Anyone watch it? If not catch it up on SBS online.

Good watching in my opinion. Contraception out the window, proper 'I can't I can't I can't", "me me me" blame everyone else attitudes the world does not need.

It's like the Aussie version of Shameless, but real ! Not happy that my hard earned taxes are keeping that lot in cigarettes and flat screen tellies though.

It's the aussie version of "Benefits Street" - and comes with a similar amount of ideological baggage. As per any reality TV, the focus is on forming a compelling narrative and b*gger the facts; so you won't see any poor just getting by quietly. Somehow the voxpops will be chosen to force a reaction - either pity or anger. And then you put the preconceptions of the viewer onto it ....

There seems to be a lot of unexplained money going into things like hotted up cars, ciggies, flat screen TV's, motorbikes and Ice but not a lot going into the basic needs.

Yeah, but food stamps are considered dehumanising...


S

There was the guy who was living in nearby bush and caught his food with a sling shot. He had my respect

Sling shots are illegal in Australia - I imagine he will be getting a knock at some point...

But you do what you need to do to survive. When I was a student I often grabbed the rifle and shot myself a rabbit or two, which would last for a week. Helped the budget stretch, though you do need to know a freindly land owner.

I also agree with Garry's comments too - these people presented here will be the extreme cases, and there will be lots of people who are just getting by without channeling money into cars, fags and drugs, but of course this makes for boring TV...


S

Absolutely.

They did a couple of aerial shots over the suburb of Mount Druitt (obviously the show was attempting to portray Mount Druitt in a particular way). The houses are actually big and they are on some decent land.

This is what generations of western socialism has achieved - welfare dependence and a 'what's in it for me?' attitude

Socialism breaks everything that it touches - as sure as night follows day

It could have been any of several hundred neighbourhoods in Oz. Mt. Druitt was most probably handy to SBS studios in Artarmon, Sydney

Mt. Druitt's had a name for many decades, along with Blacktown and other Outer West suburbs of Sydney. And obviously, some areas in Mt. Druitt are worse than others

Rents can be a lot less expensive, also house prices, although there are properties for sale there which aren't much cheaper than other areas in Sydney
Houses For Sale with 2 bedrooms in Mount Druitt, NSW 2770 (Page 2) - realestate.com.au

This site provides a variety of opinions about Mt. Druitt. There's one, entitled ' I'm Haunted by this Suburb ' which seems to come from the heart

here: http://www.homely.com.au/mount-druit...ew-south-wales

The producers most probably had to choose a suburb which featured, predominantly, white Australians. There are some terrifying suburbs in Sydney which would put Mt. Druitt in the shade as far as personal risk, robberies, murders, drive-by shootings, etc., but most of those are what are referred to as 'ethnic ghettos' and had the producers chosen to really lift the lid off the much sanitised portrayal of Sydney to prospective Brit and other northern European migrants, the screams of 'racial discrimination' would be heard in Alaska, not to mention probable threats on the lives of producers and camera crews

People decry welfare recipients and welfare mentality and some of it is fair enough. But not everyone on this planet arrives with a full component of intelligence, motivation, confidence, decent family support and example, contacts, opportunities, etc. And that applies in particular to Westernised, industrialised societies where materialism and financial success play such a major role

Some/many are born into dysfunctional families, deprived families, families which have been beaten down often for generations. Other families have suffered total financial collapse. Many families survive with only one parent and no extended family. Some are born into families where one or more members suffer mental, emotional or physical disadvantage

Many children grow up therefore in dysfunctional families and environments. They play with kids who suffer the same disadvantages. Many fail to succeed academically. They might come from a home where the mother is battered and beaten to within an inch of the ground and where the father is an alcoholic or is drug dependent and unable to find paid employment

Children from such miserable, deprived and loveless homes seek love outside the home very early and that leads to teenage pregnancies, thus the cycle is perpetuated

When people/children/teenagers believe they have no escape, they sink into deep depression and hopelessness. They feel alienated, excluded, worthless. One thing most comments here haven't mentioned is ever-increasing unemployment in Australia. Being unemployed also creates depression, sense of worthlessness, exclusion

Add to that the very real fear one's life is in danger on continuing basis, plus the bullying culture which thrives in dysfunctional neighbourhoods, and it's no surprise people try to retreat behind four walls and seek the temporary respite provided by drugs, prescription 'mood modifiers', tv, drink, etc.

If there was full employment in Australia (or the UK for that matter) there would be far less exploitation of those whose lives are so awful, they're used as entertainment posing as 'social commentary'

Outsourcing and endless free-trade agreements seem to have worked to the benefit of a very small sector of society, namely, manufacturers reaping massive profits by relocating overseas to exploit very cheap labour

Forty years ago, approx., there was near-full employment in Australia. A newspaper report from that era claimed unemployment ranged between half to one percent. People were able to quit a job in the morning and have another one lined up by mid-afternoon. Factories provided tens of thousands of jobs and overtime was very common. Look at all the factories and jobs which no longer exist. Years ago, as you drove along Parramatta Road, the footpaths were thronged with people pouring out of factories while the night-shift was hurrying to work in the opposite direction

Nowadays, people with two or more university degrees to their credit vie with hundreds of others for the chance at a shift or two in a fast-food outlet. What chance then for those from the Mt. Druitt region when they don't have degrees or expertise or nice clothes or a stable home or confidence behind them, to help them compete ?

People blame welfare when they should instead ask why so many are forced onto welfare. And the answer to much of the problem lies in unemployment which in turn has been created by sell-out governments and their rush to sign free-trade agreements which have created massive employment and opportunities for India and China at the same time they've plunged once prosperous Western nations into poverty

Soon, National Geographic will be featuring graphic photos of Western poverty and degradation. And instead of charity-collectors asking you to donate to the poor in Africa, they'll be asking you to sponsor a 'poor Aussie kid' at $25 per month

And this is what generations of global capitalism has achieved, as sure as night follows day

I'm still astounded that people use the term ' flat screen TV' like there has been any other type for the last 8 yrs?

As for the program, are you really shocked with a title like that? It's like buying a tin of baked beans and being surprised that the contents tastes like beans that are baked.

As for Mt Druitt, I've been there quite a few times for work in an old job. Getting paid to go there was bad enough let alone spending personal time watching it on TV, flat or otherwise.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/A...33.7661974!3e0

You should help out over here. Add Mt D to the list.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/austr...-avoid-856014/

That is correct. There are countless examples of those who had under-privileged upbringings who have gone on to great things. I just need to look at my own father, who was brought up in a 2 bed house, with 5 other family members, where his own father was a child abusing alcoholic. My father left school at 13 along with his other siblings. All of which bar one went on to be successful business owners - the black sheep went on to become a priest - each to their own I guess.

The moral here is you are encouraging mediocrity when we should be encouraging excellence no matter what your upbringing is.

Yep, of course, we blame free trade agreements, we blame government sell outs, we blame anyone but ourselves. The fact is the world changes, it always has and it always will.

At the end of the day when they ask the 21 year old single mother of 3 why she doesn't work and she says - "well its just to hard to go out and find a job when I've got 3 kids to manage all on my own" ........ well sweetheart, who had those kids, not the government, not the cheap labour, not the miners repeaping massive profits - it was you and only you.

The fact is also that there are a whole section of the community that are effectively unemployable and have given up hope of ever getting out of places like the one shown. Every free trade agreement that ships jobs to SE Asia so someone can put another naught on their net worth helps to put them there.

No good trying to wash hands of the responsibility - or parrot the far, far rights canard of "they should just go and find a job".

And it's going to get so much worse.

Automation of driving jobs, automation of paralegal jobs, automation of finance jobs - all following on from the automation of farm and manufacturing jobs. We are headed for 50% unemployed and unemployable.

Hence, even though the far right will scream and scream, we are going to have to be looking at mincomes and the normalisation of 'benefits' - or face uprising and civil war.

We need to be planning and preparing now - since the future will arrive sooner than you expect.

It appears to be a rip off of U.K Ch4's Skint. A series that is close to my heart as I spent most of my working life working on the featured estates in Series 1 Scunthorpe & series 2 Grimsby. It shows the poorest areas in both series. I knew some of the participants from my time sub contracting to the local council.
It's nothing more than poverty porn.
On a side note I did chuckle when it was announced that Sacha Baron Cohen was making a film called Grimsby [link] He came to watch Grimsby town play Cambridge United, went to the local pub with the fans afterwards. When it came to filming the outdoor scenes though Grimsby just wasn't quite scummy enough so they chose to film in Tilbury lol Imagine the shame.