If you are anything like myself, you are constantly juggling your phone bills, electricity bills and mortgage repayments (etc etc) Yet there are plenty of people at the other end of the spectrum who have so much money they don’t really know what to do with it. Well that is not entirely true…. they know what to do with it (in their minds) and more often than not, that is to use it to make even more money.

I often refer to the economy as one massive game of “monopoly” there is only so much money in circulation and only so much real estate (wealth) to be shared among all of the players. When you have someone who owns all of the valuable real estate it is very hard for others to stay in the game……… If you are a Multi Millionaire or even a billionaire you really do have more than most and in turn are contributing to the  financial difficulties faced by those who have very little.

We all know that one day we are all going to die, some sooner than others. The one thing that those who are “Filthy Rich” really need to understand and appreciate is that when we die we can not take our wealth with us. Ok we can leave it to our children which is wonderful, but apart from that there is really no great satisfaction to be gained by dieing as a multi millionaire or even a billionaire….. When you are dead you are dead and the only thing that lives on with those who remain are “THE MEMORIES”

So my message to all of those who might have soooo much money that they really do not know what to do with it…… simply look around and find people and organisations who could do with a “Hand Up” and give a few dollars away on a regular basis. If you were to help those who need a hand, you will feel fantastic about yourself in the knowledge that you have just helped someone and most likely that person or “PERSONS” would be eternally grateful to you for your generosity, (Creating More Great Memories Of Yourself) you could even consider yourself to be a “NEW AGE ROBIN HOOD” in that you would be using your powerful position to help better the lives of many others who normally would be left behind to struggle on a daily basis just to keep the power switched on or food in their childrens bellies. Do a good deed today and prove that you do have compassion for your fellow man/woman.

Well by now most of us would have heard about the Ebola Virus. Considering there are news stories everyday about the spread of Ebola and more so the stories of people traveling to countries outside of West Africa and being treated for or having been diagnosed with Ebola, the two recently diagnosed Texas nurses are a prime example.

Last time l heard, Ebola had claimed the lives of more than 4000 people (most of which being in West Africa) But if the virus continues to spread the number of deaths resulting from Ebola with multiply exponentially and may become a serious health concern for Australians.

I do understand the Australian Governments stance on not wanting “To Send” Australians into an area with potential high risk without having a satisfactory evacuation plan. We are some 30 odd hours by plane from Australia to West Africa and apparently that flight is too long and other countries have not yet agreed to provide the Australian Government with a guarantee that they would evacuate any Australians who may become infected.

The way l see it, we are limited or at least “Restricted” in what help and assistance we can provide, But we must provide much more money to help those who are in a better position to physically assist in West Africa with medical treatment facilities and services and we must also take greater precautions to quarantine anyone who is a possible Ebola risk to Australia.

Ebola is a tragedy currently unfolding in West Africa and we simply must do more to help those people who can not help themselves and at the same time we must do more to minimise the risk of Ebola coming to Australia. The 18 Million dollars currently provided by the Australian Government is terribly inadequate and is actually an insignificant sum of money in the scheme of things.

C’mon Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and fellow ministers, take the Ebola risk much more seriously and do more to help those in West Africa and in doing so help protect Australia against the possibility of Ebola coming here!

We have several tax brackets in our taxation system which see a person being taxed at a slightly higher rate for each tax bracket that they reach in any financial year.

WHAT STRUCK ME was that the upper most tax bracket is $180,001 “AND ABOVE” Considering it is quite common “THESE DAYS” for CEO’s and some others to be earning several MILLIONS of dollars in a financial year…….. SHOULDN’T WE HAVE TAX BRACKETS TO CATER TO THEM?

Why should someone on $180,001 per year pay the same marginal tax rate as someone like Gail Kelly (Chief Executive of Westpac) who earned $9.18 Million for the year 2013?

If there is fair and valid reason to differentiate between taxpayers earning less than $180,001 per year there surely is good reason to start to differentiate between those on incomes which far surpass $180,000.

I know that these people who earn half a mill or more will scream and whine that they pay more than their fair share in tax…… WELL NO! you do not, if all of us are paying a rate of tax which is determined by a marginal tax rate then those of you who are earning “WELL IN EXCESS” of $180,001 deserve to be placed into a brand new marginal tax rate bracket……. If your salaries and wages are “Out Of This World” why shouldn’t your taxes be as well?

Further more, Government needs to spend more time on tax avoidance and closing down the loop holes which allow people who “CAN AFFORD TO PAY MORE TAX” Avoiding it because of loopholes and expensive taxation specialist and financial advisers.

As for the talks surrounding the states may need to raise the GST, well rather than hitting everyday Australians with another tax increase, why not look at dealing with foreign owned businesses who sell their products directly into Australia and are not collecting/charging and paying any G.S.T. If it is in the “Too Hard Basket” you need to find some better brains to figure it out…… Perhaps charge a licence fee for businesses who are currently exempt from collecting the GST…….

Remember there are many ways to skin a cat! (No Cruelty To Animals Is Intended)

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Thanks for taking the time to read, Cheers!

What is it with “Some” people in Australia these days ?

The last time l checked we were all entitled to freedom of speech, the right to not be discriminated against and among other things the expectation of fairness and equality within our society.

Why is it that some people work hard and only get the minimum wage, while others may “claim” to work very hard and get paid Millions of dollars each year?

Why is it that some people complain that they pay too much tax even though they are in a position where they can most certainly afford to be paying it?

Why is it that those who are down on their luck, entering their twilight years, born with or acquired a disability have become the punching bag of many others?

How can it be that a supermarket giant can “force” a dairy farmer to sell milk to them at a loss or at a ridiculously small margin of profit?

How does someone like Gail Kelly (Chief Executive of Westpac) suffer a pay cut and still earn $9.18 Million for the year 2013?

Before l proceed to much further l should point out that l am not pro socialism or communism, but l am about some degree of equality and fairness across the board for all who live here in Australia.

Do you remember when we got paid “cash” in a lovely yellow pay packet?

I ask this question because it highlights how some at the top end of town have been able to manipulate the system for their own long term benefits.

I say this because when we got paid “cash” we were able to store that money any way we liked….. some would deposit money into a bank and others would stash it under the mattress or carry it around in their wallets or purses. But now days it has become the norm for our wages to be paid directly into a bank account and then we access our money through the banks….. It all sound good in theory, but in practice it is not so good (as many Australian’s are learning)

Obviously “Bank Fees” were a concern at first, because we were all “Forced” to open a bank account (if we did not already have one) and subsequently pay bank fees.

But then it got worse, staff cut backs in banks meant that we would be forced to wait longer in line to be served by our bank tellers, then we would be charged a fee for “excess” staff assisted transactions and the latest one is the charging of $2.00 every time we try to withdraw “OUR MONEY” from an ATM which is not associated with the bank that we are with.

On a side note, it is strange how all the big banks were able to come up with the plan to charge $2 for using opposition ATM’s and impose this further financial impost on the customers at the same time as one another (ACCC are you sure there was no colluding going on there?)

Anyway, my point is that the banks pushed a product many years ago (Direct Deposits) as being a marvelous way of paying employees and a fantastic way for employees to safely receive their wages…… but the truth is that the banks slowly and methodically worked a plan which would see all of our society become totally dependent on the banking system and once we were all trapped they would start to turn the screws and drain us for every penny they could.

I am sure most people have noticed that the big supermarket giants, “Coles” and “Woolies” are slowly buy surely stacking their shelves with the own branded products. For many who read this it may not raise any alarm bells, but for me and l am sure many others it certainly does.

When supermarkets rely on purchasing stock from “Separate” or “Unrelated” companies they must negotiate a price with that company and purchase the stock in the knowledge that “Other” shops and independent supermarkets may also purchase stock from that supplier/company.

As Coles and Woolies establish more and more of their own brands for more and more products, they are also gaining more control over the cost and the sale price of that product simply because their competitors are unlikely to have access to this product.

So when Coles and Woolies bring out their own brands they are shutting the door on many outside suppliers who “used” to supply products to Coles and Woolies and this ultimately means that yet another business slowly falls by the wayside due to a sharp drop in sales and inability to maintain their current workforce as the remaining stores (IGA’s etc) do not make up for the lost demand that results from Coles/Woolies making their own products.

While it may sound “Fine” to many shoppers who think it is great that they can buy certain products from Coles or Woolies at a cheaper cost than they would otherwise pay for the “Brand Name Product” just keep in mind what the banks did to us and ask yourself do you think that Coles and Woolies are slowly working us all towards a situation where there are no other options….. It may well come to a point where we are forced to buy Coles or Woolies owned products because there is nothing else available on the market…… and yes that means Coles and Woolies can start to raise prices as they are the only ones with the products that we may desperately need.

Earlier l did mention the unfairness of wages/salaries and it was with good reason.

We all remember “Work Choices” l am sure. That was all about trying to make our country more competitive and more productive, but the problem was that it was a blatant attack on the little guy or girl. If you were an employee or contractor you were expected to do more work, longer hours and take home less pay (in most cases) yet those at the top of the tree were not subjected to such ridiculous treatment.

Tony Abbott as our current Prime Minister earns a salary of around $507,000 and Joe Hockey around $365,000 while a Backbencher earns around $195,00 per year.

Now many would say that some of these politicians do not deserve a penny, but they are elected to “RUN OUR COUNTRY” and l guess they all need to be paid for their efforts (Good, Bad or Indifferent)

But how is it that “Mark Scott” Managing Director of the ABC earns about $678,000 ?
Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson” earns about $$784,000 ?
The PM & Cabinet Secretary “Ian Watt” earns about $802,000 ?

And then if we look at CEO’s, like “Gail Kelly” (Chief Executive of Westpac) who earned $9.18 Million in 2013

It becomes clear that there is certainly some in Australia who are being paid out of proportion to others, and well out of kilter with what the “Average Australian” earns in a year.

For people to be paid such massive salaries, the money must be sourced from “somewhere” be it the tax payer who pays the wages/salaries of the Public Service or be it the consumers who goes a long way into paying the wages/salaries of the CEO’s and highly paid executives of so many companies throughout Australia.

So when you see someone doing it tough, please do not look at them as being a “bludger” or a “Loser” or a “Poor Decision Maker” and rather look at them as being in the group of Australians who are being left behind.

Our country can not afford to have people at the top earning so much money “UNLESS” they pay a higher rate of tax. If these people who “believe” they are worth Millions each year want to argue about their level of tax, let me make the following points

(1) If you earn an excessive income in the eyes of most Australian’s then perhaps it is only fair that you also pay an excessive amount of tax as a result.
(2) What ever your tax rate may be, l am sure your NETT income will still remain the envy of many Australian’s
(3) The taxes that you do and will pay allow the Government to fund a lot of things including Health, Education, Welfare and many other critical and important services. When your time on earth has ended….. wouldn’t you like to think that your fellow Australian’s would ensure that your children, grand children, great grand children (and so on) are all looked after and taken care of in times of trouble and difficulty?
(4) Remember that you did not build Australia on your own, many pensioners played a bigger role than you did and perhaps it is fair that you consider to contribute a lot more to Government revenue on behalf of those who lived, worked and went to wars before you in order for Australia to be the country that it is.

The issue comes down to people/companies showing a lack of morals and a lack of fairness to others. There only only so many jobs, which means there will always be people without work, there is only so much wealth at any given time so please do not “hog” too much to yourself, graciously hand a bit more back by the way of taxes or charity donations (Tax Deductible) Spend less time with your taxation adviser or financial adviser who helps you avoid or reduce your tax bill and begin to show some compassion, decency and generosity to those who are less fortunate than yourself!

Ohh and do remember that people who are doing it tough may resort to all sorts of measures in order to survive, so if you are one of those lucky ones earning several hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) each year and owns a big home and a number of holiday houses and flash cars………. What good are all hose flash cars if the streets are no longer safe to drive them on ?

Many of us have seen or heard about Clive Palmer, but l wonder how many people “really know” Clive Palmer ?

Ok l must confess l do not know Clive Palmer personally, but l do know enough to say that Clive cops a lot of unfounded crap and criticism from the general media.

I have watched “Paul Murray Live” many times and have heard Paul Murray “Bag and Belittle” Clive Palmer. Janine Perret who is also on the Paul Murray Live show has also said some quite harsh things about Clive and the list of journalist who have jumped on the band wagon to talk poorly about Clive Palmer is long and unjustified.

The simple fact that Clive Palmer is extremely wealthy does not by definition mean that he is flawed or has ulterior motives for running for government.

Many might have jumped to the conclusion that Clive Palmer wanted to get into politics to throw a bit of weight around and improve things for his own business interests……. but that is simply ridiculous to think that he would even consider doing that, let alone the fact that it would be highly improbable that Clive Palmer could do it even if he wanted to.

I do remember watching a story on Clive Palmer a few years ago. The story mentioned a number of things but the one thing that stuck in my mind was the fact that Clive Palmer gave his employees a massive surprise (present) depending on how many years of service they had dedicated to Clive’s nickel refinery operations. Some employees got Mercedes Benz cars, others got overseas holidays, but the point was that Clive was generous enough to go above and beyond to reward those who had been a part of his team.  This was a clear indication that Clive Palmer does appreciate the little people who contributed to that refineries success and he was generous enough to reward each and every one of them.

On a side note l also remember “Grendas Bus Lines” (Ken Grenda) did something similar when he sold his bus company for $400 million. He very generously gave the workforce a surprise cash bonus according to how many years of service and some workers got $100,000. In total l think Ken Grenda gave away $15 million dollars to his work force.

Anyways, back to Clive Palmer……I watched a press conference yesterday where Clive advised the media that he would be introducing a bill into parliament in the next 2 months to try and force the politicians to wait for their super until the same age that the rest of us are forced to wait. Currently politicians can access their superannuation at age 50….. YES! they can get their super at 50 years of age! Yet the rest of us have to wait until retirement age, which currently is 65, but as we know the Gillard/Rudd/Swann Labor government raised the retirement age to 67 and now the Tony Abbott LNP government are moving it further again to the age of 70. So while the pollies can still claim their massive super at age 50, we all get to work and work and work and eventually if we are still alive we can get our super at 70…. Well Clive Palmer thinks that is wrong and it is unfair, hence he will introduce a bill to try and make politicians wait until the age of 70 (like the rest of us)

While l was watching that press conference l learned that Clive Palmer is currently working as a politician for FREE! yes Clive Palmer gives away every penny of his parliamentarian salary to charities within his electorate.  So not only is he trying to keep the bastards honest, he is doing it for zero financial gain for himself

I think there is a large percentage of people in Australia who might have jumped to the wrong conclusion about Clive Palmer due to the fact that he is a billionaire and/or because of the unfair media bias against him. But i will say the more you read and watch and learn about Clive Palmer the more you will realise that he is a damn good Australian and a very smart businessman who would run our country like a well oiled machine and he would ensure the entire Australian population were rewarded accordingly.

Well it is budget night tonight and we all get to find out how many lies Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and the rest of the LNP crew told us pre election.

With all the media leaks it certainly seems that us Australians have been lied to and completely mislead and if the leaks are correct, we will all be enduring 2 years of cuts and 2 x years of pain.

Yes l did say “2 x years” because generally what happens is the government of the day treat us like friends and family “pre election” and they once again treat us like family and friends during the final year of their term…….. but the in-between period is around about 2 x years and that’s where we are right now….. at the beginning of the 2 years of pain.

When Juliar Gillard promised “There will be no carbon tax” pre election and then turned around and hit us with the worlds biggest carbon tax soon after forming minority government we were all dirty and angry with her for that “lie” and Tony Abbott went to town on the Labor Party day in day out because of that lie……. yet it seems that while the tables have turned and the LNP are now in government they also think it is ok to do as Juliar Gillard did and begin to break promises.

Why is it that anywhere else you would run the risk of being fired or having your contract “breached” if you attempted to mislead, lie, re-neg, fail to deliver to your employer, yet the previous Labor government and this current LNP government seem to be able to breach our trust and remain in their jobs for the full term of their contract.

I guess we could rally on the streets and burn down government buildings and force the government out….. but we would not actually want to go about it that way as we are far more civilised than that.  But just because we are civilised should not mean that these recent governments should be able to break promises and tell lies as they have been doing.

There ought to be a way that the people can call an immediate referendum and vote for a fresh election when certain criteria are meet. So perhaps when a government break election commitments without valid reason they should run the risk of being thrown out of office as a result of that breach of trust.

We have seen many recent conflicts around the world because the peoples lack of faith and respect for their government.  The recent examples of Australian government are by no means as bad as those in Syria, Israel, Egypt etc etc, but the Australian Government is far from perfect and we deserve much much better than this.

Like many others, l will watch the budget on television tonight and see how many broken promises and lies l can count…… I hope l do not count any….. but somehow l have a feeling there is going to be quite a few!

How often do we read the newspaper or watch the nightly news and hear about a vicious crime that has taken place only for the offender to get off quite lightly ?

It frustrates me when l hear of someone who has been found guilty of murder, rape, drug trafficking or some other very serious crime who ends up getting a sentence of anywhere between 2 and 14 years.

As far as murder is concerned, this is really a “no brainer” when you commit a murder you have robbed someone of their life and you have also robbed all of their family and friends of someone they knew, loved and enjoyed spending time with and around. So as far as l am concerned, when you are found guilty of murder you ought to “Never Be Released From Prison”

Ok l understand that our justice system likes to give people reason to show remorse and an option of rehabilitation, but surely when you intentionally take someones life you do not deserve a second chance…….. The victim is not going to be given a second chance so why should the perpetrator?

As for rape and serious sexual assault, once again the victim will be forced to live with that experience for the remainder of their life and they will most likely lead a less enjoyable life as a result of the sexual assault, so once again why should anyone who intentionally rapes or commits a serious sexual assault be allowed to serve any less than 15 years in prison ? Maybe it should be more than 15 years, but as far as l am concerned it should not be a day under 15 years.

Drug Trafficking……. well this is one of my pet hates. The people who manufacture and traffic drugs are preying on the vulnerability of people in general and they are ultimately profiting from the misery and destruction they cause as a direct result of manufacturing, supplying and pushing these drugs.

We as a nation are all victims of the effects of drugs. Due to people’s dependency on a drug once hooked these addicts will do just about anything to get the money together to buy yet another hit. Often this money is raised by robbing,  burglarising, defrauding and/or stealing from innocent people within our community. So these drug traffickers may be driving around in lash cars and be wearing thick gold chains and what ever other luxuries they may have, but when they are caught they ought to be dealt with in such a harsh fashion that they pay the price for what the did do and what they will continue to do to our community for many years to come.

I understand that we can not get “too tough” on the young kids who are just plain and simply “stupid” enough to pickup and deliver small quantities to their friends, but we do need to be a little tougher on these fools and ultimately we need to show “No Mercy” to the “king Pins” and the “Big Boys”. When a raid is carried out and large quantities of drugs are found the guilty parties must be locked up for no less than 20 years and even longer if possible.

We need to change the sentencing act and we need to have some very strict guidelines for judges who are handing down these sentences so that we do not end up with some criminals getting off lightly when they really ought not be

We need to gain control of our streets and take the steps to ensure that people who do inflict grief, pain, fear etc onto our community are dealt with in a way that sees them adequately punished, but also send a message to everyone that serious crimes will not be tolerated and the option of a second chance is very limited when you do commit a serious crime.

Getting tougher on serious crime will serve a couple of purposes, one it will see the offender paying a significant penalty for his or her actions and it will also send a strong warning that the community is getting very tough on serious crime. The other thing it will do is it will give the victims and the family of victims some sense of justice as the victim will be serving a very long time behind bars.

Euthanasia has been a controversial subject for as far back as l can remember and up until recently l was happy to sit back and let everyone else argue for and against it.

Sadly for me, my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2014 and was told it was incurable and he had between 6 weeks and 6 months to live.

As wonderful as medical advancement is, there seems to be nothing positive to come from the medical world when it comes to lung cancer. Yes they can “TREAT” you but they can not cure you (most cases)

My dad was told that if he took the chemotherapy he could possibly live for 6 x months, but if he did not take the chemo he would likely succumb to the illness within 6 weeks.

Yes my dad did take the chemotherapy but unfortunately it had no positive effect what so ever and it actually made him worse. He was tired and sleepy from the chemo and that nasty cancer was continuing to grow as fast as ever.

My mum cared for dad at home with the wonderful help of palliative care nurses who would come around once a day to help organise the daily pain relief medications etc etc.

Dad was in immense pain and pretty much bed ridden for the final 4 or so weeks of his life and l do remember him saying to me that if he had the money he would go see Doctor Nitschke… In other words dad would have preferred to die peacefully and with dignity than to die slowly, painfully and remain a full time job for mum for those final few weeks.

My mum did do an amazing job and she did care for dad right up until dads final week. As the pain became too intense and my dad was suffering from morphine toxicity, the doctor and nurses encouraged both my parents to accept the fact that dad needed to be cared for in a hospital environment where they could better manage the pain and administer heavier medications and more often.

I remember visiting dad in the Werribee Mercy Hospital. He was looking terrible and was heavily sedated. Dad was able to talk a little, but at times he was very difficult to understand and it was obvious that the pain killers where killing the pain but also killing everything else.

Dad was extremely restless and unable to get comfortable. His legs were bone covered by skin, he had no strength at all and he really had no hope and no life. If l could have ended it for him peacefully l would have……. but what could l do ? Well l could do nothing… nothing at all.. My poor dad was simply waiting to die and while he waited he was forced to suffer…. and suffer… and bloody suffer!

When ever dad became restless the nurse would come in and simply administer another needle (for the pain). I did say to one of the nurses who gave dad yet another pain killer, “YOU ARE SLOWLY KILLING MY DAD” she looked at me a little strangely and l guess she was shocked at what l had just said……. I went on to say “IT’S OK, I AM NOT HAVING A GO AT YOU” she looked a little more comfortable with what l was saying. I continued “EACH INJECTION YOU GIVE MY DAD FOR HIS PAIN & RESTLESSNESS IS SLOWLY KILLING HIS ORGANS”………….. Hence l added ” YOU ARE KILLING MY DAD SLOWLY, UNDER THE DISGUISE OF PAIN RELIEF, WHEN YOU SHOULD ACTUALLY BE ALLOWED TO DO IT QUICKLY”

After 8 long days in the hospital my dad passed away. While it is claimed that my dad died of Lung Cancer, the truth is he died from a slowly administered overdose of pain relief………. Basically that is the closest we have to legal Euthanasia!

Yes l am all for Euthanasia under the right circumstances. If you are able minded and wish to end your life peacefully and with dignity and you are suffering from a terminal illness, you should be able to make that choice.

There are many other cases which would need to be worked through, i.e. where someone is unable to make that choice…. should the family be able to make that decision? Well l do not know about that one, but it should not stop us from improving the laws to enable a portion of our society to make the right decision for themselves.

We can put our pets to sleep when they are sick…… we can even put our pets to sleep when they are healthy. We live in a society which allows abortion and we live in a world where war and conflict is commonly occurring and young men and women (very healthy & fit people) can enlist themselves into the army, navy or air force and may well end up dead….. so why on earth can we not be permitted to make the choice to die with dignity and to die without prolonged pain and suffering?

Once again it just shows how out of touch our governments have become. To think that the November Federal election had a referendum on Councils getting more power…… yet the option of people having a little more control of how they would like deal with a terminal illness never got a thought.

Ok we have all said it before or at the very least we have heard someone say it…. “TRAFFIC FINES ARE SIMPLY REVENUE RAISING”

I was visiting my in-laws over the Easter Weekend and my father in-law had been hit with a fine for going through a red light. According to my father in-law he might have gone through on amber and it may have been red before he got through the intersection, but he felt that it was near on impossible for him to stop, hence he went through and the camera got him.

Knowing my father in-law as l do….. he is no”Rev Head” nor is he a hoon or any other name for a irresponsible driver. He has driven for all of his life and has a very clean driving record (Apart from a couple traffic infringements)

The actual penalty was $361 and there are 2 x points l wish to make.

The first being the mere fact that $361 is close to 2 x days pay for the average Joe…. So to think that being a fraction of a second late in crossing the intersection could result in you doing 2 x days work in order to pay the fine for being a micro second late in crossing the intersection. It does seem quite unjust. Ok l can understand a huge fine if you were deliberately driving through a very red light and may have put other road users safety at risk, but being a micro second behind the lights going from amber to red is hardly as serious as the offense listed in my second point.

Considering that one could Fail to obey one-way or no entry sign and expect to get a fine in the order of $289 or even Fail to obey no overtaking or passing or no overtaking on bridge sign and cop a fine of $289, it does seem like the slightly less serious offense of driving through a red light is being dealt much harder… or could it be that the infringement itself was “MEANT TO TARGET DELIBERATE & INTENTIONAL DRIVING THROUGH RED LIGHTS” ???
It is ludicrous that we live in a society that penalises people for the most minor of errors or over sites. To think that my father in-law has to pay $361 for getting through an intersection “SAFELY” but not before being snapped by a red light camera.

The government is supposed to govern for the people, BUT ARE THEY ? We all understand that we do need road laws to help keep us safe and penalties to help ensure people do follow the rules and regulations, but when the fine is equivalent to almost 2 x days pay it does seem that our governments are not really governing for the people, instead they are just cooking up ways of hitting those who can least afford it for more and more money.

For those who an not afford to pay the fines…….. Our wonderful government seems to think that sending the sheriff around is the way to go……. No wonder so many people are battling and seem disillusioned by our governments these days.

I run a small business and I send out an invoice once the job is finished. I do not run accounts, but generally l just have my fingers crossed that payment will follow soon after the invoice is issued.

Quite often l am waiting weeks and sometimes months for payment to be made (even though i don’t run accounts) I fully understand that people are doing it tough and they will pay when they can (even though l often needed it yesterday) the fact is l do my best to remain a decent person and give my clients some space and some time to pay the bill.

Never have l forward a bill on to a debt collection agency, nor have l ever charged a “LATE FEE” and l assume it is the same for most small business owners out there……. it is highly unlikely any small business owner would be charging late fees and l also assume debt collection is always a last resort.

Yet these “BIG” corporations seem to be making an absolute killing out of late fees. While l do not know the figures, it would be fair to assume the late fee totals would be a considerable sum of money added to the bottom line of many of these big corporations who charge a late fee.

We have a credit card and quite often we are a day or so late in making the payment, we get slugged with a $25 late fee charge. When you consider the amount that was due to be paid (around $180 or so) a fee of $25 for being a few days late is ridiculous and obscene.

Late fees are being charged by all sorts of big corporations, credit card companies, electricity companies, phone companies and the list goes on.

To my way of thinking, there are 2 x main reasons for a customer being late in making a payment. It is either because they have simply forgotten the bill was due, or alternatively they are struggling and need a few extra days to find the money to pay the account.

If you have been slugged a $15 -$40 fee for being late because you “forgot” the bill was due, it is an excessive penalty for being forgetful.

If you have been slugged a $15-$40 fee for being late because you “don’t have” the money to pay the bill on time, it is an excessive penalty which only makes it harder to pay other bills on time.

I am sick to death of big business / big corporations making more and more money by treating us consumers as a bunch of cash cows. Government should be stepping up to the plate and legislating for a better and fairer go for us all.