Help Protect Australia (and New Zealand)?

mysteron347

Well, I have been able to re-arrange my situation - it's simply a matter of re-defining and going through the hoops set up by the government. In consequence, I'm now a "self-funded retiree" which means I'm accessing my superannuation savings to derive some money to live on, but I'm not eligible for 'pensioner rates' so I still have to pay full whack whilst living on a fixed income.

I've been able to withdraw the property I had from sale, so I can sell it at a time to suit me, when the current glut on the market subsides.

What I should be doing is using my talents and education to derive an income to bolster my superannuation savings, and pay tax, and be useful to the community by providing services to (and demand on) companies or government. I'm being prevented from doing so by the government which allows 'recruitment agents' to import the skills that I could provide without even as much as advertising locally.

I'm 57 and have had my talents wasted for the past 10 years, and it appears they will continue to be squandered for the next ten until I become a real, official, OAP. I can survive because I've learned to do without and I started from a secure base. Others I know in the same business have been forced to leave IT and become 'security guards' or run instant printing shops and the like.

I can only speak about IT - I'm sure that there are other industries similarly affected.

And once when I attended an interview for a government scheme to get over-45s working, it was suggested that I become a security guard. Fine use of my 4-year IT degree and my 4-yr (P/T) certificate in Electronics. All I had to do was to study for a mere two years to become a doddering old rent-a-cop.

Why can't I work in the industry for which I was trained and have the experience? Why do we need to import people to be trained in what I already know and then train me for something in which I have neither talent nor interest? Wouldn't it make more sense to train the imports as rent-a-cops, if we really need them?

The fundamental point is that migrants in the past were brought in by the government because we had a lack of talent in some areas. We should not be in the situation that we are importing skills that we actually have in excess, simply because the recruiters make more money that way. The recruiters and the education lobby are creating the illusion of shortages and the politicians are hyping their subterfuge.

We should import skills we truly need - and it doesn't matter where we do that recruitment. We should not import skills we already have in excess. A Royal Commission should be established to enquire about the entire recruitment industry.