aderfp633
Inscrit le: 27 Sep 2011
Messages: 7915
Localisation: England
|
 Posté le: Mar Sep 24, 2013 5:47 pm Sujet du message: Startup |
 |
|
Startup Growing Managing Franchising Trends Entrepreneur Marketing Finance Technology Resources Executive Style Compare & Save Credit Cards Debit Cards Home Loans Personal Loans Car Loans Term Deposits Bank Accounts Saving Accounts Events You are here: Home BusinessDay Article Making free with your money Business Date August 28, 2013 (1) Comments 20 Read later Michael Pascoe View more articles from Michael Pascoe Tweet Pin It submit to reddit Email article Print Reprints & permissions The desire to do something extra to help the victims of one disaster is a mis-spending of money that should go towards helping all victims of injustice and bad luck. Photo: Tamara Voninski You and I are walking down a local street. A random ratbag approaches and flattens me with his right fist. King hit. Powerful fist. Some broken bones and none of them his. Or maybe he pulled a gun and put a non-fatal bullet in me. Whatever. You very kindly take me to hospital and care for my wounds – every inch the Good Samaritan. I then Google a compensation lawyer who convinces you to give me, say, $25,000 for my troubles. So you do. The “you” of course is the taxpayer. The actual amount – could be more, could be less – would depend on which state of the Commonwealth we were in and when it occurred. NSW used to be particularly generous, but after paying $1.6 billion to victims over the past 24 years, the O’Farrell government is in the process of sharply reducing victims of crime compensation levels, much to the displeasure of some groups. The maximum compensation amount is to be cut from $50,000 to $15,000. Advertisement If the street we happen to be walking down when the attack occurs is in a foreign country, you pay me nothing,[url=http://www.longchamp-handbags-outlet.net]longchamp sale[/url], but if the ratbag is declared a terrorist, you will give me up to $75,000. And when Tony Abbott is Prime Minister, the incident could have occurred a decade or more ago and you will still write me a nice cheque. The moral of the story is: only get stabbed/shot/blown up by certified terrorists. Yes, folks, it is another bit of poor policy, like moving the Royal Australian Navy to a Brisbane electorate, that surfaces when politicians are trying to buy votes, when making themselves appeal to an electorate takes precedence over responsible use of other people’s money. But in the case of the Opposition Leader seeking a political advantage from the Bali bombing, maybe it should instead have the effect of focusing attention on the existing flawed compensation culture. It might be nice if we had such a fabulously rich and generous society that we could hand out cash to people whenever things go wrong for any purpose in their lives. Some kid in the playground punched you? Here, have $1000. You broke your leg playing footy? How much would you like? You’re pregnant? Open the safe ... whoops, that’s a separate issue so I’ll pull back from its edge. It is utterly reasonable and healthy for our society to provide the best possible medical and psychological help for all its members. It makes economic sense as well, building a stronger and more confident society and rehabilitating those who have been damaged. It’s also an increasing challenge for governments to afford it, especially when the electorate is being schooled by politicians persistently telling lies about being able to forever cut taxes. Victims of crime, like victims of disease, mishap and the human condition, deserve and should expect support and assistance – but the natural desire to “do something” extra to help the victims of one sort of disaster is a mis-spending of money that should go towards helping all victims of injustice and bad luck. There’s a protest being made to the United Nations that the NSW changes discriminate against women. A 10-year statute of limitations for domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse (10 years from when the child turns 18) will prevent people from claiming compensation from you for bad things other people did to them further into their past. There is no time limit for access to counselling for victims of violent crime. There are shorter time limits for other types of criminal compensation and while the maximum “recognition payment” will be reduced to $15,000 (for the dependent family of a homicide victim), it is only one part of broader assistance you provide, including up to $8,000 for funeral costs,[url=http://www.longchamp-handbags-outlet.net]longchamp le pliage[/url], up to $5,000 for relocating to a safer location and up to $30,000 for loss of earnings, damage to personal belongings, medical, dental, legal and “cost of living” expenses. You are far from heartless. Indeed, on a global scale, I’d think you are very generous indeed. Under the new NSW system, you would pay me a $1500 “recognition payment” for that king hit, or $5000 if it was bad enough to qualify as grievous bodily harm, as well as the other immediate assistance. The $1500 assault “recognition payment” would also become pretty much the standard for domestic violence incidents. While recognising your generosity, I still don’t know why you should pay me that $1500 – or why any politician should be making it a “first 100 days” priority to extend the compensation culture. Michael Pascoe is a BusinessDay contributing editor.
_________________
People watching the forthcoming beginning of the German half of the inhabitants of Berlin are no interested in co-optation |
|
