Apologies to all whose comments were deleted - here is the full article from The Australian on Phil. THERE was just one rule when the boilermaker met the Treasurer to talk about the federal budget: no swearing. It was broken within minutes. The air turned blue in Ballarat as Joe Hockey talked to Phil Raker last week about the hard work of convincing Australians to accept cuts to family payments. “He basically said to me: ‘Look, you’re going to have to knuckle down’,” says Raker, 46, a father of five from Melbourne’s western suburbs. But Mr Raker knows more than most about hard labour. He spends his days as a blacksmith lifting tonnes of iron at a metal forge, earning $50,500 a year including overtime. He had no time for the Treasurer’s lament. “Listen — you’re not allowed to swear and I’m not allowed to swear,” Mr Raker told Mr Hockey at the meeting last week, according to the boilermaker’s own account yesterday. “We need to work this out properly,” Mr Raker continued. “It’s like two dogs barking on either side of the fence — we’re never going to agree. What we need to do is both of us get on one side of the fence and we’ll lick each others’ nads.” That drew a laugh from all sides, including John Madigan, the Democratic Labour Party senator who hosted the meeting in his office in Ballarat. Mr Raker is the human face of the fight over the fairness of the budget. He earns enough to cover the mortgage, pay off the car and pay school fees but he also relies on government benefits to make ends meet. His verdict on the budget is that it takes too much from ordinary workers while letting the rich off lightly. Mr Raker estimates the budget will cut $6000 from his government benefits by 2018 — about twice the size of what he thinks he should bear. His advice to Mr Hockey? “I said to him it takes a man to realise that the budget was wrong,” Mr Raker says. “Put less of a burden on me and more burden on them (the wealthy) and you’d get your policies through. Then you’ll be seen to be doing the right thing by everyone.” While Mr Raker feels he is carrying a burden meant for others, Mr Hockey argues that family benefits are putting too much of a load on taxpayers. The boilermaker says he gets about $20,500 in government benefits a year and pays about $8500 in tax, which means he receives $12,000 a year tax-free. But he is especially frustrated at surprise cuts to the supplements for each of his children and Mr Hockey’s decision to stop Family Tax Benefit Part B when children pass the age of six. “If he cut the harshness down by half, that’d be acceptable,” Mr Raker says. There were no promises from the Treasurer. Mr Hockey said he would look into the concerns. His office would not comment on the private talks. And while there was no meeting of minds on the federal budget, there was at least a grudging respect for the Treasurer despite the colourful language. “In a funny sort of way I felt sorry for him,” Mr Raker says. “He’s trying to do his best. I think he’s earning his money.”
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 05:50:55 +0000
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