A big thanks to Michele Grant for expressing the deadly circumstances deliberately imposed upon many thousands of vulnerable Australians (Echo, 3 November).
Indeed the discriminatory policies applied by the Centrelink Corporation towards the sick and unemployed are a crime against humanity.
I am a 63 year old grandmother trying to support a family that has been excluded from home ownership through the implementation of government monetary policies that are only for the benefit of those who are not in need. Centrelink’s demands to perform voluntary work are not affordable on Newstart Allowance owing to transport costs and health issues that also make this impossible for me. The fact that this would also create greater hardship for my family is not worthy of consideration either.
The Robodebt case is proof that Centrelink strives to exploit the disadvantaged by any means, lawful or not. The government is now scrambling to regulate against ever being held responsible for the human consequences of their own savage policies.
The pandemic has shown that the ‘balancing the budget’ excuse for financial persecution is just another lie.
During this traumatic time so called ‘public servants’ have enjoyed further salary increases, and corporations received the funding desperately needed by those without assets.
However, the incorrect assumption that financial status correlates with intelligence gives grounds for hope. The underprivileged majority are painfully aware of the magnitude of our national theft, despite media censorship. Insatiable greed, by its very nature, cannot be forever sustained, and it seems that our political and corporate parasites don’t even realise that they are actually dependant on their ‘hosts’ for their own survival.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
