It is almost unbelievable that our Federal government could maker such a colossal blunder as to wrongly inform the 84,000 single parents that they must tear up their pensioner concession cards when they were forced to move from the single parents pension to the dole.
Not only did they lose over a hundred dollars a week in payments, but that card enabled them to get a discount on electricity, phone and similar utility bills, free driving license and car registration, and price relief on medicine. It further eroded what for many was a total financial disaster.
What is even more unbelievable is the comment from the minister responsible, Human Services minister Kim Carr. He dismissed this blunder by saying : " There are occasions when things go wrong. This is one of them ! "
Across this entire country, the Centrelink offices deal with over seven million Australians and conducts 135,000 face to face interviews each day, The decision to force 84,000 Australians from a superior to an inferior level of sustenance would not have been made lightly. This was a cabinet level decision - and it is clear that the lofty heads of government botched it - badly !
It was probably a money saving decision to withdraw that concession card - and when the proverbial hit the fan - a very quick reversal. Nobody in the government seems prepared to admit that and the whole matter is being dismissed as " an error ".
Not good enough ! The people of Australia expect their government to carefully deliberate and make sound decisions. Some law abiding folk will have carried out the threat of sanctions - and destroyed their concession card. What is the situation where car registration and driving licenses have fallen due - and the full price has been paid ? There has been no comment from Kim Carr on restitution !
This debacle does little to inspire confidence that the government decision making process is running smoothly. Forcing single parents from a pension onto the dole was a major decision that would have involved the senior echelon of ministers. It is obvious that the concession card withdrawal was a command conveyed to the entire network of Centrelink offices. It is impossible to simply dismiss such a blunder as " an error ".
And this is an election year !
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