Gov demonises welfare recipients in lead up to May budget clobbering

Here we go again. The welfare people are supposed to carry the budget can.

In the lead up to the budget, the Turnbull gov is saying there's not enough money for dole bludgers and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). So they're going to increase compliance measures to those evil dole bludgers who are rorting the system. All this whilst huge corporations pay no fuckin tax.

Leading welfare groups have attacked the Turnbull government and sections of the media for a spate of stories “unfairly misrepresenting” unemployment benefits data to “vilify” and “demonise” the 800,000 Australians who cannot find a job.

Young Australians gloomy about job prospects and most are averse to risk Read more The welfare leaders pointed to the Daily Telegraph’s Tuesday story headlined “Booze drugs dole rort ... dole grubs shirking work”, and other recent stories including one titled “A quarter of dole recipients shirking appointments and jobs”, both “exclusives” based on government data.

“We are very concerned that the government and parts of the media have been pushing story after story unfairly misrepresenting data and vilifying the unemployed as undeserving dole bludgers ahead of next week’s budget. It has all the signs of a softening-up campaign, demonising people who can’t get a job to pave the way for further ‘crackdowns’,” said the chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service, Cassandra Goldie.

“This isn’t the way to achieve good public policy. It does immediate and real harm to the hundreds of thousands of people who are already living the reality of not being able to get a job and who are being demonised. I urge the prime minister and his ministers to think about the human impact of these stories.” The Guardian

Firstly. anyone who thinks that trying to survive on less that about $250 a week is a "rort" is severely mistaken. The simple fact is that it's not survivable. Unless you have savings or access to Super funds via severe financial hardship provisions, you're basically fucked. You won't be able to afford to keep renting where you are, and you better home some kind friend or relative is able to let you stay with them for a minimal amount. If you're on your own with nobody to help you'll likely end up homeless. Hardly a life style choice. These are the people the gov is targeting to make up the budget short fall. Just criminal. 

Then there's the compliance measures already in place. Anyone who thinks that complying to the dole requirments is a walk in the park is an idiot. What if you're one of the many people who have been forced off the Disability Support Pension because they tell you you're "not sick enough" according to their criteria? This happens to people in wheelchairs and all, as I've pointed out at times here. Are you then supposed to look for however many jobs a month in a place that has no work even for healthy people? The best Centrelink staff can do for you in such a case is to get a doctors cert off you and relieving you of the duty to find said interviews, whilst still giving you all of less than $500 a fortnight.

The Government’s obsession with punishing vulnerable Australian’s continues today with news that income support recipients will be targeted to pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which has already been funded. 

“There was tri-partisan support for the NDIS when the previous Government introduced the Scheme, now it is being used as an excuse to attack income support recipients”, Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said today. 

“There is no doubt in my mind that there has been a proactive campaign by the Government to vilify income support recipients in the lead up to this announcement and to the budget. I agree with various welfare groups who say job seekers are being demonised in the budget lead-up, this was obvious when yet again we saw headlines attacking people on Newstart. 

“If the Government is genuine about compliance, they must increase funding for the Centrelink phone service and MyGov service, which are under-resourced and failing to keep up. 

“There are people on the Disability Support Pension, Carers Payment, Newstart and Youth Allowance who are trying to do the right thing but simply can’t get through. 

"Rather than once again seeking to save money from the most vulnerable in the community, those that are already living below the poverty line, the Government should start taking revenue raising seriously and stop looking after their wealthy mates”. The Greens  

This bloody nit picking and scrooge mentality from the gov to the most vulnerable Australians, all the while letting off corporate tax dodgers. Look over there, there's a welfare bludger. Nothing to see here though.....