31 January 2013

Schools kids bonus handouts in Canberra?

| Soapaz
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School kids bonus… Paid twice in a year to help cover the costs in sending our precious kids to school in a hope they gain a respectable education and not be on the dole system when they leave and enter the adulthood.

So, I received mine for two of my precious angels, one starting year 7 and another in year 9.
Over the past couple of weeks in receiving this generous payment, I have entered many shops… School uniforms, book packs, shoes, bags, etc…. Which I can safely say… I am so glad that’s all over now… And bring on the school year!

Nothing so far you say… Well, my confusion is….

How many parents out there actually spent this generous amount of money on their kids? I may be wrong… But in all the times spent in the required shops to fulfill the requirements of the school year… I have only seem to have met parents with kids in private education or working parents taking time out of their working day to gather all the required gear. Not one have I seen parents of a non-working background shopping for their little ones.

Scary to think where that bonus went in the last few weeks….

Again, I maybe too enclosed in my own stresses of getting everything ready for my teens to really see my full surroundings…

Now, Ms Gillard changed our educational tax refund to cater for all parents with enrolled students whether working or not and made sure that this generous amount of cash gets to all enrolled students… Said “there seem to be too much cash in the tax system that people aren’t claiming correctly or at all”…. Now, wouldnt that create alarm bells in your minds as tax payers??

Because to my understanding, claiming the educational tax refund, you require certain paperwork ie: receipts, and declaring incomes as such….

If there is cash still sitting in that educational tax pool… Then wouldn’t that mean….

    1. Parents are claiming the wrong benefits and/or incorrect entitlements… Hence they do not want to go declaring incomes to stuff up their benefits so they do not bother to do a tax return?

    2. Parents have not enrolled their kiddies as required by law and couldn’t be bothered dealing with the consequences of child protections etc.

Before, any rioters out there start back lashing my post or offer opinions… I am just stating my confusion.

(for your information…. I am a working single parent with two teen kids, more than happy to want to bring the old education tax refund back and knowing that what I invest in my children when it comes to education is helped along with justifications, rather than a straight handout from the very tax system us all working people contribute towards each and every working hour we do).

And by the way…. The $820 I received for my teens didn’t even cover everything needed for the school year…. So awaiting my next installment :p especially when uniforms alone was $568 and the rest….

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wildturkeycanoe6:16 am 02 Feb 13

YeahBuddy said :

Can we start a poll with this thread?

I used my SchoolKids Bonus to cover my kids back to school costs
I used mine to subsidise my smokes and beers
It’s none of your f*cking business how I spent it

+1, Poll me!!

Watson said :

Madam Cholet said :

Firstly, I am a mother of one under-school aged child.

What is an ‘under-school’ and was I supposed to send my child there too? 😉

It’s where the underclass send their children?

Masquara said :

schmeah said :

My mother cleaned houses for a living and my dad was a factory hand and I went to a private school ..

What type of private school? A Catholic school? A factory hand and cleaner wage combined couldn’t stump up for one of the elite schools.

Well thank you for your concern but no. It was a private college not associated with the catholic church. The fees back then were around $13K a year (now upwards of $20K) .. we used hand-me-down uniforms from day 1. To this day I still don’t know how they did it, I can only imagine that they re-mortgaged the house at some stage, so yeah.

Watson said :

Masquara said :

poetix said :

This payment does not go to ‘all parents with enrolled students whether working or not…’ You already have to be receiving some government assistance (even if that’s the Family Tax Benefit). In other words, it cuts out if your income is above a certain level. As it should.

Cuts out ridiculously high. Should be cut out altogether other than for folks on welfare welfare – not middleclass welfare …

$101,458 if you have 1 child.

If you only provide to people on newstart or a pension, you don’t need it as a separate payment. You just need to increase the payment rates for those payments.

I receive FTB A and am eternally grateful for that. What is middle class anyway? Is it anyone who has a job? Does it depend on what kind of job? Or is it based on income?

Yes, Watson, you are right. I had just glanced at the table for Family Tax Benefit A and saw a figure of $228,381, which, checking again, is the cut out rate for those with three or more children under 12. One child payment does indeed cut out at the rate you mention.

I do not think that anyone on (just below) $228,381 should get government assistance of any sort. (Except the kind we all get, such as subsidised medicines, access to schools, etc.)

The questions you raise about the definition of middle class are interesting. I am unsure at what level there should be no government assistance, except it should be well below $228 K, regardless of the number of children.

Can we start a poll with this thread?

I used my SchoolKids Bonus to cover my kids back to school costs
I used mine to subsidise my smokes and beers
It’s none of your f*cking business how I spent it

Masquara said :

poetix said :

This payment does not go to ‘all parents with enrolled students whether working or not…’ You already have to be receiving some government assistance (even if that’s the Family Tax Benefit). In other words, it cuts out if your income is above a certain level. As it should.

Cuts out ridiculously high. Should be cut out altogether other than for folks on welfare welfare – not middleclass welfare …

$101,458 if you have 1 child.

If you only provide to people on newstart or a pension, you don’t need it as a separate payment. You just need to increase the payment rates for those payments.

I receive FTB A and am eternally grateful for that. What is middle class anyway? Is it anyone who has a job? Does it depend on what kind of job? Or is it based on income?

Madam Cholet said :

Firstly, I am a mother of one under-school aged child.

What is an ‘under-school’ and was I supposed to send my child there too? 😉

schmeah said :

My mother cleaned houses for a living and my dad was a factory hand and I went to a private school ..

What type of private school? A Catholic school? A factory hand and cleaner wage combined couldn’t stump up for one of the elite schools.

This post is more insulting that Abbott’s address to the press club yesterday.

Honestly, can you be everywhere all the time to know what people are doing with their money? And how can you differentiate people who send their kids to private schools from others? My mother cleaned houses for a living and my dad was a factory hand and I went to a private school .. and they didn’t get hand-outs to send me there, even though the uniforms for my sister and I alone would have cost them a combined fortnightly/monthly salary. I’m totally gobsmacked by your sense of entitlement.

Your post reeks of class elitism and your effort to nullify it all by saying “I’m a single working parent” is sickening. Lots of parents out there are doing it tough use that money for school items and maybe to put food on the table as well.

If you care so much about the government coffers, hand back your cash-splash.

Chop71 said :

I think most people would/should prefer lower taxes than a school kids hand out.

We have a tax and transfer system. The whole point is that it seeks to target transfers where they are needed.

There are plenty of giveaways for the wealthy (concessional rates on capital gains tax, superannuation and family trusts). Super is being addressed, but last year was the biggest single tax concession ($30bn)

http://www.smh.com.au/business/supers-tax-concession-blowout-comes-at-a-cost-20130131-2dnhj.html

It is worth reading these fairly short pieces by Peter Whiteford, which give some perspective on Australia’s tax & transfer system

http://theconversation.edu.au/for-richer-or-poorer-the-delicate-art-of-messing-with-middle-class-welfare-1560

http://inside.org.au/how-fair-is-australia’s-welfare-state/

The take home messages?

Australia redistributes more to the poorest fifth of the population than virtually any other OECD country

For families in paid work we have one of the lowest rates of child poverty in the OECD: the family benefit system is an essential way in which we help “make work pay”.

Australia has the most “target efficient” system of social security benefits of any OECD country. For each dollar of spending on benefits our system reduces income inequality by about 50 per cent more than the United States, Denmark or Norway, twice as much as Korea, two and a half times as much as Japan or Italy, and three times as much as France.

… in 2007, the year before the global financial crisis, Australia spent 16 per cent of GDP on cash benefits (including pensions and unemployment payments, healthcare and community services) compared to an OECD average of just over 19 per cent. We actually spent a little less than the United States and Japan, and the only countries that spent substantially less than we did were lower-income countries like Mexico, Chile, Turkey and Korea.

Australia actually has the lowest level of middle-class welfare of any OECD country, a position it has consistently held for at least the past thirty years.

Australia has the lowest level of churning of any OECD country except Korea – and Korea only has lower churning because it has very little at all in the way of welfare payments.

This is a non-issue.

wildturkeycanoe9:16 pm 31 Jan 13

Poor baby. Ours aren’t teens but the ages where they grow every 3 months. That means buying school uniforms x3 if we can’t “hand-me-down”. The eldest has become school captain so that means buying “logo’d” shirts now, at $22 a pop. To save money we had to buy size 16 [but also out of necessity – darn puberty”, so that he won’t grow out of them. Unfortunately the youngest can’t wear skorts or skirts, so he’ll have to get new shorts too. Then we have the winter blues to contend with!!!!
BLAH,BLAH,BLAH, we can all whinge about how much we spend, but placing judgement on those who are creative at cutting the dollars by being scrooges does not win the single parent any bonus points. Who knows, maybe the other parents of the lower class have spent the gov dollars on FOOD and PETROL??
The old system is gone, as is the first home buyers scheme, but we survive and look forward to the next promise by both parties.

poetix said :

This payment does not go to ‘all parents with enrolled students whether working or not…’ You already have to be receiving some government assistance (even if that’s the Family Tax Benefit). In other words, it cuts out if your income is above a certain level. As it should.

Cuts out ridiculously high. Should be cut out altogether other than for folks on welfare welfare – not middleclass welfare …

pptvb said :

DrKoresh said :

pptvb said :

I have 3 kids at school, 2 in High school….& never receive a cent.
Nice for some!

If only you were disadvantaged enough to get money from the government. Poor people get all the breaks.

I’m just “luckier” than them.
60 hrs a week, 50 weeks a year gets me “luck”.
Maybe I should relax and develop a sense of entitlement too?

Sounds to me like you’ve done a pretty good job of that already.

aceofspades said :

Maybe that is why I am not a politician. Fine, just have the money spent on cigarettes, alcohol and poker machines, that’s a much better idea Senator Koresh.

So you’re a stupid bigot making sweeping generalisations. Your idea makes much more sense in that context.

I think most people would/should prefer lower taxes than a school kids hand out.

DrKoresh said :

pptvb said :

I have 3 kids at school, 2 in High school….& never receive a cent.
Nice for some!

If only you were disadvantaged enough to get money from the government. Poor people get all the breaks.

I’m just “luckier” than them.
60 hrs a week, 50 weeks a year gets me “luck”.
Maybe I should relax and develop a sense of entitlement too?

Madam Cholet said :

Firstly, I am a mother of one under-school aged child. I receive the Child Care Tax Rebate ONLY. NOTHING ELSE. We are thankfully able to get-by without any other assistance – and for this, I count us very lucky indeed. I have sincerely appreciated the Governments efforts to assist with our child-care fees – we pay about $20k a year and get back $7500. Still 12500k out of pocket – and for that I could send him to a good private school. (Cue all the ‘stay at home then’ comments). It makes much better financial sense for us to both work. If we didn’t WE’D BE POOR AS WELL.

However, most of the respondents here are forgetting that those with higher salaries are in turn payers of higher taxes. I have paid taxes in this country for 20 years, my husband for longer. Is it your right therefore to say that they should not get anything back by way of ‘services’ or ‘assistance’? Perhaps things should be more means tested with a sliding scale depending on what you earn, but the long and short of it is, is that the higher earners prop up the lower earners and those totally dependent on welfare.

Take away the ‘welfare’ from the middle classes and you create people with less disposable income – a lot of people would exit the workforce entirely, thus creating a skills shortage – and then they’d need more WELFARE. Money does make the world go round. Less money in the economy, means less money taken in taxes. Less taxes means reduced services – for all.

It’s a total fallacy that the young apprentice is paying for the rebates for the middle class. If the apprentice earned a motza and paid tonnes of tax, then yes, perhaps, but an apprentice who is taxed at a lower rate and receives subsidised education and tax breaks on setting himself up with tools etc…no.

I personally agree that the refunds should be more targeted where they can be – i.e. means tested, or with some mechanism to ensure responsibility, and I don’t understand why the OP has posted here, however it does require more thought than the usual ‘cut middle class welfare, and give it to the poor’ cries when someone raises the issue.

Its not about providing welfare, its about handing cash to people who then still cry poor. All the welfare we hand out could provide better schooling and health, reducing the burden on families to pay for these things as well.

Also welfare like the first home owners grant and childcare rebate, just drive the costs up due to an increase in demand. I grew up in a family where initially my mum stayed at home and then worked part time when we all were at school. We couldn’t have everything, but we all grew up and got jobs etc.

Whereas today the tendency is to milk the government for whatever they can get and cry foul when its not enough. I don’t mind helping people to help themselves, but i despise handing cash out to be spent however they feel like it.

inlymbo said :

Thought this was a strange post then saw this……

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/abbott-flags-axing-of-student-bonus-20130131-2dmgx.html

Strange coincidence.

What is strange about it? There are many, many people without student children who are paying via their taxes to give “families” a leg up. There was no such thing when I had kids to educate.

IF Abbott cuts the “middle class welfare” (for people with children) I very much doubt it would make a difference. In fact, I suspect that some people with NO KIDS would vote for him on that, alone!

inlymbo said :

Thought this was a strange post then saw this……

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/abbott-flags-axing-of-student-bonus-20130131-2dmgx.html

Strange coincidence.

So soapaz is either a Liberal stooge or a smelly geek running Persona Management Software?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/feb/23/need-to-protect-internet-from-astroturfing

If so, those enthusiastically endorsing the OP, you got played.

aceofspades said :

DrKoresh said :

aceofspades said :

Give the money to the schools to decide where it is spent instead of the parents.

Genius! Except it would be a logistical nightmare. Also. this bonus isn’t to pay solely for school supplies etc, but to help ease the financial strain of having school-aged kids. Besides, I don’t know how long it’s been since you were at school, but they would don’t do a terribly good job of addressing the needs of individual students. You really think stuff like uniforms and lunches are handled better by people other than a child’s parents?

I agree that schools are under-funded, but your solution is crap, to put it simply.

It is just an idea,

DrKoresh said :

aceofspades said :

Give the money to the schools to decide where it is spent instead of the parents.

Genius! Except it would be a logistical nightmare. Also. this bonus isn’t to pay solely for school supplies etc, but to help ease the financial strain of having school-aged kids. Besides, I don’t know how long it’s been since you were at school, but they would don’t do a terribly good job of addressing the needs of individual students. You really think stuff like uniforms and lunches are handled better by people other than a child’s parents?

I agree that schools are under-funded, but your solution is crap, to put it simply.

Maybe that is why I am not a politician. Fine, just have the money spent on cigarettes, alcohol and poker machines, that’s a much better idea Senator Koresh.

Give yourself an uppercut for not addressing the whole of government welfare paradigm in a short, simple riotact post. Shame on you.

thebrownstreak691:04 pm 31 Jan 13

Roundhead89 said :

vet111 said :

thebrownstreak69 said :

More middle class welfare. Time to get rid of it all.

Except it’s not middle class welfare, it’s discriminatory and directly targeted at a certain exclusive ‘club’ that not everyone can join.

I’m sick of subsidising breeders – it seems the only way to catch a break here is by popping out a kid. I really wish the government would wake up and acknowledge that any more than one child per family is a lifestyle choice, and parents should have to fund it as such.

The worst part of it all is that Tony Abbott – rather than following conservative ideology and promising to cut back welfare – actually wants to bring in *more* middle class welfare. His paid maternity leave scheme is an example, and the Libs screamed and yelled when Rudd and Gillard tried reining in the precious Baby Bonus. Malcolm Turnbull accused critics of the Baby Bonus of practicing “the politics of envy”, while Abbott himself criticised Labor for using the term “middle class welfare” saying it “provides incentive”.

You want to turn this into a political whinge? Who gives a s*** who said what – just get rid of it. It costs a bloody fortune and we already have one of the best standard of living in the world.

Madam Cholet1:04 pm 31 Jan 13

Firstly, I am a mother of one under-school aged child. I receive the Child Care Tax Rebate ONLY. NOTHING ELSE. We are thankfully able to get-by without any other assistance – and for this, I count us very lucky indeed. I have sincerely appreciated the Governments efforts to assist with our child-care fees – we pay about $20k a year and get back $7500. Still 12500k out of pocket – and for that I could send him to a good private school. (Cue all the ‘stay at home then’ comments). It makes much better financial sense for us to both work. If we didn’t WE’D BE POOR AS WELL.

However, most of the respondents here are forgetting that those with higher salaries are in turn payers of higher taxes. I have paid taxes in this country for 20 years, my husband for longer. Is it your right therefore to say that they should not get anything back by way of ‘services’ or ‘assistance’? Perhaps things should be more means tested with a sliding scale depending on what you earn, but the long and short of it is, is that the higher earners prop up the lower earners and those totally dependent on welfare.

Take away the ‘welfare’ from the middle classes and you create people with less disposable income – a lot of people would exit the workforce entirely, thus creating a skills shortage – and then they’d need more WELFARE. Money does make the world go round. Less money in the economy, means less money taken in taxes. Less taxes means reduced services – for all.

It’s a total fallacy that the young apprentice is paying for the rebates for the middle class. If the apprentice earned a motza and paid tonnes of tax, then yes, perhaps, but an apprentice who is taxed at a lower rate and receives subsidised education and tax breaks on setting himself up with tools etc…no.

I personally agree that the refunds should be more targeted where they can be – i.e. means tested, or with some mechanism to ensure responsibility, and I don’t understand why the OP has posted here, however it does require more thought than the usual ‘cut middle class welfare, and give it to the poor’ cries when someone raises the issue.

DrKoresh said :

aceofspades said :

Give the money to the schools to decide where it is spent instead of the parents.

Genius! Except it would be a logistical nightmare. Also. this bonus isn’t to pay solely for school supplies etc, but to help ease the financial strain of having school-aged kids. Besides, I don’t know how long it’s been since you were at school, but they would don’t do a terribly good job of addressing the needs of individual students. You really think stuff like uniforms and lunches are handled better by people other than a child’s parents?

I agree that schools are under-funded, but your solution is crap, to put it simply.

It is just an idea,

DrKoresh said :

aceofspades said :

Give the money to the schools to decide where it is spent instead of the parents.

Genius! Except it would be a logistical nightmare. Also. this bonus isn’t to pay solely for school supplies etc, but to help ease the financial strain of having school-aged kids. Besides, I don’t know how long it’s been since you were at school, but they would don’t do a terribly good job of addressing the needs of individual students. You really think stuff like uniforms and lunches are handled better by people other than a child’s parents?

I agree that schools are under-funded, but your solution is crap, to put it simply.

Maybe that is why I am not a politician. Fine, just have the money spent on cigarettes, alcohol and poker machines, that’s a much better idea Senator Koresh.

aceofspades said :

Give the money to the schools to decide where it is spent instead of the parents.

Genius! Except it would be a logistical nightmare. Also. this bonus isn’t to pay solely for school supplies etc, but to help ease the financial strain of having school-aged kids. Besides, I don’t know how long it’s been since you were at school, but they would don’t do a terribly good job of addressing the needs of individual students. You really think stuff like uniforms and lunches are handled better by people other than a child’s parents?

I agree that schools are under-funded, but your solution is crap, to put it simply.

pptvb said :

I have 3 kids at school, 2 in High school….& never receive a cent.
Nice for some!

If only you were disadvantaged enough to get money from the government. Poor people get all the breaks.

vet111 said :

thebrownstreak69 said :

More middle class welfare. Time to get rid of it all.

Except it’s not middle class welfare, it’s discriminatory and directly targeted at a certain exclusive ‘club’ that not everyone can join.

I’m sick of subsidising breeders – it seems the only way to catch a break here is by popping out a kid. I really wish the government would wake up and acknowledge that any more than one child per family is a lifestyle choice, and parents should have to fund it as such.

The worst part of it all is that Tony Abbott – rather than following conservative ideology and promising to cut back welfare – actually wants to bring in *more* middle class welfare. His paid maternity leave scheme is an example, and the Libs screamed and yelled when Rudd and Gillard tried reining in the precious Baby Bonus. Malcolm Turnbull accused critics of the Baby Bonus of practicing “the politics of envy”, while Abbott himself criticised Labor for using the term “middle class welfare” saying it “provides incentive”.

Buy the votes with lower taxes

I have 3 kids at school, 2 in High school….& never receive a cent.
Nice for some!

thebrownstreak69 said :

More middle class welfare. Time to get rid of it all.

Except it’s not middle class welfare, it’s discriminatory and directly targeted at a certain exclusive ‘club’ that not everyone can join.

I’m sick of subsidising breeders – it seems the only way to catch a break here is by popping out a kid. I really wish the government would wake up and acknowledge that any more than one child per family is a lifestyle choice, and parents should have to fund it as such.

When these payments were done as a tax refund you could only claim 50% of the cost of each item. If you’re doing it tough I reckon you’re much less likely to spend enough to qualify for the full rebate, which you don’t get until the tax return is processed 6 months later.

Like the Howard Governments “Medicare Safety Net” which favoured the wealthy, as they were much more likely to have the money to purchase expensive medical services and thus exceed the safety net cut-off

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1203594.htm

With regards to not seeing people purchasing supplies, our (government) school runs a second hand uniform pool, which anyone is welcome to access for a gold coin donation. We also have a uniform shop. Book/stationary packs are ordered through the school.

This post says more about the OP than anyone it is seeking to disparage.

My kids love watching ABC2, shows like Sesame Street, Banana’s etc, all very educational…. which mind you would have not been possible if not for the Givt’s Baby Bonus…

THANKYOU COMM GOV, FOR MY NEW 52′ HD LCD TV, AND MY KICK AS 7CH SURROUND SOUND!

The Sesame Street theme song sounds sick with full bass!! Ommph OOmph… Thats how you get to Sesame Street!

SupaSal said :

Been into a Supermarket of Late – they sell most back to School Stuff – some kids still fit into last years clothing.

My husband and I are childless but if it helps kids get the things they need for school I say pay the School kid bonus. Maybe it might help get them above the poverty line and make better for themselves.

Give the money to the schools to decide where it is spent instead of the parents.

Watson said :

how do you tell a working parent from a non-working parent? And which shops did you go to.

It would appear the OP has some sort of deluded stereotype of what non-working parents look like. They were probably on the look out for a women in track pants and a fat balding man with dirty white singlet and shorts, with cigarettes and shirtless kid in tow.

The fact that they didn’t see them can only mean they must be sitting at home blowing their education bonus on booze and smokes.

Rollersk8r said :

What a bizarre post! Your key complaint is not seeing enough desperately poor people buying school stuff??

No, the complaint is that the money is not being spent on “school stuff” but instead going into the local clubs poker machines.

thebrownstreak69 said :

More middle class welfare. Time to get rid of it all.

+1

But I won’t hold my breath. There are votes to bought, and all parties try to outbid each other.

Rollersk8r said :

What a bizarre post! Your key complaint is not seeing enough desperately poor people buying school stuff??

+1

What are you, some kind of auditor of government payments?

WTF?! Someone has a bee in their bonnet and blames the poor people who drink all the money that they’re supposed to spend on their feral kids.

Two questions: how do you tell a working parent from a non-working parent? And which shops did you go to. Judging from the figure you quote for uniform stuff they’ll grow out off in months, it definitely wasn’t Best and Less indeed.

Been into a Supermarket of Late – they sell most back to School Stuff – some kids still fit into last years clothing.

My husband and I are childless but if it helps kids get the things they need for school I say pay the School kid bonus. Maybe it might help get them above the poverty line and make better for themselves.

What a bizarre post! Your key complaint is not seeing enough desperately poor people buying school stuff??

davo101 said :

School kids bonus… Paid twice in a year to help cover the costs in sending our precious kids to school…

ROFL.

School kids bonus…paid to voters with children in an attempt to keep or get them voting Labor (See Howard government for an earlier example of the practice).

Couldn’t agree more. Baby bonus is a good example as well. We’ll complain about corruption of aid funds to africa, yet we hand it out to ourselves all the time and I bet a lot of it isn’t spent on what it is intended for. Then again as you state the real intention is to win votes 🙂

Conan of Cooma9:31 am 31 Jan 13

The bonus was a little late for us, as the eldest has already gone back to school. So we just use it as a reimbursement. Mind you, $168 doesn’t go very far.

Did you go shopping at KMart, BigW or Target ?

Coz I think you’ll find those 3 stores as well as Best & Less have been getting a nice cash injection curtesy of the Guv’ments school handout.

Oh and for the record I know parents who have managed to buy books, stationery, new backpacks, lunch boxes and ‘uniforms’ (eg track suits from said shops) for less than $200 a child.

thebrownstreak699:13 am 31 Jan 13

More middle class welfare. Time to get rid of it all.

If there is cash still sitting in that educational tax pool… Then wouldn’t that mean….

1. Parents are claiming the wrong benefits and/or incorrect entitlements… Hence they do not want to go declaring incomes to stuff up their benefits so they do not bother to do a tax return?
2. Parents have not enrolled their kiddies as required by law and couldn’t be bothered dealing with the consequences of child protections etc.

Or 3, parents can’t be bothered going through the all the effort of chasing down a government handout when they’ve got better things to do, and as such don’t receive the benefit.

“And by the way…. The $820 I received for my teens didn’t even cover everything needed for the school year…”

And rightly so, why should I and everyone else have to fully subsidise your private and expensive decision to have kids.

This payment does not go to ‘all parents with enrolled students whether working or not…’ You already have to be receiving some government assistance (even if that’s the Family Tax Benefit). In other words, it cuts out if your income is above a certain level. As it should.

I wouldn’t loose two much sleep. Who sayz youse need a good edukashun anyways? I dun orright….

School kids bonus… Paid twice in a year to help cover the costs in sending our precious kids to school…

ROFL.

School kids bonus…paid to voters with children in an attempt to keep or get them voting Labor (See Howard government for an earlier example of the practice).

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