National day of action
Friday 15 March marked the annual National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence - the ninth day that schools across Australia will be spreading this important message.
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It's a positive message that we can support as a community to stamp out bullying in our schools.
As a father of three school-aged kids, my wife and I understand the challenges that our kids face on a daily basis.
Sadly the statistics speak for themselves and show why it is important to re-enforce positive messages and support these campaigns in our local schools.
Over one in four Year 4 to Year 9 Australian students (27%) reported being bullied every few weeks or more often (considered to be frequent) in a recent national study.
With the increasing use of technology, 84% of students who were bullied online were also bullied in person.
Teasing was the most prevalent of all bullying behaviours experienced by students, followed by having hurtful lies told about them.
One in five young people under 18 reported experiencing online bullying in any one year.
It's clear that more needs to be done to protect our kids at school.
On Friday 15 March we say - Bullying. No Way! Take action every day.
Jarrod Bleijie
LNP Shadow Minister for Education
Per capita recession
Malcolm Turnbull's Treasurer Scott Morrison says he does not recognise the term "per capita recession". Yet it simply means that individual voters are going backwards.
To help him understand this, let's compare life today with when the Liberals (and the Nationals, lest we forget) came to power.
Wages have flatlined since 2013, but prices have gone up.
So - can we now buy more food, clothing, petrol, public transport fares, education, maintenance and insurance on the car and house?
No, Scott, we can't.
In fact, we can't even buy as much as we used to; we can only buy less.
And then there's the matter of interest rates, down almost to zero.
Savers and lenders can't get any return on the money they put into banks for others to borrow.
But if just a few of these people gamble on the stock market and make so little that they don't pay tax, they can get a tax refund (yes, Scott, you did read that right).
Meanwhile, cheap money has sent house prices toward the outer planets, making it impossible for many to escape the rent trap.
Rents are up, too, by the way.
But these days the delicate state of the economy is making house prices a bit crumbly, so that those who do somehow have mortgages are worried about soon owing more than their houses are worth.
This is the meaning of "per capita recession", Scott.
Grant Agnew
Coopers Plains
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