Stimulus payments still being sent out... even to backpackers that have gone home.

[catsnknots]

A STAGGERING 6000 people - including overseas backpackers - have received Labor's $900 "stimulus" payment since January 1- even though the global financial meltdown ended four years ago.

In a major dent to Labor's economic credibility, the costly government bungle means taxpayers will fork out more than $5 million in "tax bonus" payments in 2013.

A News Corp Australia investigation can reveal hordes of backpackers on "working holiday" visas received the one-off cash bonus - even though 5 million Australian workers missed out.

Despite the Rudd Government driving the budget $30 billion into deficit, nearly $40 million worth of "stimulus" cheques remain uncashed, the Australian Tax Office says.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/special-features/labor-continue-stimulus-payments-despite-global-...

I don't care if it is Tax Office policy I think the government could look into this and save some dollars... 

[lakeland27]

---

@newstart2380 wrote:

---

@lakeland27 wrote:

public servants and the computers they use have always made errors. from 2001 until  2008 one of my friends partners kept receiving letters concerning his death from the department of veterans affairs, even though he was still rowing every morning. govt depts have made errors for many years, so blaming the current govt is silly.. but not at all unexpected.

no wonder abbott is doing well with a nonstop 24hr a day bleep machine pumping out this bleep.

---

I think receiving letters is a little different to receiving the stimulus payouts, after all the cost of a stamp pales in significance to the amount paid to deceased people, dead dogs and back packers gone home.

If your friend kept receiving the letters why not visit the DVA and tell them to stop ? Lazy perhaps or just didn'y care. to waste his time.

---

 they contacted the dept on more than 80 occasions. they spoke to the minister at the time. it didn;t fix the problem.

uncashed cheques are uncashed.. meaning no money was handed over. veterans losing entitlements for being dead when they are in fact not would be of greater concern to any reasonable person .

[lakeland27]

''take you are NOT doing well under the Labor Govt LL... Things not going well with them in govt for you LL ?''

better. far better. i'd prefer a green government though as money isn't the main concern its the environment. its pointless having a healthy balance if the place is unlivable .

vote green in the senate.

[newstart2380]

---

@lakeland27 wrote:

---

@newstart2380 wrote:

---

@lakeland27 wrote:

public servants and the computers they use have always made errors. from 2001 until  2008 one of my friends partners kept receiving letters concerning his death from the department of veterans affairs, even though he was still rowing every morning. govt depts have made errors for many years, so blaming the current govt is silly.. but not at all unexpected.

no wonder abbott is doing well with a nonstop 24hr a day bleep machine pumping out this bleep.

---

I think receiving letters is a little different to receiving the stimulus payouts, after all the cost of a stamp pales in significance to the amount paid to deceased people, dead dogs and back packers gone home.

If your friend kept receiving the letters why not visit the DVA and tell them to stop ? Lazy perhaps or just didn'y care. to waste his time.

---

 they contacted the dept on more than 80 occasions. they spoke to the minister at the time. it didn;t fix the problem.

uncashed cheques are uncashed.. meaning no money was handed over. veterans losing entitlements for being dead when they are in fact not would be of greater concern to any reasonable person .

---

Then try number 81 and be more aggressive, I do agree with you that  " veterans losing entitlements for being dead when they are in fact not would be of greater concern to any reasonable person " You did not say he was receiving cheques you just said letters so that does clean up the confusion. Surley the DVA will see cheques not cashed when doing the yearly audit one would think ????? and look into it.

[i-need-a-martini]

What the Telegraph/Courier failed to mention this morning in this article is that these are employees who are recieving the money after they have worked and paid taxes in this country and lodged tax returns for work that they did while they were here in 2007 (I think it was?).

I suspect a very small proportion may have been backpackers who continued travelling so the ATO lost track of them but most would be ordinary people who earned salaries in this time frame but have lodged return late or haven't given correct addresse for refunds. I think this happens quite a bit with tax returns. It's a bit like the old fashioned dead letter office -  all this money sitting waiting to be collected that the ATO has a duty to return to owners.

It's not as if we are giving them the money "for nothing". It's actually money they were entitled to whilst they were working.

Another thing that the Murdoch daily news failed to mention is that the "x billion people" who did not get their bonus were on salaries above $100,000. 

[lakeland27]

---

@newstart2380 wrote:

---

@lakeland27 wrote:

---

@newstart2380 wrote:

---

@lakeland27 wrote:

public servants and the computers they use have always made errors. from 2001 until  2008 one of my friends partners kept receiving letters concerning his death from the department of veterans affairs, even though he was still rowing every morning. govt depts have made errors for many years, so blaming the current govt is silly.. but not at all unexpected.

no wonder abbott is doing well with a nonstop 24hr a day bleep machine pumping out this bleep.

---

I think receiving letters is a little different to receiving the stimulus payouts, after all the cost of a stamp pales in significance to the amount paid to deceased people, dead dogs and back packers gone home.

If your friend kept receiving the letters why not visit the DVA and tell them to stop ? Lazy perhaps or just didn'y care. to waste his time.

---

 they contacted the dept on more than 80 occasions. they spoke to the minister at the time. it didn;t fix the problem.

uncashed cheques are uncashed.. meaning no money was handed over. veterans losing entitlements for being dead when they are in fact not would be of greater concern to any reasonable person .

---

Then try number 81 and be more aggressive, I do agree with you that  " veterans losing entitlements for being dead when they are in fact not would be of greater concern to any reasonable person " You did not say he was receiving cheques you just said letters so that does clean up the confusion. Surley the DVA will see cheques not cashed when doing the yearly audit one would think ????? and look into it.

---

 no, the cheques i referred to were the stimulus cheques, the stimulus that prevented a major recession and mass unemployment.. the same stumulus package that had Mr Swan lauded as the best in the business (along with other measures.)

if the coalition had had their way we would have been in deep trouble, so its fortunate that the independents judged them more competent and backed them in 2010.

[monman12]

LL: "the amounts mentioned pale in comparison to other blunders.. costello lost 5bn selling Australia's gold reserves for one, and sold telstra which earned a lot of revenue on some bizarre principle that has proved to be a bleep."

Telstra would have  been privatised earlier but the reason it  was not was  because Labor opportunistically ( with union pressure) opposed privatisation, which was  hypocritical, given that the ALP, privatised Qantas, Commonwealth Bank and CSL.

"pale in comparison"  compared with      CBA & CSL, ?????   I bet the  CBA profits would be useful for the government now, not that any government is very good at running a profitable business.

It would appear that the ALP are not immune from "blunders"  and bizarre principles also LL:

20 August 2009
Future Fund sells 34% of its Telstra holding
The Future Fund Board of Guardians (the Board) has sold 684.4 million Telstra
shares at a price of $3.47 (gross proceeds $2.37 billion) through an underwritten
sale to institutional investors.

Lets see,  current price $5.10,  and since Aug. 2009 there has been a total of $1.26 in FF dividends ($1.80)

I kept and bought more of my Telstra shares at $2.80

 nɥºɾ

[lakeland27]

the sale of telstra may be a boon to investors, but quite the opposite for customers. as a state owned entity CBA i agree was worth keeping.. until the next coalition govt sold it and used it to pad out its so called surplus. so , the point is moot.

[silverfaun]

Once again we are treated to the delightful MM in the debunking of the LL defence of all things Labor.

Thank you MM for all your research & fine graphs that are what a political thread should be all about rather than the trolling back years to prop up some long lost dim memory of a Liberal govt.

I also want to thank you MM for your continuous debunking of the NBN co that seems to be the bailiwick of one  here who will not tolerate any criticism.

The contempory Labor party is what is being discussed on here, the day to day campaign & the negative spruiking from Rudd all day every day is what is happening NOW & is what is being discussed NOW.

[lurker17260]

So why do you and your ilk keep banging on about the wonderful Howard era? :smileysarcastic:  

[lakeland27]

here's one of the fine graphs Monman has treated us to in the last year silverfaun. indisputable, but the coalition say its bleep . its good to see some sense from the right here.. it gives hope to those who cling to the belief facts can prevail over newscorp.