The next International Women's Day Collective meeting is going to examine
the latest horrific attack the government is brining down against single
mothers and disabled people.
The McClure report on Welfare has been out in the public domain for many
months but the government has been putting off launching the concrete
proposals of the reactionary report for fear of a community backlash.
Just weeks before Christmas Jocelyn Newman came out saying the government
does plan to place disabled people and single mothers under a lot more
scrutiny; placing them under the equivalent "work for the pension" schemes
unemployed people are under.
Single mums are to have meetings with Centrelink when their child is 6 to
see if they are undergoing proper training for jobs. Then when the child is
13 another meeting will be scheduled and the pressure applied for mums to
get a job, any job. (Never mind 13 year olds need attention after school,
or picking up from school, or driving to sport, or feeding etc). But then
those pesky women should have never chosen the road or single motherhood:
should they?
Newman didn't detail what would happen to women who refused the meetings or
didn't get jobs at the appropriate moments but thanks to the experience of
thousands of unemployed people being penalised or thrown off all together
for "breaches"we can use our imagination and guess what might happen.
Disabled people face perhaps even scarier times ahead. Government doctors
are to put disabled people under review, with no documentation from the
persons personal doctor they will assess what work, and how much work the
disabled person is up for. Breaches and such incentives would eventuate. No
doubt government doctors could deem disabled people "not disabled" and
throw them off altogether.
When one considers the government is throwing billions of money into
defence spending when we have no enemies and throwing millions of dollars
($100 million from Howard, $60 million from Bracks at last count) at Holden
and other rich companies while attacking the most vulnerable of our
society, single mums and the disabled we have to conclude this government
has got it's priorities wrong. That's putting it nicely.
Give money to the rich and screw the poor harder is this government's motto.
The anti-woman rampage Labor and Liberal government's went on condemning
single mum's and lesbians as being "irresponsible" if they wanted to bring
children without a father was an attempt to lay the ideological grounds for
an attack on single mum's pensions. They should be with men, will be the
cry of government ministers in response to protests.
Melb International Women's Day Collective will hold a talk about the
McClure report on Jan 11th, 6pm at YWCA 2nd Floor, 489 Elizabeth St, City.
Women only.
We'll be discussing ideas for action against the government's attacks and
we want you to be there!
If we don't fight we lose!
Yours in feminist action,
Rachel E
--
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