bcworld

This appears to be about a federal government policy, no? No mention of Qld??

F*** me...an extra $222m! How much is the total?

fish.01

That article was just a source for my quotes. It is a federal programme which has been given the obscene amount of $350 million.

It was to be an opt-in scheme but a huge push by the ACL and others meant it was changed to an opt-out scheme meaning most kids attend by default (often through parents not knowing about the "God-given open door to children and young people" motive of the fundamentalist christian groups running almost all of it) and those who don't are sometimes sat at the back of the same class, on a step etc due to a lack of funding of alternatives/teacher supervision.

Newman added to that in this budget as it was an election promise (to people pushing religion into state schools no doubt). At the same time he slashed education funding right down to the funding for state and private school tuckshop associations.

aussietobe

Why do some people think they have a job for life just because they are on the public teat?
I don't have a job for life, hell I go from contract to contract...

aussietobe

"front-line services" are just weasel words, I am sure every job that is getting cut would consider themselves a "front-line" service. All of these so-called front line services sprung up under the previous labor government...amazing but people coped before these jobs came about...at some point there is a day of reckoning...these "services" are unaffordable. Queensland has lost its Triple A credit rating which means you have to pay higher interest rates to borrow money. Your children will still be paying this debt from money spent today on all these "services" when they are paying tax. This debt came about during a period of a big mining boom; what a disgrace.
Sorry, but when Kennett came in and made cuts, Victoria boomed. A lot of these programs and services that labor spends taxpayer money are simply not needed. It is a tough world and no-one is owed a living.

aussietobe

Queensland is borrowing money to pay for services it doesn't really need. These services might be nice to have, but do you want your grandkids paying tax to pay for the debt wracked up now to pay for them, because that is what will happen if the Qld government continues to spend money it doesn't have.

roaringmouse

The quotes are irrelevant to the chaplaincy set up in Qld though - they came from a person from a different organisation (Access) in a different state (Victoria). That organisation also doesn't provide chaplaincy services to all schools in Victoria. Not all chaplains are "fundamentalist" as you put it, I'd doubt that many were at all. A quote from one person does not reflect all chaplains across the country, just like the views given by ACL does not reflect those of all christians across the country.

Pollyana

Have you read the posts by Cresta and my links re firefighters? If they aren't frontline then who is?

This is about the unfair mass culling of jobs at a moment's notice and with no logical thought process behind it - as I've stated before. Many of us do not consider ourselves "frontline"- I'm told mine is as frontline as my agency gets, I'm not sure I agree with that definition personally, the world would go on without us, but once paramedics and firefighters are getting axed that is a little more serious. I've also never used the phrase "job for life"as I don't believe in it - I'm all for accountability. You need to try and see the point that I and others are making. Thousands of people were informed - many by email - out of the blue that their roles, many of them essential to the everyday lives of ordinary people, were axed. Those staff were told that they could transfer to other jobs, only there aren't any, cos they've been axed. Many of these staff are experts in their fields - with skills the government badly needs - but because of their position falling on the wrong side of the line they are gone. There is no logic behind the huge number of jobs culled, and any savings could have been achieved less painfully with a staggered redundancy programme over the next 12 months or so. Apart from a lack of logic the cuts are being delivered in a brutal way - humanity seems in short supply at present here.

Two people I was speaking with yesterday are the only people in their department with any knowledge of a major disaster related programme. They are now out of work, no-one in the department has any knowledge of the processes and that department's participation in the programme has stalled with huge financial implications. I could give several specific examples but I still have my job (thank the Goddess) and hence I am careful only to discuss what is already in the public domain.

fish.01

Yes, that's why I provided the reference so people could see for themselves. Didn't have time to cover the whole back story. From my reading Access Ministries covers 96% of Victorian schools and is a self professed evangelical organisation. The quote was from the CEO of access ministries stating the aims of the organisation which employs all the chaplains. Across Australia most chaplains come from born again christian organisations so I would suggest most would be of this background.

I'm not against every chaplain in the country. Undoubtably all religions contain good people as well as bad. I object to the structure of the programme where during school hours an evangelical group uses huge amounts of tax payer funds in state schools, not to support it's own congregation who attend state schools, but to evangelise to young children to get new recruits. Young children who cannot objectively process suggestions made to them. I object that if Access ministries turns up at the school the school "must" provide them with their students during school hours to be evangelised to. I object that this is the default position and many parents do not opt out as they do not understand the aims of the programme or people behind it so not wanting to make their child the odd one out accept it unwittingly. I object that alternative educational options are not provided. This is not helped by Access ministries removing references explaining their true intentions from their website. Your correct that I'm not on the ground in Victoria so if you can correct any of this, for example things have changed, then by all means let me know but this is my understanding from reading about it.

roaringmouse

A couple of factsheets on their website outline what Access does, and proselytising (which I think you mean by saying "evangelised to" and "new recruits") is not allowed. Saying that, I'm not in Victoria either right now - or indeed Australia for the timebeing.

fish.01

Thanks. Yeah, I have read that proselytising is not allowed but evangelising is. Their seems to be little difference to me either but apparently "evangelising" is what they are doing when pulled up for proselytising (according to many reports I read).

All the quotes from those senior people involved when speaking frankly about the programme, eg from one of the founders of the programme or from the CEO of the programme, have indicated the aim is to recruit young children to christianity. Making the programme opt-out was a key plank in this strategy which was why it was campaigned for so strongly.

IvanM

Firefighters are needed in what is predicted to be a bumper season. The services are needed but states have little revenue raising power.

Pit Bull.

When are the new unemployment figures due out?

Should make interesting reading, is there any signs that jobs are being created in other areas?

isgraham

Sounds like its all comming together nicely. If loads of people loose their jobs and then their houses in forced sales then that will hopefully put further downward pressure on house prices and with any luck the Aussie dollar. I shall then return and take advantage of the situation.

Pollyana

Most people leaving the government are reporting there is nothing around. The word seems to be that the majority are expecting a long wait to find anything else, and I know a fair few who are resigned to spending their redundancy payouts on relocating to other States in search of work.
I'vce also heard of people returning to Ireland, the UK and New Zealand, and at least 6 suicides have so far been reported as direct results of job losses.

One guy I know has 15 years service and has never accessed his sick leave. This month he was told he needs a major back operation, the recovery time would've been covered by his sick leave. Instead he now has no job, no prospect of another (especially with impending surgery), large mortgage, and 2 kids under four who he can't be the prime carer for as he can't even lift the baby - thus the wife has to be the carer for the kids and can't work full time even if she could get a job.

aussietobe

So what you are essentially saying is that people who are public servants should expect "jobs for life." People from ireland moved to Australia because there are so few jobs over in Ireland but we all expected to cry buckets for people who may have to move states for jobs? gee, we are breeding people soft these days. No-one, the world or any government, owes people a living.