Collated by WGAR News A bit over ten years ago the Australian government started massive bullying of welfare recipients in the Northern Territory, paying over half of benefits onto a cashless debit card.
The stated intention was to control spending on alcohol, gambling and cigarettes. Of course, the project impacted mostly Indigenous Australians.
Eva Cox, a professor at the Sydney’s University of Technology is one of many who argue that this system isn’t working, but with the government set to expand the programme across the country, she asks: Is it right to infantilise people like this?'
'We welcome some [Opposition] Labor members calling for a cessation of the Cashless Welfare Card,’ writes Rachel Siewert, Opposition Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal affairs.