Justis,That is exactly the response that i was expecting. The...

Justis,
That is exactly the response that i was expecting. The povity is the problem caused by the poor. Our welfare system only caters for the existence fof the poor. Quite obviously you have not sent your childern to a public school or stood in the que at a public hospital for hours whist your child is suffering and crying and trying to breath.
The USA model has nothing to do with Aus. it has to do with the democracy here in Aus. You appear to be like the media induced frenzied Australians that are fixated on the American model, news and movie stars.
Life on the street is not as rosey as you paint it.
Aged persons are starving and dying during the winter months due to not being able to afford the power to light or warm their homes.
It is easy to be smug and say the government is providing but we need to realise that between retirement and deah can sometimes take 30+ years.
May i suggest that you give up work now and live for 30 years with a meagre income.

I wish you no disrespect, but i have witnessed the poverty that we have in this country and is has not been brought about by unemployment, Drugs, gambling and/or alcohol.
It is amazing how people with a pleasant lifestyle can come up with reasons why poverty should and does not exist.