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Your views: on city council bickering, older workers and Julian Assange

Today, readers comment on the latest unseemly outburst at Town Hall, an ageing workforce, and the Wikileaks founder’s legal quagmire.

Nov 21, 2019, updated Nov 21, 2019
Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Commenting on the story: City Council tells Crows: Release park lands HQ plan or we scrap it

I think it’s about time that the Government considered appointing an administrator to run the Adelaide City Council.

Like the Victorian Government did sometime ago with an ineffective Melbourne City Council.

There’s been nothing but bickering since the last elections.

It is ruining our state’s profile. – Bill Hecker 

Commenting on the story: Treasurer wants over-65s to keep working

As one who was born in 1947 and apparently has been part of a group guilty of staying alive too long – all governments in the past 70 plus years has had the facts in front of them that there would be a bunch of taxpayers stopping work from 2010 onwards.

The failure of these governments to address the inevitable is not the fault of the ageing population; it is the fault of lack of government foresight over those past 70 years.

Surely the 2013 Productivity Commission was not the first warning of the effects of an ageing population that the Australian government(s) had; this topic has been the subject of worldwide warning for decades.

The problem has been exacerbated by failure of successive governments to look beyond the election cycle, whilst ensuring their own life beyond retirement is very well looked after. – Gordon Head

It is so easy for Josh Frydenberg, 48, to make this demand, isn’t it? When we sack him – be it in 2022, 2025 or sometime in the future – what happens to Josh?

He goes immediately onto a fully indexed pension, the like of which other Australians cannot even dream about. He gets free travel around Australia and internationally, he can also get another job or simply retire, and his age does not come into the picture.

I have a message for Josh. Once we turn 70 we are no longer eligible for superannuation.

Despite some companies paying lip-service to the idea of giving jobs to people of my age (81 and would love a part-time job) or any age from 60 onwards, the vast majority of companies simply won’t employ you.

When I unwillingly retired aged 70, having had many years experience in retail, including my own small shop and as an employee in the supermarket industry, I applied for a position with the “night fill” group at one of Australia’s biggest supermarket groups.

The result? “Dear…., thank you for your recent application to join our Night Fill group. We regret that, due to lack of experience, you have been unsuccessful”.

Maybe Josh will now legislate for all companies to be required to have, at least, 15% of their employees over the age of 60.

Josh and politicians from the two major parties are such hypocrites. They blame us older people for all the ills, the failure of their policies, conveniently forgetting that the vast majority of us worked hard all our lives, paid our taxes in full and until 1985 had no compulsory superannuation; we simply had to try and save for our retirement.

If the Australian economy is running into trouble that is the fault of the politicians. We don’t see any of them agreeing to take a pay cut, cancel the regular pay and benefit increases the Remuneration Tribunal grants them on an annual basis.

Josh, you get very handsomely paid to do a job. When are you going to stop making excuses and blaming everyone else for your failures? Robert McCormick

Commenting on the story: Sweden drops rape case that sent Assange into hiding

The dropping of the case against Julian Assange by the Swedish prosecutor leaves Assange in prison is based on a legal technicality, little else.

The conclusion can be drawn that he is a political prisoner with a very meagre chance of being released without intervention by Australia’s government.

And we wouldn’t want to make a fuss and upset the so-called ‘leader of the free world’ would we?

So I expect the Australia government will continue its shameful position of disregard for his loss of freedom.

And the established media will try to protect its freedoms, but not his, or indeed ours. Jim Allen

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