I think it’s important for context to realise this is specifically about Australia, and that there are things that won’t make sense to a lot of people from outside Australia.
Newstart – the dole, the looking for work payment. The government wants to not give it to young jobseekers for SIX WEEKS after they file for unemployment. Imagine how many people wind up homeless before that six weeks ticks down.
ATSI – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Our native peoples. Generational trama, abuse, and government policies of child removal that were calculated for maximum cultural genocide have understandably taken their toll. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have specific needs that aren’t met by cookie cutter, white-oriented services for welfare, health care and employment. Cutting the programs designed to work for ATSI people’s specific needs alienates them from necessary services and has a direct impact on their health, housing security, job security and happiness. This isn’t about special treatment, it’s about identifying and correcting inequality and providing services in a culturally sensitive manner. ATSI services are often employers of ATSI people, for obvious reasons, and cutting these services means these employees are out of a job, too.
Sell your land, etc. – This is about ATSI people, too. Native title means native people have a right to live and hunt and preserve their cultural heritage on designated lands. But government services to these lands are limited, and government will often refuse to provide services to remote places. This causes a bleed of people to the cities. Families need to work, need to eat, need medical services. Problem is, the government can muscle in and reclaim the land if too few people live on their country. And sometimes, they agree to send some services, but only if the people allow mining companies in. Fun fact, there’s a community right now trying to crowdfund cleaning their water. It’s full of uranium. There’s another that’s got water full of something left over from American nuclear testing. And that’s just a fraction of the problem. Sacred sites are often destroyed without so much as a sorry. These are places that have been used for ceremonial purposes for tens of thousands of years. There’s no replacing that.
All of these things hurt vulnerable people. Most of these things disproportionally hurt ATSI people, disabled people, and people without family to bail them out if things get really bad.
knitting in the dark 