pool of incentive funding for the states of up to $100 million for the achievement of the 90 per cent Year 12 retention rate.
He said this built on the government's Education Revolution, which includes a $2 billion commitment to provide 711,000 extra VET places. [Emphasis mine]
Waitaminute... now things change a lot. Kevin Rudd is not forcing young people to work or go to school-he's saying that if you aren't in school or working, you are no longer eligible to get the Youth Allowance payment (which I gather is some kind of subsidy). That's quite fair isn't it? Why should you be getting free money if you're just lazing at home on the X-Box all day?
And yet the youth are saying it's not fair, as though it's unimaginable to be denied the Youth Allowance payment and forgoing it is not an option, therefore they're literally 'forced' to choose between school and work. Nobody's saying you can't take a gap year, just don't expect to get paid while you're doing it!
Are they either stupid, lazy, or both? Why do these young Australians bums talk as though everyone owes them a living?!
§ Technorati tags:
darwin award;
news bites
Naturally the youth are in uproar, and the TV crew went down to the beach to interview some youths catching the last bit of sunshine before winter. Every single one they interviewed was crying foul, saying things like they originally wanted to take a gap year but now they have no choice, why is the government so unreasonable, forcing them to work or go to school, etc.
Even I thought, wah this is a bit too much siah. Until I decided to find out a bit more about this and this is what I got:http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5533363/rudd-tells-youth-earn-learn/
Rudd tells youth to 'earn or learn'
April 30, 2009, 6:56 pm
Teenagers must "earn or learn" while jobless under-25s will be guaranteed a training place as the federal government prepares Australia for rising unemployment.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says a Jobs Compact with young Australians, agreed by federal, state and territory leaders in Hobart on Thursday, will provide up to 135,000 young people with higher qualifications.
[...]
While the meeting discussed the swine flu outbreak, Mr Rudd told reporters the focus was on handling the impact of the global recession, in particular equipping young people facing unemployment with new skills.
This meant preparing "the tradespeople and the professionals of tomorrow" once the economic recovery was under way.
"We cannot allow and we will not allow as governments the skills and training needed by a growing modern economy to skip a generation because of the global recession," Mr Rudd told reporters.
"The point of these measures is as follows: we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past whereby young people who lose their job today become the long-term unemployed of tomorrow."
As part of the compact, COAG committed to increasing the school Year 12 retention level to 90 per cent by 2015, a target brought forward by five years.
It also requires people under the age of 20 who do not have a Year 12 certificate to be in education or training before they can receive the Youth Allowance payment.
Parents of young people in the same position must meet the same requirements if they want to receive Family Tax Benefit Part A.
Anyone aged under 17 must be in full-time school, work or training while jobless under-20s will receive a training place with first priority for a Year 12 or equivalent Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification.
Jobless under-25s will be guaranteed a training place to ensure they have necessary skills for the recovery.
Revised forecasts released last week by the International Monetary Fund show unemployment in Australia will rise from its present 5.7 per cent to 7.8 per cent by 2010.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout welcomed the compact, saying it would help deliver jobs and the skills needed for future growth.
"The measures will help individuals affected by the economic downturn to be well-placed for skilled employment as the economy improves," Ms Ridout said in a statement.
But Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said while they welcomed the youth training initiatives, there was little to assist business such as payroll tax relief.
"COAG has today squibbed the payroll tax issue, risking unemployment queues in this recession being longer than needed," Mr Anderson said in a statement.
Mr Rudd said as part of the job compact the federal government will provide a pool of incentive funding for the states of up to $100 million for the achievement of the 90 per cent Year 12 retention rate.
He said this built on the government's Education Revolution, which includes a $2 billion commitment to provide 711,000 extra VET places. [Emphasis mine]
Waitaminute... now things change a lot. Kevin Rudd is not forcing young people to work or go to school-he's saying that if you aren't in school or working, you are no longer eligible to get the Youth Allowance payment (which I gather is some kind of subsidy). That's quite fair isn't it? Why should you be getting free money if you're just lazing at home on the X-Box all day?
And yet the youth are saying it's not fair, as though it's unimaginable to be denied the Youth Allowance payment and forgoing it is not an option, therefore they're literally 'forced' to choose between school and work. Nobody's saying you can't take a gap year, just don't expect to get paid while you're doing it!
Are they either stupid, lazy, or both? Why do these young Australians bums talk as though everyone owes them a living?!
§ Technorati tags:
darwin award;
news bites