Could this humble Sydney-sider make an observation about Melbourne drivers? It seems each time I see them wait for a pedestrian, they can barely restrain the urge to run the poor person over. The other day in Footscray, I saw one driver turning right at an intersection menacingly moving his vehicle forward to a poor fellow in a wheelchair moving quite lawfully in the other direction. As if to make the fellow even more terrified, the forward moves were accompanied by a horn and a few f-words.
You'd expect a responsible driver to give way to a pedestrian at an intersection. Pedestrians can't hold out their palm to stop a car. Pedestrians, whether old or young or disabled, are vulnerable. Pedestrians are individuals.
Similar observations could be made about how our politicians confront the most vulnerable individuals. Apparently we live in a liberal democracy, and the focus of the state is on protecting such individuals' rights. So why are we now once again hearing politicians sitting in their comfortable offices with access to staffers and spin doctors use their Commonwealth cars to run over income support recipients? Why focus on making the often precarious positions of dole payees, single mums and disability support pensioners even harder?
And why don't we see Liberal MPs question the generous welfare entitlements of middle and upper-middle class Australians? Why won't Labor MPs fess up to their past sins in this area? Instead we read Jenny Macklin in The Australian on 27 January proudly declaring that 'recent history shows that when it comes to getting results, only Labor can keep our social security system sustainable and strong'. Indeed. And at whose cost?
Today thousands more single parents are sitting on the crumbs of Newstart. This is due to 'reforms' introduced during the office of Australia's first female prime minister which disproportionately affect women (and their children), such as the severe restrictions on access to the Parenting Payment.
Labor also oversaw rule changes that make it harder for genuinely disabled people to access the DSP. Why is it that people with less severe MS who can barely walk without a stick, frequently lose their balance, and cannot perform many household chores let alone do manual labour, are ineligible for the DSP?
The Liberals seem intent on pursuing the ALP's approach of punishing the vulnerable. Human Services Minister Kevin Andrews refuses to see any reduction in the often middle class welfare dished out