Commenting on the story: Officials coy on JobSeeker windback as one million expected to join queue

Why is it that the government acknowledges that JobSeeker payment at the pre-coronavirus level was inadequate for survival, and has virtually doubled the amount for the newly unemployed and those previously unemployed? 

Then they say it is a temporary measure put in place for 6 months .

Are we miraculously going to halve our living expenses at the end of 6 months? 

A comment from the Morrison government would be appreciated. – Elly Evans 

Commenting on the story: Centrelink payment confusion but government promises no disadvantage

At my cafe that has lost 95% of its business, my four staff do not qualify for JobKeeper.

All four applied for JobSeeker when cafes closed but only two are now in receipt of payments.

We are situated in a tourist town hit by bushfires (town evacuated). We lost our summer trading and as such have no buffer.

We did not qualify for any federal grants as we were a new business and were growing rapidly, so could not show a 40% drop. So zero money.

I applied for a non-secured loan to refinance which would have saved us quite a lot. Knocked back as it could not be used to refinance.

Knocked back on JobKeeper as we file under the same ABN as another unrelated business. We share a site with another business and are registered separately. We keep separate records and our staff are separate along with wages, etc.

However, because we file under the same ABN, the government uses the aggregate turnover of both businesses and as such my two chefs, barista and front of house will not qualify for JobKeeper.

I have no doubt we are not alone in this. The hoops you need to jump through make it nearly impossible to go on. – Debra Stewart

Like many thousands of others, I’m struggling being a carer.  I cannot leave the person I care for for any longer than half an hour, and even then I do my utmost not to.

As a carer, we have been left out of the coronavirus income help. We received one $750 payment which I am overwhelmed with, though we have received no other increase.

As a carer I work hard for that income, as do many others. Why is that a job seeker (who doesn’t have to look for work at the moment) is now on $300 a fortnight more than a carer who is working 24/7?

It really seems unjust. – Katrina McCreery

“Services Australia said regardless of the payment date, JobSeekers would not be disadvantaged.”. I don’t find this quite 100% accurate. 

I was alarmed by my GP advising I’ll be isolated for 6-12 months as I am heavily immunocompromised and at high risk. 

I applied for Newstart/Jobseeker on 16th March, assured by several people assisting me with my lodgement I’d be eligible. 

I provided all evidence the week before lockdown commenced.

Services Australia declined and rejected my claim 4th April as I received a redundancy payment after losing my job of 9 years in January.

An “income maintenance waiting period” still applies and according to Services Australia I have enough money to last until November 2020 (I definitely don’t). 

After bills, fees, rent, child care, utilities I have half of whatever I had, with no income whatsoever.

To add salt to the wound, they recently rejected my wife’s parenting payment claim for my payment.  

Our landlords will not reduce rent, we can’t get rent assistance or a healthcare card so money is haemorrhaging away. 

I’m appealing & have also written to the PM and local parliament as recommended by Centrelink staff, naturally with no response. 

Legal advocates suggest taking to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which is my next step. – David Graser

Commenting on the opinion piece: Beyond the gloom, Adelaide has a chance to recreate itself

I agree with a lot of what Jodie has to say. When it comes to manufacturing especially, we need to look outside the old way of doing things.

We produce a lot of raw materials in Australia and then ship them to China for China to make a profit.

Why can’t we become a powerhouse for automated manufacturing, taking a leaf out of the Tesla model?

We could have mostly automated factories pumping out lithium-ion batteries. We have the past deals with Tesla, why not create a mega-factory here?

We have an abandoned Holden site, surely that could be re purposed to making electric vehicles, using modern robotic manufacturing techniques like Tesla and Lexus do.

We need to stop thinking we cant manufacture in this country because of the high labour costs and start thinking how we can use robotics and technology to make it viable once more.

 If the state or federal government would subsidise the uptake of electric vehicles, solar, home batteries, we would go a long way to fixing our carbon emissions but removing gas guzzlers from the roads.

But we can’t rely on government to do these things: we the people need to demand change and to vote with our shopping habits.

We all think these ideas would be great, but we need something to motivate us to move in this direction and away from our dominance on oil.

Maybe COVID-19 can be the catalyst for change we need. – David Mayfield

Commenting on the story: Verbeek exit cue for SA Reds’ coach

It seems your soccer commentator has a very short memory, as he introduced Verbeek as the new messiah when he arrived at the start of the season. 

Marco Kurz was humiliated, denied funding, new players and snubbed by the clubs owners, yet he had the dignity and professionalism to continue and successfully coach a B grade outfit into a competitive finals team, falling just short in one of the great games of the season in Perth.

He installed pride and a winning mentality in the team while being derided and abused by your soccer commentator. 

Verbeek retreated home at the first opportunity upon realising the board of Adelaide United were so inept, yet your commentator seems unable or unwilling to accept this. – John Travers

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