AH Mr Hockey, you’ve done it again...
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In not the first case of foot-in-mouth disease in his political career, Treasurer Joe Hockey has managed to enrage one of the largest sectors of the Australian community – the low socio-economic.
His suggestion that “poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases” has sparked backlash from not only within the government’s ranks, but the general populous, with thousands of people turning to social media to voice their anger and disappointment.
By mid-morning Thursday, more than 3500 Twitter users under the hashtag #OtherThingsThePoorDontDo vented their frustration with the Treasurer’s comment.
Mr Hockey made the comment while defending the planned increases to the fuel excise. He claimed poor people would not pay as much as the rich because they either don’t own cars or don’t drive far.
This “faux pas” was no slip of the tongue, as, once it was uttered, Mr Hockey went on to further embellish the comment. And even Thursday morning, after a barrage of complaints, he was still sticking by his defence, saying richer households paid three times more in fuel taxes than the poorest because they normally owned more cars and drove further.
The spooky thing is, Mr Hockey actually believes what he’s saying.
One has to wonder whether Mr Hockey and many of his colleagues and political opponents actually live in the real world.
Of course poor people need a vehicle. In fact, those from the lower socio-economic sector are probably the ones who need a vehicle the most. How else are they going to get to their 40 job interviews a month the government demanded not so long ago? How else do they get to their respective jobs? How else do they get their children to school or doctor’s appointment or sporting matches, particularly if they are in regional or rural areas, where, in many cases, there is no public transport alternative?
Do politicians really understand what life is like for those living on or below the poverty line? Do they have any concept of what it’s like to live from hand-to-mouth? Do they think making ends meet is as easy as driving less or not owning a vehicle at all?
Some politicians, particularly those at the highest of echelons, need a good dose of reality before they make off-the-cuff remarks like Joe Hockey’s.