"you can opt out by getting a job"
Disclaimer: This post is my opinion, only my opinion, and does not reflect the views of my employer or anyone other than myself. I've been sitting in front of my laptop for about an hour now trying to write this blog post. While I am sitting here pondering how I can structure my argument so that it is educational, easy to read, and not a huge raging mess, I'm beginning to realise that I don't really care if people on the other side of the argument find it unreadable. BASICALLY tl;dr - if you think that a cashless debit card is a good idea for a community, then you hate poor people. It is that simple. You can find a million ways to try to deny that statement, but deep down inside of your tiny tiny miserable heart, you do not care for people less fortunate than you, you do not care about their job opportunities, and least of all do you care about their health and their "drug and alcohol habits."
I want to acknowledge that I am writing this from a place of privilege. I have a well paying full time job. I can afford to support myself and my partner and have money leftover at the end of the fortnight. I am incredibly lucky to be able to say that. My family is not so lucky. My older sister lives in Bundaberg. Her partner works part time, they have a three year old and she is planning on having another child. She will be placed on the cashless card scheme next year. I am absolutely floored that I'm using this as an example to maybe make someone realise that this will have a direct, real and terrifying impact on real actual people. THIS AFFECTS REAL ACTUAL PEOPLE, WHO KNEW?
For those not familiar with the cashless debit card (CDC), let me spell it out for you. 80% of a person's welfare income is placed on a card, the other 20% is deposited into their bank account as normal. For an income of $500 a fortnight, you will only receive $100 in money you're able to use as cash. You cannot withdraw or transfer money from a CDC. You can use the CDC at pre-approved vendors with EFTPOS.
Paying for rent, utilities and other regular payments
So your rent can be directly paid by Centrepay - it will be direct debited from your account and paid directly to the real estate. What if you're living in a sharehouse and your real estate only accepts one payment per household? You can't transfer money between cards. Let me repeat that. You. Cannot. Transfer. Money. Between. Cards. I'm supposing that there has to be some solution for this, but how many more hoops do you want welfare recipients to jump through just to be alive?
What if you're renting privately and your landlord only accepts cash payments? Save up your cash dollars, buddy, because you Can't Withdraw Money From Your CDC.
Buying secondhand and cheap
Bundaberg is the actual secondhand lovers' dream - some of my favourite clothes are clothes that I found in Bundaberg op shops. There is also an incredible network of "Bundy Classifieds" type pages on Facebook where you can find absolutely everything you're looking for. Need a GIANT desk in perfect condition? $30. Need some help moving furniture across town? Post on your classifieds page and someone will do it for $20. It makes it absolutely super duper easy to replace your fridge or washing machine (or other appliance that you use on a regular basis) incredibly cheaply if it breaks - if you have the cash. You know what the CDC doesn't give you? Cash for if your fridge stops working. If you have already spent your $100 cash for the fortnight, bad luck m8, you don't need a fridge anyway. Fridges are for people with jobs.
Bundaberg also has a weekly market on a Sunday where you can buy all manner of handmade goods and fresh produce straight from the farmer who grew it. (There might even be other farmers markets? I haven't lived there for two years, Bundy ppl hmu and let me know what there is.) Bundaberg has SO MANY roadside stalls where you can get cheap as hell produce. I'm talking $10 for a tray of mangoes. MANGOES. Do you know how expensive mangoes are? Well look, unless every single farmer is going to get EFTPOS facilities, you can't buy fresh produce from the markets anymore. Do not pass go. Do not collect your $10 tray of mangoes. Go directly to poor person jail. No actually, go buy mangoes for $5 a piece at Coles and Woolworths like the rest of the Employed World of Money Making Citizens.
Being a person with autonomy and privacy
Poor people can't manage money, and they don't deserve to have autonomy. That's what the CDC says.
Scenario: imagine you're buying groceries. You line up at the cashier and wait, you finally get to the front of the line and you pull out your CDC. The cashier now knows you're on welfare. The people in line behind you now know you're on welfare. Suddenly, everyone knows you're a "dole bludger".
Big deal right? If you've read any of the comments sections of any article ever, there is ALWAYS going to be someone whining away about how dole bludgers are ruining society for the rest of us. Dole Bludgers are using tax payer money to fuel their drug and alcohol habits and they absolutely won't hear another word of your argument on how not every welfare recipient uses drugs or alcohol because this one time they met Sally who was a Dole Bludger and she used Drugs and Alcohol. Every person who sees you use the CDC - which for the record has a big fat Indue logo on the top so it's unmistakable - is going to make a snap judgment about you because you're on the dole. It doesn't matter how or why you're on the dole, you are a dole bludger and you do not deserve to buy your groceries with tax payer money. Imagine being embarrassed and ashamed to pay for your groceries.
Unlike employed citizens, you don't get the chance to keep anything about your life private. Your money is owned by tax payers, and so are you. You do not get to keep your dole bludger status a secret. You don't deserve privacy. That's what the CDC says.
DRUGS. ALCOHOL. CRIME.
I have not even addressed my favourite part of the media release about this. The whole scheme isn't even about getting people into jobs, in fact, they haven't really done anything to provide jobs for people at all despite spouting (really dismissive) statistics about unemployment and the apparent number of entry level jobs in Bundaberg. It is not about reducing the number of people on welfare. It's about targeting drug and alcohol use.
If you think only people on welfare take drugs and drink alcohol, ohoohoo well I've got news for you. Employed people take drugs! Employed people drink alcohol! What's the plan to stop employed people from being dependent on drugs and alcohol? Is there one? What's the plan to actually address drug and alcohol dependance? Is there one?
Restricting someone's income is not going to stop them from drinking or taking drugs. If someone is dependent on drugs or alcohol, they will find a way to get drugs and alcohol. They will resort to crime. They will sell things that they probably need. People will get the money they need for drugs and alcohol, there will just be a higher risk of those people putting themselves and others in danger in exchange for cash. You know what might help reduce drug and alcohol dependency? Funding for drug and alcohol support programs.
Mental illness
Literally all of the things I've just listed above can and will contribute to mental illness. Being poor and on welfare is a dehumanising experience for a lot of people and the CDC will only make that experience much much worse. While no one has actually come out and said these things (yet) the CDC implies:
- people on welfare do not deserve autonomy or privacy
- people on welfare cannot manage their own money
- people on welfare aren't trying hard enough to get a job
- people on welfare are dependent on drugs and alcohol
- people on welfare don't deserve the spending opportunities that employed people do
Imagine being told that all of those things, and then imagine that the person who told you those things took 80% of your income and put it in a stupidly inaccessible card. That is the CDC.
Just get a job
You know what would help people to get jobs? To create more jobs and to provide the long-term unemployed with full wrap around social and employment support services. You know what the CDC doesn't do? It doesn't create jobs. It doesn't provide social or employment support.
If you don't like it, leave
The CDC will follow you wherever you go. It doesn't matter if you move towns. It doesn't matter if you move interstate. If you move, and you're still receiving welfare payments, you are stuck with your CDC.
It is also expensive to move and the CDC effectively destroys your chance to save money as you can't withdraw any of the money on there anyway. You can save money, but only for things you can buy with EFTPOS or for pre-approved online stores. Will this include moving services? Maybe, but who knows, honestly?
I haven't addressed the cost of the CDC rollout to Hinkler but it won't be cheap. It will cost much more than the pledged $1 million for support services to the community when it's rolled out. $1 million is practically small change compared to the cost of rolling out the CDC. I also haven't addressed the community consultation that apparently took place before they decided to roll out the CDC, but I'm reaaaally doubtful that they consulted many people who receive welfare or are affected by mental illness or drug and alcohol dependency because why would you ask the people who are going to be directly affected by this? What a stupid idea.
What a stupid idea.