AUWU
@AusUnemployment
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The Australian Unemployed Workers' Union: run by and for the unemployed. Join now free and call us if you need support: 1800 289 848. @auwu @mastodon .au
Australia
Joined March 2014
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Send us removal request.
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AUWU members in Victoria who were planning to travel to today's event, this is now POSTPONED due to severe weather warnings.
Please stay safe today, and we look forward to seeing you another time. We'll be in touch soon to reschedule.
#AbolishMutualObligations
There is also a possibility of tornadoes forming in this area. However the risk could be almost anywhere in the state. The western and central parts of Victoria, including Melbourne, could also experience damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain.
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INCREDIBLE NEWS!!!
@AustralianLabor
just voted to urgently increase the JobSeekeer payment above the poverty line!
THANK YOU
@AlboMP
@LindaBurneyMP
, you cannot know how much this means to millions of people who rely on unemployment payments to live 🙏❤️🎉
#80aDay
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Looking forward to our invite on your program, then
Thanks for all the feedback on our chat with Daniel Wild from
@TheIPA
this morning. It’s our role at the ABC to accommodate, and test, all viewpoints in Australian society, not just from one side of the spectrum. Thanks for watching!
@BreakfastNews
@abcnews
#yourAbc
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This is jaw-dropping stuff. The
@Centrelink
account, which does not appear to be running on an automated basis, apparently can't conceive that someone in a bushfire-affected area with non-functional power or telecommunications infrastructure would not be able to contact them.
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#BREAKING
:
@Senator_Patrick
IS VOTING AGAINST THE
#CashlessDebitCard
!!!!
We are speechless! We are screaming! We are overwhelmed with joy!!!!!!!
Thank you to every single person who campaigned for this. This is huge. More updates to come on what this means for the bill.
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Statement: We are calling on
@Anne_Ruston
to IMMEDIATELY allow new
@Centrelink
applicants to complete claims online or via the phone. Making tens of thousands come into physical centres right now is an enormous & unnecessary health risk
The line to Centrelink Bondi Junction. It wraps around almost every corner of the block.
@9NewsSyd
#COVID19Aus
#centrelink
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Q: Do you know who edited your Wikipedia page to change
#robodebt
things?
A: Choice highlights 👇
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"Poverty ... is a policy choice." –
@SenatorDodson
on the JobSeeker rate in the senate today
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Over the years, we’ve lost too many members to suicide. Members who couldn’t cope with robodebt, jobactive bullying, the low rate of JobSeeker. Minister Frydenberg didn’t give a damn about their lives, ‘cause it wasn’t politically convenient. This makes us sick to our stomachs
We've just crossed the Rubicon here - Josh Frydenberg blaming Melbourne lockdown for a suicide.
Frydenberg: "A friend of mine said that a friend of his had taken his own like because he lost his job in Victoria"
#auspol
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The Australian government wants to divide us by choosing to temporarily
#RaiseTheRate
for those unemployed by this current crisis. We want to send a message that ALL current and future unemployed workers deserve a living payment rate. Spread the word:
#RaiseNewstartForAll
!
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Sick of being on hold? The minister’s office has shorter wait times!
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Our members' lives are on the brink. A "review" doesn't put food on the table or clothes on our backs. It's been 25 years since a real increase to Newstart. We will not stop beating this drum - our lives depend on it. Join our campaign for
#DignityNotDole
:
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The increase to JobSeeker is $2.85 a day. Here's a thread of things you can't buy for
#TwoEightyFive
First up: you can't buy Woolworths-brand Minestrone for
#TwoEightyfive
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Damn, looks like you might have to start offering decent wages and humane working conditions
Australia’s unemployment rate is the highest its ever been in decades, yet our farmers are struggling to find workers to help with the seasonal harvests.
@Angelacox7news
speaks to Jamie Michael from the WA Strawberry Growers Association.
#TheLatest
#7NEWS
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As you may have seen, the media is reporting that the government is close to announcing a JobSeeker raise.
We again call on the Coalition to reinstate the $550 supplement and make this permanent — bringing the rate of unemployment payments up to the poverty line of
#80aDay
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Here it is: AUWU’s 2022 Election Scorecard.
For the most part, it's pretty grim.
We'll keep it updated if and when any new policies are announced
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Hi
@Tony_Burke
and
@WorkforceAusGov
, us again.
Care to explain the legality of locking welfare payments behind an app that requires a recent version of iOS?
People on poverty payments using older iPhones will either be frustrated by slowness, or not be able to access it at all.
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#BREAKING
:
@Senator_Patrick
has put forward an abhorrent amendment, asking the gov to protect a small group of pensioners and veterans from the
#CashlessDebitCard
Senator, we plea with you to show some humanity and protect EVERYONE by voting against this bill.
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Centrelink has blocked 20 million calls, such that those needing government support are not even able to enter a phone queue.
How is this not a mass breach of the department's duty of care? Who will prosecute the case?
@marquelawyers
@SlaterGordon
New phone data provided by Services Australia to the Senate Community Affairs Committee comparing fiscal years to March 2023 and March 2024:
- welfare congestion messages up 61%
- health + aged care congestion msg from 4k to 1.1 million
- wait times up
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We officially invite Mark Latham’s two sons to join the AUWU — we guarantee them support & a sane explanation of why they find themselves unemployed
A guy eats a bat in Wuhan and now my two sons are without jobs.
The lesson is: when humans lose their mastery and control over the animal world, which is what happened in Wuhan wet market, our entire civilisation can suffer.
Humans must always put themselves first, animals second
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The PM's plan to slash income support by $300 a fortnight on 25 Sep will condemn 1.6m people to poverty payments, including more than 400,000 in Melbourne who can't even leave their home without a specific reason.
There are no words for this disgusting injustice.
There it is: Daniel Andrews says the federal government has confirmed it won't be delaying the reductions to jobseeker and jobkeeper despite Melbourne's lockdown. Cuts from $300 a fortnight from 25 September
#auspol
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Unconditional welfare is NOT a disincentive to work. Adequate unemployment benefits are NOT a disincentive to work. Say it loud, say it often, until the media and the Parliament say it back ✊
#KeepTheRate
#MOstrike
Finland’s two-year test of universal basic income concluded that it doesn't seem to disincentivise working, and benefits recipients’ mental and financial wellbeing
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The Acting PM has launched a disgusting attack on unemployed people.
We call on
@M_McCormackMP
to resign – and if he won't do it,
@ScottMorrisonMP
should kick him the hell out of cabinet.
PPl in the regions are some of the worst off on these payments. You'd think he'd notice.
How the hell can unemployed workers on
#JobSeeker
afford Stan or Netflix?
Most can't afford more than 2 meals a day and many can't even afford prescription medicines.
How out of touch is the rampaging bigot, McCormack?
#auspol
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This tweet erases the totally avoidable suffering and/or deaths of tens of millions of variously unemployed, disabled and chronically ill people, who have been the first victims of policies of austerity across the world.
Austerity only hurts working people. That's it, that's the tweet.
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We've noted Labor's concern that there have been too many distractions from their cost-of-living measures. So we've decided to help them, by amplifying their welfare policies.
Track what Labor is doing to welfare recipients at
#RaiseTheRate
Today I launched a website that will count every cent of waste caused by the Greens and Liberals delays to the NDIS Legislation. The NDIS Actuary says an 8-week delay to the vital bill will cost Australians $1.1 billion.
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#BREAKING
: The branches of AUWU, following the all-AUWU meeting on Wednesday, have tonight voted unanimously to pass a motion of solidarity with Palestine. Statement to follow.
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20 minutes since Labor committed to lifting people out of poverty, and...surprise: the sky hasn’t fallen in yet! That wasn’t so painful after all — can’t wait to see
@AlboMP
&
@LindaBurneyMP
loudly championing this new position of
#80aDay
🥳
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Last night,
@Tony_Burke
's office reached out to us to schedule another last-minute meeting. Though at still far too short notice, 18 hours instead of 18 seconds of preparation time made a fair whack of difference to the depth of our contributions. 1/
#AbolishMutualObligations
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god forbid we save the housing industry by building public housing 🙄
#Exclusive
: Direct cash grants for home renovations are expected to be a key plank of a multi-billion-dollar building stimulus package to rescue the housing construction industry and save tens of thousands of jobs.
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Need we remind you, Amanda, of the Centrelink forms you're currently forcing victims of violence to fill out
Our Government is committed to tackling the scourge of family, domestic and sexual violence. It’s simply unacceptable.
We’re investing in more Safe Places temporary accomodation, that enables women and children escaping violence a safe place to go.
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One week from now
@SenatorCash
and
@Anne_Ruston
will require *1.6 million* people to start applying for jobs.
There are 71,000 jobs available.
#AbolishMutualObligations
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STATEMENT: How to join the
#MOstrike
without affecting your payment
#KnowYourRights
When the unemployed are under attack, what do we do? STAND UP FIGHT BACK ✊
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A child has died because he was forced to sleep in a garbage bin.
This is the only
#Budget2021
story that matters. Poverty is a choice.
#BTPM
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hope this heats the house, because:
🕯
🕯 🕯
🕯 I can't afford 🕯
🕯 my power bill 🕯
🕯 on Newstart 🕯
🕯 🕯
🕯
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A million welfare recipients (including children) in lockdown are excluded from any additional support right now. And our ~progressive leaders have seemingly forgotten they even exist. Please beat the drum for
#80aDay
& make your voices heard
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Pitiful: here you can see
@AmandaRishworth
leaving the room before the petition to raise all income support to
#88aDay
was about to be tabled. We have a welfare minister who doesn’t want to listen to welfare recipients
Folks: in the 1:30-2pm session of Parliament today,
@stephenbatesmp
will be tabling
@ArtistAffame
's petition to raise welfare to
#88aDay
We're hosting a little watching party here. Come along:
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So, given Morrison effectively doubled the JobSeeker Payment, where to now for the
#RaiseTheRate
movement?
The AUWU believes we must strongly campaign to
#KeepTheRate
above the poverty line — a $95 raise always set its sights far too low.
Plz let us know what you think!
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idea: pub owners pay staff more than JobSeeker poverty wage
#KeepTheRate
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It’s been an agonisingly cruel wait for the new increased JobSeeker Payment — due to kick in next Monday. We’ve waited 26 years for Newstart to be lifted, & the last month has felt like another year in itself.
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every person on JobSeeker would vote for this
A Labor policy of extending universal Medicare to dentistry would be a huge winner IMHO.
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not starve
If you got extra money in your pay every week, what would you do with it?
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#STATEMENT
: We are glad to inform you that
@Tony_Burke
has begun to engage with us, reaching out to
@DJLevy4821
this afternoon by phone.
Daniel conveyed a large number of problems already relayed to us by our members, and flagged that detailed info would be sent through ASAP.
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Might fuck around & re-brand as a “think tank” or “policy lab” so publications & tv panels will let our members have an opinion
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Senator Dodson asks “try living the life of a person on this card”, over the sound of Liberal senators laughing. The senate is a sickening hell pit
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Centrelink's service is destroying lives, and the government is lying when they claim there's no quick fixes.
We know, from COVID, this is untrue. They could suspend debt recovery & mutual obligations to allocate more resources into addressing this huge breakdown of service
Some Australians have waited more than 100 days to have their Paid Parental Leave, JobSeeker and Disability Support Pension payments approved.
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We just finished the first ever lobbying trip of Newstart recipients in Canberra. We will no longer be excluded from the political decisions that affect us. We will continue organising, telling our stories, and fighting for our lives
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Unbelievable. We expect it from
@westaustralian
but not
@SBSNews
How many times do we have to say it:
- living on the poverty line isn't 'comfortable'
- the current JobSeeker rate is ~$200 a week below minimum wage
- if you can't find workers ur prob not good to work for
West Australians who are knocking back work because they're comfortable on JobSeeker are being urged to get off their backsides, with Premier Mark McGowan saying "our economy needs you".
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RALLY TO
#RaiseTheRate
The government has refused to commit to raising income support in the budget
This is fucked. And we're letting the Prime Minister know about it
Join our rally outside his office in Sydney, or sign up to support the action:
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Look at what ppl say they’ll spend stimulus on: debts, urgent dental care, keeping a roof over their head. This isn’t a sign of government generosity — but a real insight into their cruelty and neglect.
#my750
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Bin chicken. Reviled outcast fighting to survive on scraps.
Let's introduce Australian Unions using Australian birds. The ACTU
@unionsaustralia
is the peak body for Australian unions so we are like the Wedge-tail Eagle with our huge wingspan & State varieties
@TheQCU
@unionsnsw
@VicUnions
@TasUnions
@SAUnions
@Unions_WA
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Thanks for your interest in these crucially important issues, Scott. Would they potentially be undermined in any way by your plans to throw 1,600,000 Australians into poverty, exactly two weeks from today?
Today is
#RUOKDay
and
#WorldSuicidePreventionDay
This year more than ever before, it’s an important opportunity and a reminder for us to reach out and check in on those around us. A conversation could change a life.
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When asked what people involved in Cashless Debit Card trials in bushfire-affected areas without power or communications are supposed to buy anything,
@Centrelink
says they should just pick up the phone and let them know.
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This class action can't come soon enough. If you believe you've been a victim of the Government's
#Robodebt
scheme, if you've paid a debt you didn't owe, if you had your tax return garnished, if you were disadvantaged in any way, we encourage you to join this action.
Robodebt is very likely illegal. Now it will have its day in court as Peter Gordon who fought Asbestos, Big Tobacco and Thalidomide announces a class action against the Government’s toxic scheme.
#robodebt
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Great news everybody! Your landlord can go to jail for telling you to pay rent w superannuation funds 🎉🏡
Agents & landlords who pressure tenants to raid their retirement fund face up to 5 years in prison or fines of $120k for individuals & $1m for businesses. If your agent or landlord has done this, forward them the letter and tell them that ASIC is watching!!
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We support the wage subsidy, but it’s unfair that the unemployment benefit isn’t being raised to the same level. Ppl who were unemployed before the crisis don’t deserve less than others. We’re all in this together & we need support & solidarity — don’t let this g'ment divide us
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Ok, Linda, we changed the government & you're still ratfucking the poor. What now?
@AusUnemployment
Your anger is understandable. But it’s only the government that can change JobSeeker. And if you want to change the budget, you’ve got to change the government.
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Media Release: AUWU responds to the government’s boost to the JobSeeker Payment
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In news that will surprise nobody, Sarina Russo has blocked the national body representing job seekers
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POOR PEOPLE 👏 DIDN'T 👏 CREATE 👏 THE PROBLEM 👏 AND IT'S NOT 👏 OUR JOB 👏 TO FIX IT 👏
@ScottMorrisonMP
is back on the
#cropaganda
train, no doubt laying the groundwork for another assault on unemployed people
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Announcing the winner of the "write the happiest story possible in 6 words" competition
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#NotaDoleBludger
seems to be trending in Australia! We're so grateful to everyone who is sharing their story. This punitive system wants to break us, but together we are strong, and you're helping deliver a message that we will not accept this treatment from media or government!
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You just rejected the Sex Discrimination Commissioner's call to raise JobSeeker, even after she told you "it will stop homicides"
Too often financial insecurity can be a barrier to escaping violence. While our new Leaving Violence Program will help support people to leave a violent intimate partner relationship, we also need to support more women and children to stay in their own homes when it’s safe.
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You can literally lose your entitlements for 6 months if you move to low-employment areas like [checks notes] the Australian bush. Once again, we’re asking journalists to do their jobs and stop uncritically airing government bullshit:
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🚨 UNION WIN 🚨
After nearly 2 hours we have managed to extract some basic humanity from
@natjamescitz
@Tony_Burke
and
@WorkforceAusGov
Mutual Obligations are now SUSPENDED today due to the Optus blackout.
#AbolishMutualObligations
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We will just keep saying this until the frauds in gov realise how idiotic they look when they spout these lies.
THERE IS NO ONE ON THE JOBSEEKER PAYMENT WHO IS MAKING "MORE THAN THEY COULD HAVE DREAMT OF"
The payment. Is half. The poverty line.
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if you're an older woman on JobSeeker + at risk of homelessness
@TimWilsonMP
has some useful advice for you 😐
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1.6m ppl were told today that we need to start looking for work next week + also told we'll be thrown into poverty. We were told the effective employment rate is 11% and that unemployment is expected to increase.
Look at these numbers. It's unrivalled cruelty + absurdity.
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Pauline Hanson justifies the cruelty of the card, saying there’s such a thing as “tough love”. The fact that white supremacists like Hanson love cashless welfare so much says all you need to know about it
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There are still no penalties for not participating in ‘mutual’ obligations – including *after* 4 August – unless you‘re offered *suitable* work
You don’t need to sign a job plan or attend appointments
Call us if you‘re offered work + need help deciding whether it’s ‘suitable’
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The Government should cease all Cashless Welfare Card trials immediately, and discard the policy forever. There can NEVER be a workable or acceptable mitigation strategy for people in fire-affected communities without functional power or communications infrastructure.
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New rule: journalists must include details of the pay & conditions on every one of these employer-whinge stories
(thank you
@vodkandlime
for alerting us to this nonsense)
This business owner was gobsmacked after a recent advertisement to hire a new employee yielded just two applications.
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We've met with
@Tony_Burke
and heard directly from his mouth that his main priority was the viability of the providers (big businesses who all donate to his party).
He cares more about the welfare of Sarina Russo than her victims.
The minister for employment is well aware that employment services do not help people become employed.
Ultimately
@Tony_Burke
is comfortable with the perversity of forcing people onto a hamster wheel in an economy built on the notion that we require around 4% unemployment.
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Here is
@AlboMP
this morning again refusing to commit to raising Jobseeker.
A real leader would give the millions of welfare recipients in this country some hope. If he isn’t aware, we’re out here starving & being forced into mutual obligations during Omicron.
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Services Australia is such a clown show that the fastest way to get your claim processed is:
1) Tweet
@ServicesGovAU
about their negligence
2) Generate enough eyeballs on the post to make them feel the slightest bit of shame
3) Be invited to email the CEO directly for resolution
@GSpiteri44
Please email our General Manager Hank Jongen at hank
@servicesaustralia
.gov.au and include some information about your circumstances and your best contact details. A staff member will follow up and be in contact with you as soon as they can.
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We throw our unwavering support behind our member, and friend,
@shanebazzi
. While being targeted by one of the most powerful men in the country, Shane's centrelink has been cut back to $0 (thanks to the wretched income partner test). Please support him:
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has filed Federal Court defamation proceedings against refugee advocate Shane Bazzi over a tweet |
@MWhitbourn
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Big news: thanks to the help of
@SenatorSiewert
, we've won a Senate Inquiry into Jobactive (the $7 billion privatised employment services system). We're encouraging all ppl with experience of this system to share their stories with the Senate here:
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Wow, look what happens when you don’t starve people
Large drop in theft figures thanks to COVID stimulus payments
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If
@AlboMP
gave one shit about disabled people, his government would today
#AbolishMutualObligations
-- which disproportionately punish disabled people (40% of the mainstream cohort, in addition to the entire DES cohort) for the "crime" of unemployment.
This is simply disgusting
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The
#CashlessDebitCard
bill has passed the lower house
People at "trial" sites will be forced to remain on the card for the next 2 yrs
Again the parliament has disgraced itself, w particular dishonourable mentions going to
@bridgetarcher
,
@MakeMayoMatter
+
@Stirling_G
🖕🖕🖕
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@Centrelink
Hi Centrelink, (and
@HankJongen
) perhaps you should familiarise your communications staff with Twitter's Rules and Terms of Service, which are the only guidelines applicable to users of this site, which includes Centrelink.
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another dog shit story from
@abcnews
about bullshit jobs
no, workers shouldn't "pick for their country", they should pick for fair wages + conditions in a safe work environment
Call for Australians to backpack in their own backyards and stop fruit going to rot
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When the covid supplement hit our accounts last year, it changed lives. We were able to afford essentials that were previously out of reach.
It kept us inside. It kept us safe. And it crushed the first wave. If we’re going to get out of this mess, we must
#PayPeopleToStayHome
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Amazing. Our members have started 5 new AUWU branches in the last week.
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Would it absolutely kill
@AustralianLabor
and
@AlboMP
to stand up for the right of 1.6million Australians not to be thrown into crushing poverty for the crime of being unemployed in a pandemic?
#KeepTheRate
I'm very disappointed that the 2 major parties did not support my motion calling on the Gov to maintain the current rate of the Coronavirus Supplement of $550 a fortnight to ensure unemployed Australians receive proper support
#Jobseeker
cannot go back below the poverty line
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"For too long, the Max Employments and Sarina Russos of this country have abused and tormented the poor for profit. This has to stop. We’re sending a firm message to these corporations: If you punish our members, we will stand up for them and fight back."
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This punitive system - deemed not fit for purpose by both employers and the senate - must be scrapped immediately and replaced with a genuine employment service run by the public servants that actually helps unemployed workers through this crisis.
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this morning, we were outside
@billshortenmp
's office, talking to locals about the need to raise Newstart immediately. Unbelievably enough, Bill's office called the cops on us. Nice solidarity here from "the party of the workers"
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When someone experiencing poverty gets the rare opportunity to speak to a politician, it is usually met with empty platitudes, a “thank you for sharing your story”, and we are promptly forgotten the moment we leave the room. Janet was different
Today I officially become a former senator. I feel sad, excited and grateful. I'll still be working for a just, green world while also taking a much needed break when I can. See you around the traps, and cheers!
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You know
@abcnews
@KathSully
we actually have more important things to do with our time than ask you to stop publishing disgusting, dehumanising comments abt unemployed workers.
You aren't a stenographer. Just bc an MP said it doesn't mean you have to publish it. Shame on you.
'We couldn't get people off the couch': Farm worker shortage looms despite rising unemployment
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Some truths about the the Indue cashless welfare card for you
@smh
@lisazdavies
.
1. It's colonial violence
2. It's racist
3. It's paternalistic
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Social security folks: because media representation sucks in this country, let’s start sharing how we will actually be spending stimulus. Use the hashtag
#My750
Why don’t you get a fucking social security recipient on yr show so they can tell you what it means
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Here’s the Sarina Russo Victoria state manager “accepting” our GOLDEN DEMERIT award yesterday for worst job agency in the country. Congrats sir! We hope you hang the certificate of suffering proudly
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