Reg Jonhston of Broad Arrow, W.A wrote a letter to the Council for Aborignal Rights stating that his mother was able to manage her own pension and asking why she needed to go and see a 'warrantee' who held her money and tell him what she wished to spend her money on. Shirley Andrews talks of Aboriginal girl she knew at the time:
I was very affronted to hear the story about this lass. She was a teenager, she had gone and asked the policeman to buy, she wanted to buy another petticoat, and he said she had one; that was enough. And you know, I was really shocked at that and it was her own money, and what did he think she was going to do when it was in the wash?
Shirley may not have used human rights terminology, she didn't talk about the teenager's dignity or her right to privacy. But Shirley knew it was wrong. And today in Australia our Government calls it 'income management'. Aren't we meant to learn from history, not let it repeat and all that??? Tell that to the Aboriginal person who in 2010 has a BasicsCard that they did not request, who lives 280km from the office that tells them how much money they have and who can "choose" from 2 local stores that accept the BasicsCard.
There's a daily spending limit of $800, but you think about it -
How often do you want to make the 280km bus ride (where the driver has to check you don't have alcohol on board), there's 3 of the kids' birthdays coming up, it's time for a big grocery shop, there are a few things you need from the pharmacy - looks like you're going to exceed the limit, but it's "your choice".
I hope that we can start to become as outraged as Shirley was. I hope that we stop making the same mistakes. hope...
No comments:
Post a Comment