Dear Joe Hockey I run a sole parent group and I asked the people in my group tonight about their travel habits. I thought I’d write to you and pass on this knowledge as you appear to be out of touch with how poor people are living. Those in outer suburbia don’t really live there by choice but do so as it’s cheap. Why? Because they are poor! Trouble is, there is no reliable transport and the buses and trains don’t actually cover all of our metropolitan areas to and around the cities and in the time frames we might need them. What we need is businesses to be encouraged to base themselves among high unemployment areas and are willing to take on the unemployed and train them in areas that skilled labour is lacking, (better than these damn 457 visa’s your government is allowing in and as seen on ACA are being exploited in your own government funded building projects). Are you saying Joe that poor people don’t have to worry about a fuel tax because they are too poor to have a car? And what you are really saying is that the fuel tax will make it harder for people to have a car and run it, and for those that are on the fringe this hike in fuel costs will actually make them lose their car? Joe you have failed to mention that in talking about one class of people, you are actually going to impact 3 classes of people. Those that can’t afford cars, those that can barely afford cars, and those that will be placed into lower income brackets to be able to finance their cars (eg middle income becoming poorer because of car costs). We also have many in our regional communities around the country that have no choice but to drive cars. I’m just wondering if you forgot about them when you made your comment that poor people don’t have cars or drive far. I hope the comments below can enlighten you and you can rethink before you speak next time, as your comments are definitely out of touch and you actually made me laugh when I heard you on my hour commute home from work. Please grow a heart, and gain some compassion and think before you speak in future. Sole parents comments below: Can you all tell me how far you have to drive every day to school or to work? Joe Hockey thinks we dont have cars or drive. Kevin Andrews tells us we are not allowed to knock back jobs up to 90 mins away. Which is it?? Now Tony Abbott buys an expensive non stop Airbus KC-30A to jetset around the world. Budget crisis and living within our means? What the? Our politicians need to learn to live by example! Kerry A I work an hour, to an hour and a half away depending on traffic jams on the freeways I have to travel each day, each way. There is no option of public transport. If I did attempt it, it would take me about 3 hours in travel! Jamie C five minutes’ drive to kindy but could not have sent her there without a car this year being pregnant and broken pelvis as its steep hills Kerry A Jamie C catch a bus!! Youre poor and should not have the luxury of a car!! Sue-Anne T I drive an hour each way, highway driving so public transport not an option Jamie C hahaahahah... would if there was one Campbell and Hockey lol oh hang on there are cabs lol Kirsten M I am lucky. Front door to school is a 3-5 minute walk. Unfortunately we have to walk thru the complex and go the long way round. (Being sarcastic) It would be 10 seconds if she could jump the fence. Work is 10 minutes from school and home. Quicker if I get all green lights. Emily Bike. I love my bike. Miriam J I was until recently driving 500 km per week to get to shift work....no public transport at 11pm at night! (I’ve now moved closer to work because $100 a week in petrol was killing me). Oh....and to add to it. My childrens specialists are 4hrs drive (one way) away Trevor D 12.5 kms to school and 12.5 kms back again Diedre E Just what comes to them each morning, its not as though anything they say is ever thought out properly Vasiliky B When I was working at Woolworths I would have to catch a taxi because I either started before public transport started or finished after public transport ran its last train. Im have a disability and I dont drive so without the PT I have to rely on taxis. In most of my work I travel 1.5 hours to work and 1.5 home and that doesnt include the stop off to pick up my daughter from after school care. Michelle MD Two hours each way. Rural. No option for public transport here. Theres also the operating hours of childcare which is a huge problem. Nita H What exactly is Joe hockey doing? No more concession rate on public transport? Tasha B I spend close to half of my wage on fuel living regional it’s a long round trip doing school and kindy drop offs then getting to work. Adding to that I start at 9 and leave around 7ish Donna G 7 kms to and from kid’s school Nnat C 2.7km from home to school; 4.5km from home to work. The home to work and back again is possible on public transport. The home to school trip isnt as theres no public transport and no shortcuts... 2.7km along the same very long road. If I have to do school drop off and pick up on the way to and from work I need the car as there isnt public transport that would work. Jodie W 10 minute walk to school Fangin H I couldnt imagine having no car in bad weather to get everyone to school, doctors, and sports. I work an hours drive from home. Marion L I drive around 30 minutes to get the kids to school because I choose to send them to a bilingual school, I couldnt do it by public transport (or if I did it would be around an hour and a bit, but I suppose I shouldnt have the luxury of picking schools cos you know Im poor! Bec G Im lucky I live across the road from my work and the school my son will be attending is behind my work. When I lived in Melbourne tho I would spend hours travelling to and from work. Sue A My job requires me to drive to and from client’s homes. I travel 7 kms each way to drop my daughter at school than drive up to 170kms a day for work for $20/hr. So for him to say the fuel excise wont affect the low income shows how out of touch Joe Hockey is to people like us and to add to it I am so over this government referring to us as the LOW. They have placed us in a class of non-important citizens when in fact the majority of us have for more class and respect for others than the politicians of today. Michelle P I drive up to 1 hr. 45 mins for my job each way and about an hour each way for my other jobs, my kids school is 10 mins each way, specialist appts for my kids are 1 hour each way to paediatrician and up to an hour if not more to hospital appts. Not to mention scans, therapies etc each way. I drive every Monday afternoon to dancing 40 mins each way and I do that twice each way Monday afternoon. Kid’s friends live near school and that is 10 mins drive, local shopping centre is 25 mins drove away. Joe hockey is an idiot and has no bloody idea. Fuel costs my family a fortune! And I am by no means rich, we live week to week and sometimes dont have enough to get by, so get a grip Joe you know nothing, not everyone has a car and driver and has others pay for their fuel. Cheryl F My sons school 15 mins my daughter 30 mins. If they catch buses my son can catch 1 my daughter needs to catch 2 and then I have to drive 45 mins or catch 3 buses to get to my mums to care for her every day. Fuel costs are killing me am looking for a decent small car...before I lived 30 mins highway driving out and needed large car for towing when I bought firewood. A better indicator of poor people owning cars would be looking at how many get registration through pension or healthcare cards. These morons just get dumber and dumber! Erika B Jobs 90 minutes away so the kids would be alone in the mornings and afternoons. No luxury of family or nannies to help out. Walk a mile in a single parents shoes Joe or even their childs shoes. Fool. Stephanie N my kids catch a bus but if I have to go get them or shop or Dr or anything I have a minimum 25 minute drive each way because I’m rural. There is one bus other than the school bus it leaves at 7.30am and comes home 630pm .no trains or any other transport .my car payment takes up all my child support. Kirsty G I used to drive 4 hours altogether one side of the city to the other Stephanie N It’s a three hour round trip to my nearest Centrelink office .they call me in every few months to see if I’m still sick...fat chance getting there without a car . Cathy G Im in the country, so no traffic and only a few minutes to both work and school but five of the nine teams in my kids football league are 100 km or more away, plus cricket, work experience and extra travel for development or association sporting squads and school athletics, 2 1/2 to 3 hours for medical appointments and sport in Adelaide. Jodie W I would drive 30 minutes to work, then 30 minutes home, my car was old and unreliable, using $120.00 in petrol a week.... Thats just to work, I couldnt afford any side trips. I have recently moved in with family, I could no longer afford to rent on my own since the changes from parenting payment to Newstart. Stephanie N Every working person driving home tonight must be wondering were all their riches are since driving seems to be only for the rich .hasn’t that idiot ever seen traffic in the city. It’s not all Volvos and BMW s there are trades men office workers woollies workers and everything in between traveling to work or school. Kylie V I drive 45mins plus depending on traffic. We go to work all day to pay for a house we barely spend time in... My eldest child’s school is 20 mins away and the other is 30 mins. Life bites sometimes! Lynn A One job worth $40 - 30 minutes’ drive and costs $20 in fuel. Just applied for another job and prepared to travel an hour and will bring home $8 per hour for 4 hours work. Um is hockey going to provide door to door taxis, Free of charge for us? Kylie V Or should I say someone elses mortgage! Wendy A living in a rural country town that does have suburbs and traffic lights... whoohooo.... hahahaha Home to School via car is 4.7km & about 5mins depending on traffic lights & school zone traffic School to Work via car is 5.1km & about 5mins again depending on traffic lights and school zone traffic (ie stopping for kids going to school). Work to Home via car is 2.4kms & less than 5mins depending on traffic lights. Bus from home to school & return is possible but is only once per hour so my son has to catch the bus at 7.50am & arrives at school at about 8.05am and to catch it home, he cannot be held up in class at the end of the day... school finishes at 3.20 the bus departs the school at 3.20pm otherwise if he misses it he may as well walk home as the next bus isnt until 4.20pm. Bus from home to work isnt possible, just too many buses to catch & too long to wait for them, itd be quicker to walk the 2.5kms. Hockey has the IQ of a common house brick, as do the rest of the liberal party members. However... even if you add them all together they are still 3 walls & a roof short of a house Vicki P I drive to the station which takes approx. 10 minutes then I catch a train to the City and then a bus to where I work in West Perth - I fill up each pay day $45 (lasts a fortnight) and my fares and my paid parking at the station are approx. $60 a fortnight - thank god for my pension card otherwise it would be double Kayte H I was driving 1000km a week to & from work last year (PT would take me at least 2 hours, consisting of a bus, 2 trains & another bus). It was far too stressful trying to get organised for BSC so early in the morning & then getting back for afternoon pick up. Living in a rural area, employment opportunities are low but for my mental health as well as my daughters I cant return to the stress & travel. Aleesha S 20 mins each way to work. 5 mins to school Carrie S We live about 15 km from the nearest town. Most days I travel at least 60 or 90 km, my daughter works at night, so its constantly in and out of town I go..... Karen S He has such a big head he shouldve been called Richard at birth!!! Dhead!! We are forced to drive long distances. Public transport is not available everywhere stupid, stupid man!!! Mary H I drive 600km every 2nd weekend to take my child half way to her dads house. After working all week that is both expensive and exhausting. Sophia K V10kms a day x 2 for the trip to school and back home, then another 10kms in the opposite direction to get to Uni 2 days a week, and one class on a different campus 30kms away, another 30km trip to mums for cleaning, shopping and meds once a week, 260kms per week, absolute necessity, couldnt even do it all if I relied on public transport...the 10km trips take an hour rather than the 10/15 min drive...and would probably work out similar in costs, cant buy weekly tickets on a concession. Thank goodness my car runs on gas...but thats on the rise too! Merrilie J I Im so lucky Im poor and cannot afford a car..... now I dont have to buy petrol...... or go anywhere.... and I get to drag our groceries 1 km home... and my kids get free cold showers on rainy days walking to school... and they get to walk 2kms to see the Doctor.... and this week has been fantastic as I have been able to make the 15km trip to and from the hospital to be with my sick little boy on the train and 2 buses with a 1 km walk home from the station at night on the rain. I am blessed to be poor. Dont be jealous...... Im just lucky. We take comfort in the fact that we have a roof over our heads, blankets on our beds and infinite love and laughter between us. I am actually blessed, my kids are resilient, compassionate, generous and grateful for the small stuff. I think we are rich. Raylene H I pay cheap rent in the outer burbs of Perth but drive 120 km round trip to work Mr Hockey. Its 2-2.5 hr round trip. Im a nurse (and part time uni student ) earn approx. 55.000 a year no pension/ single mama Sheridan L I live in a rural area, I chose to move here for cheaper housing and to be close to family so that I could have support with the kids for when I went back to work. Despite being on a very low income, I have always needed a car and have no choice but to pay the running costs of keeping one. Not having a car in a rural area negatively affects your chances of gaining paid work, as most of the few jobs on offer for unskilled workers are in factories outside of town, and at hours during which there is no available public transport. I have just been hired for a new job after 2 years of being knocked back, and it is a 60km round trip 5 days a week. As Kerry pointed out above, it is utterly hypocritical for Hockey to claim that poor people dont have cars or drive, yet Kevin Andrews insists that 90 minutes each way is the cut off point for job-seekers. So which are we, Joe? Povo losers who waste money running cars that we cant afford, or dole bludgers who obviously arent serious about finding employment because we dont have our own transport? Damned if we do, damned if we dont. You really are the cigar chomping Foghorn Leghorn of Australian politics. Simone F I don’t have a car and it’s a nightmare. I have 2 girls in my care, i study, I volunteer to gain experiencing and I’m going through a nasty custody case for my son. The most common reason for me for not gaining full time work is 1 having no car and 2 not being able to commit 100% because of the ridiculous the demands the family court put on me with the help of my opponents but I never stop, I will keep on studying, keep on fighting for my boy and hope one day I can put up a post about how frustrating and expensive it is to have the luxury of a car. Chandra A I have to drive 20minutes approximately for the school run, childcare 10 minutes, my jobs are 30-45minutes away, uni 10 minutes. My question to him would be if I was to catch public transport (which would be multiple forms) how am I logistically supposed to get between all this locations in one day, within the various time constraints (which occurs at least twice a week)? And I didnt even mention appointments & sport etc. Caroline M Ok, I work part time and study part time. My daughters school is a short 5 min drive, but to get there by public transport would make it a 35 min journey, then I go straight to work.. Again a 5 min drive, which by public transport would take around 35mins. Then once at work part of my job as a family support worker is to drive to clients houses, which can be up to 150ks a week, on public transport I wouldnt even be able to visit some of the clients I see, as they live out of the metro area where there is a bus in the morning and a bus in the arvo, other clients houses would involve getting 2 buses and a train to get to.... So clearly I wouldnt be able to carry out my job as a home visiting family support worker without a car. On top of that Uni is a round trip of 65ks... About 35mins each way by car... Otherwise a bus, 2 trains and a 25 min walk to get there.... A 2 hour journey. On top of that obviously there is the shopping and other general things I couldnt do all of what I do without my car... And Im 1 of the working poor....Joe hockey is a very ignorant little man!! Rant over!! Lol Kathie B Toowoomba, one of Australias fastest growing cities, at a population of 120 000+ people has no public transport besides taxis after 6pm each day and on Sundays, and lots of areas dont get service at all (Glenvale for example). Breeze R public transport where I am is shocking last bus finishes at 2.30pm. As for fuel I was working as a sales rep when Julia cut our payments. He is a moron seriously how can we allow this idiot to continue putting Australians down. Michelle M Won’t bus fares go up if this happens anyway? Won’t the cost be passed onto the consumer? Dont some poor people live in their cars? Dominique E Hi Kerry, as you know Im on disability. We live in a residential area but there is no public transport. If my car breaks down I basically have to call around and ask if someone can take my daughter to school. Luckily there is usually someone. I also drive regularly to the Drs because my immune system is stuffed having an autoimmune condition and it causes knock on effects of getting sick with other things and triggering everything off and also to pick up scripts. Once again there are no buses and most days I wouldnt have the energy to walk to the bus stop anyway since its too far away. I need my car where I live which is more expensive but necessary because otherwise I would probably be in hospital from lack of meds and vitamins or because of sitting in the hot sun and becoming dehydrated due to my condition, which because at times I need to be close to a bathroom at all times this means its just not realistic to use buses as buses do not have bathrooms and neither do bus stops. I guess Michelle they can live in their cars just not allowed to drive them! Not to mention hard to look for 40 jobs a month and go for interviews with no money for petrol and no public transport. Maybe instead of investing on roads to nowhere for their mates and giant jets that dont work they should invest in public transport? Ally van A My travel to and from school and work might be minimal (5 min) but I have to drive at least 1hr each way to drive my children to see their Dad when he can be bothered having them. I dont even know how I would get there by public transport and Im guessing it would be bus, 2 trains and another bus at a minimum. (And I would be traveling back alone at night)I know other single parents that are in the same boat with transporting their kids to visitations. Just another situation where we need our cars because not only would it take less time, it is safer. Lynette M P If there are no concessions on the pitiful public transport Toowoomba has, my daughters would not get the 30 km round trip to their Tafe and or university as they just wouldnt be able to afford it. School is only 10klm round trip. Work for me is location to location from 5klm to 100klm from home then 100klm to the next location, approx. up to 20 km in between each of those locations up to 4 in a day. Most of which is unpaid by my employer. These are all out of pocket expenses my position is casual , and does not go over the tax free threshold , so therefore some days I spend more money than I earn especially when I drive 84 km round trip for 1 hrs work ... I am appreciative for a job . However Joe, feel free to come and see how real women of calibre do it, and give me the opportunity to educate you on some basic life fundamentals you seem to be unaware of. Chelle Belle How many out there go without so much to afford rego? Newstart doesn’t receive concession for this. Why should we wait until end of term for this incompetent government to be over turned? They work for the people. Come on people. Open your mouth n stop letting them make fools of this country any more than what they already have to date. How embarrassing is it to hear each day. Comments that fall out their mouths?? Have they ever lived real life? No they are from the privileged side. Wouldnt know a hard day’s work if it hit them in the back of the head. When I moved I asked about public transport... you wouldn’t believe the look u get asking such a funny question... turns out its 64kms to the next town... u can catch a bus from there. Lea C Well said!!!! I didn’t comment. But I need to do a 2 hr. trip each fortnight to have my sons. Also If I wish to see my son play football (who gets bullied at school and football is the only time he feels good about himself) I then need to travel 4hrs in a weekend to attend. We definitely need to start a reality TV show with pollies living in our homes like we do for a month!!! Chelle B Lea they wouldnt survive a week, let alone a month. But it’s a lovely thought
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 02:47:20 +0000
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