Indigenous X

The Mandarin

Opponents of the government's horrific Robodebt scheme have long been saying that it is arbitrary, cruel and driven by a reverse Robin Hood ideology - rob the poor to feed the rich.

Now claims by whistleblowers who have worked in the administration of Robodebts prove it.

Staff contracted from private agencies by Centrelink have spoken of an obsessive target driven structure where employees were pressured to conjure up debts at all costs - ignoring flaws in data, neglecting to ever inform debt recipients of the financial nightmare about to fall on them.

In the words of those tasked with dishing out the debts:

"It was very inhumane. It was all about the money, and we have to get those finalisations."

"It was all about the numbers. They would constantly say we are trying to adhere to the estimates that were provided to the Senate estimates hearing in relation to how many finalisations would be completed within a given period for the sake of trying to recoup revenue. That's what determined how many finalisations each division needed to achieve. That's all that mattered, meeting those benchmarks. It was toxic."

"I know a lot of compliance officers would just let the phone ring one or two times and hang up. Some even would say they made (the phone calls) but they don't. You don't want anyone to answer because then you are not going to get your finalisations for the day."

"I had people on the phone to me in tears. Because they were saying to me, 'I have done the right thing, I have always reported my income, why are you doing this to me now?'"

And, if you have a strong stomach, from Department of Human Services Manager Hank Jongen:

"Staff working on income reviews are not required to finalise a prescribed number each week. Like any service delivery organisation, we review performance to meet government priorities, but always put people at the centre of our work."

I'm sure he does prioritise people - the people who donate to the Liberal party. The people on $200K+ who think they should pay less tax. The people who think scraping back barely more money than the scheme costs to administer is well worth the point of punishing those who had the gall to be poor in the first place. This revolting scheme should end. But it won't.

9 News

ACOSS have surveyed Newstart recipients asking what a $75 a week increase in payment would mean to them. The answers are a heartbreaking indictment of a wealthy country that allows vulnerable people to go hungry and scared whilst increasing the coffers of the wealthy.

“I would have enough to rent privately and get out of this abusive situation of where I live.”

“I could get more food for my kids.”      

“I would be able to replace clothing which has worn through use.” 

“I would be able to keep my car, which would increase my chances of getting work!”

“I’d be less afraid of the postman (and the bills he brings)!”

“I could feel like a human again.” 

ACOSS

One in ten Australian children care for a relative with a substance use issue or disability - and they need more support to stop them from falling behind in school. 

The Conversation

1. Make the right to housing law;


2. Change the culture on housing;


3. Tackle the issue before it reaches crisis point;


4. Taylor solutions to Australia;


5. Rally the community sector.

Pro Bono Australia

Aboriginal children are fifteen times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be removed from their parents by child protection services.

Are Aboriginal parents fifteen times more likely to abuse their kids? Do they love them fifteen times less?

Once you remove that absurd notion, the real agenda behind child removals emerges.

The Guardian

More essential reading... excellent long read by Robert Kuttner of American Prospect.

"Neoliberalism’s premise is that free markets can regulate themselves; that government is inherently incompetent, captive to special interests, and an intrusion on the efficiency of the market; that in distributive terms, market outcomes are basically deserved; and that redistribution creates perverse incentives by punishing the economy’s winners and rewarding its losers. So government should get out of the market’s way.

Now, after nearly half a century, the verdict is in. Virtually every one of these policies has failed, even on their own terms. Enterprise has been richly rewarded, taxes have been cut, and regulation reduced or privatized. The economy is vastly more unequal, yet economic growth is slower and more chaotic than during the era of managed capitalism. Deregulation has produced not salutary competition, but market concentration. Economic power has resulted in feedback loops of political power, in which elites make rules that bolster further concentration.

The culprit isn’t just “markets”—some impersonal force that somehow got loose again. This is a story of power using theory. The mixed economy was undone by economic elites, who revised rules for their own benefit. They invested heavily in friendly theorists to bless this shift as sound and necessary economics, and friendly politicians to put those theories into practice."

AlterNet

Spoiler alert: yes, it is.

The Conversation

A "poorly targeted and infeasible" scheme to recruit Newstart recipients to fruit picking jobs has been scrapped after finding positions for just 6% of intended recipients.

The New Daily 

We've seen it with spikes on the ground, benches you can't lie down on and sprinklers in parks. Now governments are using technology to criminalise the homeless, with a new app in the NT encouraging people to dob in rough sleepers.

The Daily Mail

New Mobility

Job Network providers have been exploring the system for years, so it's little surprise the punitive, discriminatory Parents Next program would be plagued by similar issues. Providers exploiting single parents of young children, including homeless people, with the threat of losing payments if they don't comply.

And the government just doesn't care. 

The Guardian 

Taree man Todd McKenzie, who had a history of schizophrenia, was shot dead by police after they forced their way into his house after a 9 hour stand off.

Ironically, police were initially called to his home for a welfare check. 

Seems nothing has been learned since the tragic death of Courtney Topic. 

ABC News