Author: DokterW

If everything goes according to plan, as far as the government is concerned, Australia might end up with the highest retirement age in the world.

The suggested retirement age is 70, surpassing countries such as Greece, Iceland, Israel and Norway with their retirement age set at 67.

While in Sweden retirement age is set at 61, but if you feel like it, you can retire at 68. At least the Swedes have a fair choice.

The increase of the retirement age in Australia is due to how superannuation works— or doesn’t work if you will —at the moment.

When superannuation was first introduced in Australia in 1909-10 the retirement age for men was set at 65 and for women at 60. A time when life expectancy for men were about 58 and about 60 for women.

In other words, in 1909-10 you would be lucky if you managed to retire before you died — your sole purpose in life back then was— as it seemed —to work till you were six feet under before you retired and not becoming a burden on the government.

Former PM Paul Keating argued in a 2006 ABC interview that if the superannuation rate had been 15% since 1996 (minimum rate now is set at 9.25%), total superannuation assets in Australia would be approaching $2 trillion — almost double the current level.

On Twitter last year ALP made the bold statement that, “Australia’s superannuation system is the envy of the world.”

At that time I reached out to them and asked who they were referencing — no response (no surprise).

A quick search on Wikipedia shows that only Canada, USA, New Zealand and Hong Kong uses a similar superannuation scheme as Australia.

From that I can only assume that Australia’s superannuation is the envy of Canada, USA, New Zealand and Hong Kong — hardly the whole world I dare say.

It still raises the question, if Australia’s superannuation is allegedly the envy of the world, how can it be if the retirement age must be raised to compensate for its inability to properly fund the retirement of Australian workers?

Maybe they are going for the original strategy from 1909-10, hoping most workers will be six feet under before retirement age — the payment is much lower when you try to cash out before you’ve retired, as it is then subject to tax.Let us not worry though. Australia is the best country in the world, so this is just for the better. Instead of increasing the payment rate into a fund that has poor growth, controlled by the big banks in Australia, thanks to lack of competition, let us work till we die.

So why not set the retirement age to 80 and be done with it — Australians live so they can work, not work so they can live, right?

The government gave us Work Choices— thankfully repealed in 2007 —and now the recent Strong Choices. Maybe they should brand the increase of the retirement age as Life Choices. The perfect hat trick to show what this government thinks of its people — that we only have the choices they give us, not any rights.

<caption>Onwards to the past: Older people may work in less skilled jobs

 

Dr Jane Goodall recently turned 80 years and will be sharing her highlights of her career and life in Sydney, Melbourne and Beerwah the next coming months.

She is considered a leading expert on chimpanzees and has spent over 40 years studying their social and family interactions in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania.

Traveling the globe for 300 days per year, not only studying chimpanzees but also, as a determined and passionate conservationist, humanitarian and UN Messenger of Peace.

She will, without a doubt, enrich us with her life-long experience and exciting life journey through her live shows.

Live Show Dates
Jane Goodall – Celebrating her 80th Year, Hosted by Jennifer Byrne
Location: Sydney
Venue: Sydney Town Hall
Date: Saturday 31 May 2014

Jane Goodall – Celebrating her 80th Year, Hosted by Jennifer Byrne
Location: Melbourne
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall
Date: Thursday 5 June 2014

Jane Goodall – Celebrating her 80th Year, Live at Australia Zoo, Hosted by Ray Martin Featuring special guests Terri & Bindi Irwin
Location: Beerwah, Sunshine Coast
Venue: Australia Zoo
Date: Sunday 8 June 2014

Tickets available through TICKETMASTER: www.ticketmaster.com.au

For more info about Dr Jane Goodall, visit the Jane Goodall Institute

Heritage Bank unveiled their top-secret project The Heritage Power Suit yesterday in Brisbane.

Made from 100% Superfine Australian Merino Wool by Australian tailor M.J. Bale, overseen by Japanese master tailor Kenichi Kaneko.

The Heritage Power Suit has a built-in Visa payWave chip in the sleeve, which is connected to your Heritage Bank account.

All you need to do is wave your arm to make a payment.

One out of the twelve prototype suits will be auctioned on Ebay and all the proceeds made from the auction will go to Mat Rogers’ 4 ASD Kids charity.

M.J. Bale CEO Matt Jenson says the most powerful men don’t carry wallets and the suit will allow you to be ahead of the technology game and look top notch.

“This suit allows you to join their ranks.”

“M.J. Bale has always been a brand for stylish gentlemen, the prototype means the wearer doesn’t need to ruin the cut of their trousers or jacket with a bulky wallet.”

Heritage Bank CEO John Minz says we all live incredibly fast lives, yet still want to look good and use cutting-edge technology.

“We are all about enriching people’s lives by embracing such new technology and finding innovative ways to help them do their banking.”

“Forgetting your wallet will now be impossible.”

Visit the Ebay auction here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261452304995

Learn more about the suit here: http://www.heritage.com.au/powersuit

Learn more about 4 ASD Kids here: http://www.4asdkids.com

Once again we have taken a stand to limit carbon dioxide emissions — a stand that only lasted one hour.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then we have failed. So to be sure you know what I’m blabbering about— and will continue to do so —I’ll tell you now.

Earth Hour was once again held on Saturday this weekend. It has been going on since 2007, on the last Saturday in March. Started by WWF Australia; backed by Fairfax and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore its first year.

In 2008 it became an international event that has gathered a lot of traction. Always getting covered in the media and by social media with great enthusiasm.

Weirdly enough, as someone that reads the news daily, I didn’t notice any mention of it on Saturday. Usually when I eventually drag myself out of bed, eyes barely open and clutching a cup of coffee, Earth Hour would be one of the top stories I would encounter.

Not this year tho. I only got reminded about it by chance when someone I follow on Twitter mentioned it the day before. If I hadn’t read that tweet, I would be non the wiser about Earth Hour this year.

I think we should take that as a sign that it’s time to take a new approach— up the game a bit —and maybe accept that it has very little effect on carbon dioxide emissions.

During Earth Hour it seems to be popular to light a few candles so we don’t sit in complete darkness. The issue with using candles is that they are petroleum-based. In other words, not that environmentally friendly — nor are they energy efficient.

Environmentalist Bjørn Lomborg wrote in The Australian that, “candles are almost 100 times less efficient than incandescent light bulbs, and more than 300 times less efficient than fluorescent lights. Light one candle and it will emit as much CO2 as you were saving. Light a bunch of candles and you’ll have emitted much more CO2. So Earth Hour may actually increase CO2 emissions.”

Not forgetting that most light bulbs and electrical appliances uses an extra jolt of electricity when powered on.

His criticism doesn’t stop there. He also claims it mocks the poor.

“While more than a billion people across the globe make a symbol of forgoing non-essential electrical power for one hour a year, another 1.3 billion people across the developing world will continue to live without electricity as they do every other night of the year. Almost three billion people still burn dung, twigs and other traditional fuels indoors to cook and keep warm. These fuels give off noxious fumes that kill an estimated 3.5 million people each year, mostly women and children.”

I have to admit, that the first time I came across Earth Hour I did participate. But I also remember when that hour had past, the lights and the TV got turned on again, as if it had never happened — but I felt good about participating.

There lies the issue with Earth Hour. There is so much focus on participating one hour once a year that we think, as long as I participate that one hour I’ve made my contribution — my hands are clean and no-one can say I’m not doing my bit for the environment.

It is the perfect textbook example of [slacktivism][4]. We sit at home, turn off our lights and electrical appliances for an hour and stroke our egos raw online — I’ve done my bit, have you?

Completely oblivious to the fact that the majority of us actually turn of our lights and electrical appliances every night for at least six hours. In other words, we have six Earth Hours every night year after year. That one Earth Hour a year were we might burn petroleum-based candles do nothing, other than possibly create more carbon dioxide emissions.

There is of course no denying it when it comes to campaigning, Earth Hour is extremely successful. It hasn’t only engaged people online, but also governments around the world. But it seems to fail in keeping the engagement going for longer than that one hour a year.

As I mentioned earlier, it is prudent that we figure out how to keep people engaged more than that one hour a year if we want to have a positive impact on our climate.

Not only that. We need to figure out how to take more action than flicking a switch.

Switching off your lights for an hour, once a year, is too easy. We should be expected to do more than that.

Last week we journalists could do nothing but hang our heads in shame. The coverage of March in March was abysmal by the mainstream media (MSM).

When I heard that March in March Gold Coast was set for Saturday 22, I hoped to read about it the same day it was happening.

I guess such an anticipation falls under the category, wishful thinking. I could not find any coverage of it that day, other than via Twitter from those attending the march.

I have spent this morning trying to find any mention of it in any MSM outlet — nothing.

The chance of seeing pigs fly past my window seems a bit more likely next time around.

In other words, going by the old proverb, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound, it is fair to ask, did March in March Gold Coast really happen?

It might seem a bit frivolous to claim that the media has failed by not covering March in March, but it actually shows the power the media has.

If an event is not covered by the media, to those who solely rely on the media to keep them informed, it can easily seem as nothing has actually happened.

Journalism is often said to be the first draft of history.

If this kind of writing of history continues, journalism will easily end up writing its own history. Known as the time journalists tried to write history, as in produce it as they see fit, instead of reporting what is happening before their eyes — failing to keep the public informed of what is truly going on in our society.

With that said, it is often difficult to cover everything going on, but when it becomes a bit too obvious what is not covered— i.e. ignored —it then becomes indefensible.

I hope and believe we are better than that.

Featured image credit: Bindi

I think it was 2009, maybe even 2010, but as always, it was a sunny day in Brisbane. The missus and I were driving on Coronation Drive, heading into the CBD.

To my left I noticed a small group of people holding some signs — maybe six or eight people. Trying to get everyone’s attention. I couldn’t make out what the signs said, but it seemed like an attempt at a protest.

Is that a protest, I asked the missus. Yeah, that’s a typical Brisbane protest, she responded, they don’t protest like they do in Europe.

Since then I have always tried to attend a few protests as a reporter. Mostly to provide coverage for Westender, while also live-reporting using Twitter, but also to try to give the public a voice.

Unfortunately that has left me with a very bland taste in my mouth that is easy to forget.

When you turn up to a protest that around 1,000 people on Facebook has said they would come and support, but instead you suddenly find yourself having to search for it because only five people showed up — you kind of stop believing the hype.

This is why I didn’t go to Brisbane to have a gander at the March in March event yesterday. I just didn’t believe that it would attract enough people. Sure, on Facebook over 5,000 (when I looked) said they would attend.

Ever heard the story about the boy who cried wolf?

That is what happened to me yesterday. Too many times I’ve heard that cheeky boy cry wolf. Then, when I come running with notepad and camera in hand, all I see is him grinning at me.

Haha! Made you show your face again you gullible boofhead.

But I stand corrected. Apparently about 2,000 people showed up at the March in March event in Brisbane on Sunday.

If I hear that cheeky boy cry wolf again, I’ll still show my face. But he better not be sticking around if there is no wolf for me to see.

In a twisted way I guess you can say that Tony Abbott and Campbell Newman must be doing something right if they manage to gather about 2,000 people — even though the marchers came to rally against them.

Featured image credit: Jan Bowman