This is not about addressing fraud. It about terrorising poor people, the unemployed, the sick and students, to name a few. Much as it has done with the hyper-terrorism threat, the government is promoting fear for political and ideological purposes. The fearmongering is working. People are becoming suicidal.
In light of the rise of One Nation, the government hopes that attacking ‘dole bludgers’ will bring back some lost supporters to the fold.
Why concentrate on screwing poor people and those just above them in the income stakes but do nothing about the 679 big businesses which paid no income tax on gross revenue of $462 billion in 2014/15? The answer is simple. It is the same reason they do nothing about their own entitlement rorts or superannuation scheme. They are part of the 1% and share the culture of entitlement many capitalists have.
Politicians don't get prosecuted for catching a helicopter from Melbourne to Geelong, or arranging their travel and work to buy a $795,000 Gold Coast unit, among a myriad of other sins. As I have written before, the political system is corrupt.
This war on welfare is never-ending. It is part of the one-sided class war waged against workers for the last three decades in Australia. Company tax cuts to address falling profit rates depend on stealing money from pensioners, the unemployed, the sick, single parents, students — it will not stop unless we fight back.