Pity Labor Couldn't be United over Social Services Cuts?

HoWARd/Costello (funny fellow) Big Mac and Small Fries. And Beazely's Kentucky Fried Two Piece Snack Box for those on minimum wages who should be enjoying - better Medicare Rebates, Public Housing, Hospitals, Education and Transport Infrastructure but instead get just $6.00.

Labor united over tax cut stance: Beasley

Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says Labor MPs are united behind him, despite some disquiet in the party about his opposition to the Government's tax cuts.

Pity though, that Beazely's well paid Labor losers weren't as concerned about opposing the social services cuts as they were at opposing the tax cuts.

Is it a crime to be poor, disadvantaged, and underprivileged? If HoWARd gets his way it will be, when those who are tipped on the Three Strikes and You're Out Centrelink Privatisation Policy.

HoWARd doesn't care if you end up in prison while you're trying to survive he'll make some political points on it, the State will pay the $65,000 a year for the 10 % of people who fall over and go to jail and they'll keep you there for as long as they can. Your crime! Hungry.

Labor is planning to vote against the Government's tax plan, which delivers a $6 a week tax cut to middle and lower income earners, with more than $60 a week for those on higher incomes.

Just another issue about corporate welfare and the shortfall in the HoWARd/Costello (funny fellow) Big Mac and Small Fries. And Beazely's Kentucky Fried Two Piece Snack Box for those on minimum wages who should be enjoying - better Medicare Rebates, Public Housing, Hospitals, Education and Transport Infrastructure but instead get just $6.00.

Three Strikes and You're Out!

What if some people can't buy a Two Piece Snack Box or a Big Mac and Small Fries because they failed to get a job that, either didn't suit their qualifications or wasn't existent? Beg, Borrow or Steal? Where will that job take them? To Jail - If those people are unlucky!

Fascist Federal Treasurer Peter Costello (the funny fellow) says the Labor Party has misjudged the Australian public with its opposition to tax cuts.

Too Right! More of us are opposing cuts in the SOCIAL DOLLAR for the unemployed, disabled, single mums and those who are sick or might get sick, especially if they're living on the street and can't buy a feed because THEY ARE OUT!

After all according to HoWARd. "Nothing in Life is Free"

What if you don't pay tax?

In his Budget reply last night Mr Beazley outlined an alternative plan which would double the cuts for most tax payers.

The Government says Labor will only be able to delay its planned cuts until the new Senate in July.

Mr Beazley says he is sticking to his principles.

Incidentally, his principles which don't include the poor, disadvantaged, and underprivileged people in our community?

Beazley: "If you are going to run this country, you are going to have to make tough decisions and tough calls," Mr Beazley said.

"And one of the calls you make is that your party will not be used as a doormat and your party will not be knocked off course in its obligation to defend the seven million taxpayers who are the people who are the back bone of this nation."

But do you mind if we borrow that statement (you well paid loser).

And some of the calls both parties didn't make is that their other constituents in the community, the Unemployed, Underprivileged, Disadvantaged and Sick people will not be knocked off their course in the communities obligation to defend the Unemployed, Single Mums, Disabled, and Sick, People who are the products of the back bone of this nation.

Costello the funny little fellow says he was flabbergasted when he heard Labor would reject the legislation, because many people in their constituency are in the top tax bracket.

"Labor has really misjudged the thinking of Australians in relation to this, time will tell, but I don't think this cunning strategy will prove to be successful."

By Just Us 13 May 05

Related:

Happy mothers day: Single mums forced to work!
AUSTRALIA can no longer sustain its warfare system, but can sustain the social dollar and that depends on where your priorities are? USA/Iraq or Australia?

HoWARd Gov't could be slued, community warns
Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) members will join a rally in Victoria Square today, protesting against the anticipated changes to workplace relations.

Work for the dole and prison industry slavery
Work for the dole certainly offers a lot of variety. The impression given by the government is that most unemployed do creative and helpful work assisting the community.

'Social Services cheats' may face election next time around
The Federal fascist HoWARd Government is attacking the poor and underprivileged again (on all fronts - now including social services, disabled, single mothers, Medicare rebate and IVF treatment.

Single parents deserve a living wage and not persecution
Being a single parent is hard work. It means a lot of responsibility. But you are not paid properly to do this work. You are paid way below what is recognised as the poverty line. StandUp! Believes that looking after a child is a job and should be paid for like any other job.

Labor sees problems in welfare proposals
The Federal Opposition says proposed changes to Australia's welfare system are a cost-cutting measure and will leave disability and sole parent pensioners worse off.

Dismantle the war machine, slash taxes, privatisation and keep social services The Centre for Independent Studies report says the flat-rate income tax of 10 per cent would ensure most Australians could afford to pay for essential services such as health and education, instead of relying on welfare [social service] payments.

Costello to force single mums to look for work?
SINGLE mothers would be forced to look for work once their children reached school age, under a draconian welfare package outlined last night by fascist Pastor Peter Costello to bolster funds to spend on military hardware and the ongoing illegal and degrading war in Iraq.

The HoWARd Government is simply robbing the disabled blind
KERRY O'BRIEN: Federal cabinet adjourned today still undecided about the final formula for what has become politically one of the toughest reform challenges the Government will face this term. For the past two decades, the disability support pension has been one of the fastest growing welfare payments [social security payments.]

Encouragement is the key to social-services-to-work programs
Corporate Welfare! I think we should start with Ingeus Company. Telling us what we already know for $$$$!

Peter Saunders shake-up is long overdue: Welfare Not Warfare
Peter Saunders: Many DSP claimants are older men with limited skills who have had difficulty finding work?

Welfare Reform for Warfare Expenditure?
John Howard: "Self-evidently we would have liked the major combat to have gone differently ... [but] coalition withdrawal or defeat is unimaginable."

Govt plots post-July strategy?
Fascist Prime Minister insists he is not on a mission to punish welfare recipients [social services.]

HoWARd 'determined' to make the disabled woRK?
The Federal Government is considering a system of "coercion" and incentive to force the disabled to work. But what happened to 6 billion-budget surpluses? Why do they need to force disabled people to work? Do they need more money and less disabled people? Or do would they rather spend the money on WAR?

Opposition pension claims valid
The Federal Governments secret agenda to cut pensions, including the disability and single parent payments while spending billions on military hardware is just too much for most disabled people to accept.

Thousands march for disability protest
"We are not prepared to go back to the dark ages. This has to be reversed," Mr Preston said. "We are hoping that the community sees that we shouldn't be taking money from people with disabilities. These people have had it tough all their lives (and) there is already more unmet need than we can cope with."

Howard's Job Network Bailout
Up to 670,000 people on disability support pensions will be encouraged to sign up to the Job Network under a radical new plan to get disabled people off welfare and into work.

THE HILLSONG'S ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF ' NEO-LIBERALISM' Only a bent mind would envisage the possibility or think of the concept that a '2nd Neo-Liberal 'front' promoted by the right and posing as a Church would enter politics under the flag of "Family First Party".

Costello, Howard's Disciple
JOHN HOWARD AND PETER Costello lost their vision for Australia from the time they were elected and embarked on a vision for the neo-Liberals.

Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel?
Well praise the Lord the light is Hell bent here on Peter Costello, treasurer of the Howard Government who now has his own "flock" of onward Christian Soldiers.

Corporate Welfare

Corporate welfare or how to steal social services?
Ever wondered why there are so many homeless, why we need a 10 pc GST, lack of services for mental disability, still paying off the Olympics, poor public transport planning etc etc etc?

Unemployed:

Work for the dole is legal slavery
Work for the dole was originally sold to us by Howard as a warm and fuzzy light work project. We would be working for nothing but we would be enjoying giving back something to the community, so it was reckoned.

FIGHT UNEMPLOYMENT!
Peter Costello commended this result in his budget speech. Even if we were to believe this figure it still means more than half a million living at a level much lower than that is recognised as poverty.

Mark Latham's, token gestures for older unemployed
StandUp appreciates the fact that Mark Latham is concerned about older unemployed people. His specialist job network proposal aimed at older people might provide a bit of assistance.

Work for the dole failure for two thirds
THE Un-Australian: " MORE than a third of the people who completed the Howard Government's work-for-the-dole programs last year were in jobs or studying within three months of finishing.

Work for the dole? $10.00?
StandUp! Wishes to draw your attention to a serious attack on all of us--work for the dole. We were assured that unemployed would not be forced to work in areas where employed workers would normally be employed. This has shown to be a lie! Under work for the dole, unemployed have been forced to carry out; concreting, tiling, landscaping, repairs, renovation, painting, gardening, nurses and teachers aid work.

'WORK FOR THE DOLE' REDUCES JOB PROSPECTS
A major independent study commissioned by the Government and released today under Freedom of Information by The Australian newspaper indicates that the 'Work for the Dole' program actually reduces the job prospects of unemployed people.

Youth welfare system unfair: ACOSS
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is warning urgent action is needed to fix youth poverty and disincentives for the unemployed to improve their job prospects.

Bringing up children Can we afford it?
Peter Costello expects us to carry out our patriotic duty by going home and having more children. But for most people it is a struggle to bring up one child let alone two or three.

Federal Budget: Tax cuts for the rich!
For the Howard government, unemployed people are not even worth thinking about.

Private job network agency blues
Can you trust a private job network agency? No you can't! A friend of ours is registered at MTC Marrickville.

Indigenous Social Justice Association Djadi Dugarang
INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT. Part 1

Centrelink puts the screws on prison debt
A 1999 study by the Brisbane Prisoners Legal Service revealed that on leaving prisoners had an average debt of $14,031. Almost one in five had a debt to Centrelink while in prison. This debt arose as a result inability to cancel things such as leases, Social Security payments, utilities and telephones.

Democrats approve tougher welfare penalties: But how does that pan out?
There used to be an old saying in Australia" if your hungry steal a sheep and leave the pelt on the fence.

Six weeks, six months, six years: inmates have little chance of making fresh start Even prisoners who serve short sentences are likely to suffer long-term consequences, including increased rates of homelessness and unemployment.

Military Spending

Howard: We as a nation have got to invest heavily in defence?
Fascist Prime Minister John HoWARd has indicated the Government will make major changes to work place laws, cut disability support forcing the disabled to work and increase his defence commitment.

Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.

Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.

Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.

Community disturbed by riot violence?

Don't blame it on the social mix, don't blame it on the housing estate, don't blame it on the dysfunctional community but blame it on the Police Force!

Workers from the Campbelltown City Council, which covers the Glenquarrie Estate in Macquarie Fields in Sydney where the weekend riots took place, will spend this morning cleaning up the streets.

The Mayor of Campbelltown Brenton Banfield says his community is disturbed by the violence.

"I'd say very concerned - people that I've have spoken to are just appalled about what's been happening there," he said.

"I can understand that there's a real sense of tragedy I suppose, that two young people have been killed in a car accident but as to their [fleeing] the police I think that it is just inappropriate."?

He says the Glenquarrie Housing Estate, owned by the Department of Housing, is an area that is being looked at the moment by the department to try to change the social mix of that area.

"That part of the broader community is dysfunctional - that's how I'd describe it.

"The most disadvantaged people live there and they've became dysfunctional communities."

But no matter how inappropriate that is, it's not worth dying for? And the fact that it happened in Glenquarrie Housing Estate does not mean that it doesn't happen anywhere else in Australia? And I am sure that does not make that area dysfunctional opposed to other locations.

Brenton Banfield says housing estates are generally in poor condition.

"This was an estate that was developed probably 30 years ago by the Department of Housing and during that time the condition of houses have deteriorated," he said.

"We have in Campbellton a lot of housing estates that need a lot of money and work done on them - they've became degraded because of the passing of time.

"Those houses are now old or either in need of demolition or renewal."

But poor and disadvantaged people with, low socio-economic backgrounds do live in these estates no doubt.

And they may be more likely to take what opportunities they haven't got by taking a joy ride in someone else's car, instead of taking fewer risks and using fewer resources by buying their own car. But until they get caught and learn the difference like I did, it's not worth dying for otherwise I wouldn't able to write this article.

Nor is it worthy to blame the housing estate.

As for 'dysfunctional people' most communities that stand up for human rights opposed to the brute force dished out by police would be in good stead unless you think teaching and learning is all about 'killing' and 'dying'?

Police pursuit death toll rises: 61 killed in 10 years

At least 61 people have died during police pursuits in NSW over the past decade, a higher toll than previously revealed.

A Herald investigation last year found that 54 people had been killed in high-speed police car chases over the 10 years since November 1994, but five more deaths have been exposed through figures obtained under freedom of information laws.

Deaths in Custody

Indigenous 27 7.4

Non-Indigenous 88 0.5

Total 115 0.7

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology, National Deaths in Custody Program 1990-2003 [computer file]

By Just Us 28 February 05

Ed: Give up the Chase and Stay Safe!

Related:

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
On Sunday 13th February, a Community gathering will be held to enable all people to remember the death of one of our young Community members, 'TJ' Hickey.

Whitewash over Hickey's death
The New South Wales coroner has cleared police of any responsibility for the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas 'TJ' Hickey.

Redfern police need education not weapons
NSW police want new offensive equipment including long-range capsicum spray guns and modified armoured vehicles capable of spraying tear gas following a damning report on the Redfern riots in Sydney earlier this year.

Carr defends Redfern riot fallout
But such is the fact that police can do no wrong according to authorities that one wonders what benefit to the community this report would be other than to protect the police again.

The Young Man From Kamilaroi
On Monday, 5 July 2004, the Hickey Family and their supporters will come together in the Glebe Coroners Court with the Redfern Police, the same police, specifically unknown at this time, who pursued the Young Man to his death by impalement.

Police stalkers set to escape
The real issue was posted it read "Wanted child murderers"!

Payback over Redfern riot after death in custody
A 37 year-old woman will appear in court today charged over her alleged involvement in a riot in Redfern on Sunday night.

Riot in Redfern over death in custody
The reported claim that 50 police were injured during rioting in Redfern over a death in custody is nothing more than a counter claim required to balance the argument that Thomas Hickey wasn't chased to his death by police.

Redfern police 'need to be made accountable'
POLICE have no right to demand increased support to patrol Redfern in the wake of one of the worst death in custody cover-ups by police in Australian history.

"If I Could Turn Back Time" Daily Terror, CH/7
THE real cause of last month's violent Redfern riots was the death of teenager Thomas "TJ" Hickey but perhaps only one element of the racism, harassment and bullying by the New South Wales police force and in this case Redfern police at the Block.

Was Thomas Hickey payback?
Yesterday it was alleged police faced a potentially deadly confrontation with locals of a redfern housing block last week when a gun was grabbed from an officer's holster and held to his stomach.

TJ HICKEY MEMORIAL MARCH AND VIGIL
Gather at the Block at 9am March to Phillip Street Redfern, "Turanga Block" vigial at site of "TJ's" death. March to Redfern Police Station to leave list of demands regarding the enquiries into his death.

The ALP's fascist police states
Welcome back Sid-in-knee. Old Falangist Samaranch would surely feel right at home in any number of fascist police states around this wide brown land today. Who needs Franco when you have Beattie, Rann, Carr, Bracks and co. Flamin' fascist fucks the lot of them.

Carr Govt dramatic increases in the NSW prisoner pop...
Following the opening of the 500 bed Kempsey prison, and a new 200-bed prison for women at Windsor the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS) and community organisations specialising in the rehabilitation of prisoners, have expressed concern....

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released the National Deaths in Custody Program annual report for 2002 Between January and December 2002, there was a total of 69 deaths in custody in Australia. There were 50 deaths in prison custody and 19 deaths in police custody and custody-related police operations.

Prison boom will prove a social bust

Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

The NSW Premier, Bob Carr, proudly announced last Thursday that this state has more than 9000 of its citizens in prison, a record number and one equal to almost half of all prisoners in Australia. Far from being proud of this, Carr should be deeply ashamed. The 50 per cent increase in prisoners over the past decade is a clear indication of failure on the part of government to deal effectively with serious social problems.

More than 50 per cent of prisoners have an intellectual or psychiatric disability. Most of these people cycle in and out on short sentences or on remand because there are few community services to help them stay out of trouble.

Prison, the most unhelpful place to send a person with these problems, is being used as surrogate therapeutic housing. But of course prison is not organised to provide a healing environment and many are released in a worse situation than before they entered.

Parole officers and courts despair that many sent to psychiatric services, because they are clearly mentally unwell, return to court within days or even hours. Eventually they are sentenced to prison terms because there is no alternative.

The chairman of the NSW parliamentary committee on mental health in 2002, Dr Brian Pezzutti, noted: "Deinstitutionalisation, without adequate community care, has resulted in a new form of institutionalisation: homelessness and imprisonment."

The Productivity Commission says NSW spends the least per person of all the state governments on mental health. NSW is also below the average in supporting people with an intellectual disability, particularly those who have been caught in the criminal justice system.

Affordable housing in NSW, especially for those with disabilities, has slipped further out of reach. Fifty per cent of prisoners are homeless within nine months of their release. When this is combined with poor mental or intellectual functioning, most are unable to manage and end up back in prison. NSW has one of the highest rates of recidivism in Australia, with more than 7 per cent of people in prison having been incarcerated before.

NSW is also well below the average in providing supported housing and employment for people with a disability. Most prisoners come from, and go back to, a small number of disadvantaged localities where poor education, unemployment and poor access to services have been generational. These communities already have a heavy load of social problems to deal with without increasing the number of people returning from prison in need of unavailable housing, health and employment.

The fastest-growing group in NSW prisons is Aboriginal women. These women are not the dangerous, violent criminals Carr claims account for the rise in prisoner numbers. Most are on short sentences and have been in and out of detention since their youth, putting a lie to the argument that prison rehabilitates.

Women in general are the next fastest-growing group. Seventy per cent of the flow-through prison population - that is, numbers flowing in and out over a year - are on six-month sentences or less. Most have suffered physical or sexual abuse as a child and domestic violence as adults, and 90 per cent have alcohol or other drug problems. If the women are not supported to overcome these problems they will stay locked in the revolving door of the criminal justice system.

Tougher bail laws were touted as helping us all sleep more comfortably at night. But the remand prisons are not full of serious offenders, although of course there are some. A great many remandees are those who cannot meet bail requirements and are petty crime recidivists. Fifty per cent of people on remand are released in less than a month either because the court assesses they have served their sentence or they are found not guilty; hardly the hardline criminals the bail laws are said to be keeping off the streets.

The people of NSW have been sold a financially and socially expensive lemon. The Government continues to fuel fear of crime at the same time it allows social services to run down. More prisons are presented as the solution. NSW will reap a nasty harvest of greater social problems out of this shameful approach.

Eileen Baldry is a senior lecturer in the school of social work at the University of NSW.

See: Review of the Mental Health Act 1990

1. We contend that the wording of the objects unnecessarily contrasts civil and other rights with effectiveness of treatment. It does not have to be a matter of balance, and in fact we suggest that real care is consistent with rights, dignity etc. The use of the word "control" (in this Section and throughout the whole Chapter) repeatedly with neither qualification nor mitigation leads to a strong impression that all people with psychiatric disabilities are always in need of 'policing' and restriction. We disagree totally and consider this to give rise to prejudicial attitudes and actions by the public and professionals related to perceptions and assumptions of dangerousness and lack of capacity.

By Just Us 18 January 05

Related:

Isolation, psychiatric treatment and prisoner' control
The 2003 NSW Corrections Health Service (now Justice Health) Report on Mental Illness Among NSW Prisoners states that the 12 month prevalence of any psychiatric disorder in prison is 74%, compared to 22% in the general community, and while this includes substance disorder the high rate cannot be attributed to that alone.

Where the Norm is Not the Norm: HARM-U
In the absence of public policy, this paper is an attempt to shine a light through the rhetoric and test for coherency in the policy and function of NSW’s only supermax prison, the High Risk Management Unit. Its present use will be compared with the ‘vision’ flogged by the Premier and the Department of Corrective Services (the Department) at its inception in 2001.

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Deaths in Custody, Police Powers and Mental Illness
The NSW Police Force should not have a role in the psychiatric diagnosis and medication of the public. Police are not medically trained in this speciality.

Sentencing reform
Beyond Bars is making a submission (with a focus on alternatives to custody) to the sentencing council. "We should consider the alternatives which take into account victims' interests and involvement. Restorative justice. Also mentoring as a positive form of social support, coupled up to restorative justice (as the punishment) to satisfy those who demand it."

England and Wales

Scandal of society's misfits dumped in jail
Up to 70% of inmates in Britain's jails have mental health disorders. In the first of a three-part series, Nick Davies hears their shocking stories.

Robin Egan strikes again?

Vicious and cruel attacks on the poor and disadvantaged will leave thousands to die of poverty, homelessness and starvation.

New initiatives by The State Dept Recovery and the cruel unrelenting Carr government will lead to a slow death of thousands of our poor and disadvantaged people.

Deaths from despair starvation and malnutrition will become common place; all in the name of so called good get tough government.

Two thirds of fines are never collected because they go beyond the means of the defendants and because in lots of cases people do not see that they are responsible. Especially where people know their in the right and no fine ought to have been a penalty.

Rules introduced by the State Government last June allow the office to deduct fines from wages or bank accounts, levy charges on land titles, summons people to explain their financial situation and force them to perform community service.

By Justice Action 21 January 2003

THE CHOOK: Thief!

Related:

Debt office uses wider net to scoop up $58m
Rules introduced by the State Government last June allow the office to deduct fines from wages or bank accounts, levy charges on land titles, summons people to explain their financial situation and force them to perform community service.

Robin Egan
Two thirds of fines are never collected because they go beyond the means of the defendants and because in lots of cases people do not see that they are responsible. Especially where people know their in the right and no fine ought to have been a penalty.