This week the cashless welfare card has been back in the news due to the Coalition pushing for its extension across multiple states and territories.
At the present time up to 80 per cent of a person’s payment can be withheld in order to prevent them from spending money on alcohol or gambling. According to The Guardian, new legislation could allow for up to 100 per cent of the payments to be withheld.
Little to no access to cash raises for welfare recipients raises some alarming questions, some of which have been dissected in the latest ‘Honest Goverment Ad’.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/07/hey-sussan-can-we-maybe-not-destroy-3000-sacred-trees-to-save-2-minutes-drive-time/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/honest-government-ad-sacred-trees-410×231.jpg” title=”Australia, Can We Maybe Not Destroy 3,000 Sacred Trees To Save 2 Minutes Drive?” excerpt=”Honest Government Ads is back with its latest video. This month its ripping the shit out of Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley, much like how she is chill with VicRoads ripping the shit out of 3,000 native trees to build a a duplicate highway. This video comes only a week after the Minister ruled in favour of the $672 million road duplication that stretches 12km between Ararat and Buangor in Victoria.”]
Interestingly, despite initially being in favour of the card, Labor has also now stated that it will be voting against it unless two amendments are made to the new legislation – to make the program voluntary and for an independent inquiry to be held to investigate how effective the card is.
The Juice Media does’t mince words when it comes to its own criticism of the new proposals and extension to the cashless welfare card, likening its fiscal restrictions to an abusive relationship.
It cites the Australian government’s own trial evaluation, which didn’t net particularly positive results. It goes onto point out some of the negative consequences that little to no cash access can have, such as difficulty in shopping for second hand furniture or at fresh food markets.
It also concludes that such severe restrictions not only does little to help people on welfare, but stereotypes them as drug addicts and alcoholics – even those on Age Pensions, Disability Support Pensions and parenting payments.
The video also reveals that indue, the company that powers the cashless welfare card, is given $12,000 for every person attached to one.
You can watch the entire take down here:
You can watch more Honest Government Ads over on The Juice Media’s YouTube page.