First let me start by saying thanks to Rick Morton for writing this article – which has brought attention once again to the cruel broken system that is maintained under Labor. 1000 people were cut off their payments unlawfully because as Rick showed due to hardship people shouldn’t be cut off if they have under a certain amount in their bank accounts. This rule has been ignored.

An error in the interpretation of welfare legislation has led to the unlawful cancellation of payments

“In practice, welfare recipients in the so-called “penalty zone” were subject to financial penalties and payment cancellations for “committing mutual obligation failures” but only if the secretary, or a delegate, was satisfied doing so would not place the person in severe financial hardship.

This test is usually that cancellations should not be made if a person has less than two weeks’ payment in their bank account.

For these 1000 people, their life support system was cut off, and the government’s own legal advice says it should never have happened.” – Rick Morton

Why am I so angry about this? Because I remember getting a text message on a Saturday morning saying my payment was suspended because I didn’t fulfill an obligation. I remember the absolute panic rising in me and my mental health hitting rock bottom as I realised I couldn’t pay my rent which then would lead me to become homeless.

I was already not in the best mental state at the time and was seeing a psychologist for suicidal ideation. This could of been my edge. I rang my brother he came to stay with me until Monday when I could call to keep me safe. I made the call on Monday morning just to hear “I’m sorry we forgot to mark you down as having attended the appointment on Friday” and with that it was fixed.

They had no idea the damage they’d done or the shit I went through and why would they care to them I was just another number on the books to bring in money.

So when Labor announced it was going to hold an enquiry into job networks and mutual obligations I thought maybe we would get real change. As soon as Julian Hill said the bad job networks couldn’t be named I knew we wouldn’t. It was more for show then helping us. The recommendations were weak and would do nothing to change the system that has been built to punish the poor.

We got angry about robodebt and rightfully so and yet so many don’t get angry at the system that supported it and both political parties Liberals and Labor who built it.

Mutual obligations was never intended to help us find work it was always attended to hit us with anytime they thought we weren’t trying hard enough. We should be outraged they cut off 1000 people who had no money in the bank to pay their rent and support themselves while being told to get a job and get work ready. How is cutting off payments going to help someone find a job?

My brother who was unemployed for a time got the same text message of his payments being stopped 4 different times what was his crime? He was being forced to do a two week online course. He called them each time to tell them he had a job interview he needed to attend and would miss the session. He got cut off each time he attended a job interview even with them being told in advance why he wouldn’t make the session. Each time he had to call them after which wasted hours on the phone so they would put his payments back.

The system is broken and its clear both Labor and the Liberals don’t care.

Melissa Fisher (Artistaffame) | Source: Cruelty seems to the point | Kofi