Keith Davis reports that the March Australia NATIONAL WELFARE MARCH in July intends to do nothing less than change the social welfare landscape of this Nation. So far Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and a number of regional centres are joining together to march for social justice for the disadvantaged citizens of this country. This ‘peoples’ movement’ is taking square aim at the regressive social welfare policies of the Abbott Government. We believe that welfare payments are there to support the poor, the homeless, the disadvantaged, and the unemployed, and we do not believe that the rich and the corporations deserve any sort of access to tax-break welfare payments. In July, ONE MARCH can have the power to sway a Nation!” or bits of that thereof …
We Are Marching For Social Justice and Our Aims Are Very Clear. We Will Not Be Distracted From Our Cause.
We Intend to Change The Social Welfare Landscape Of This Nation!
The days of hoping for others to do it for us are over. The days of simply waiting for social justice to come our way are coming to an end.
The days of our public humiliation are about to be swept aside.
No longer will our voices be ignored. No longer will we be ground down by the poverty that has been forced upon us.
No more will we accept the judgement and demonization sent our way by the self appointed political and social upper classes of this nation.
We are taking to the streets. We are building our barricades against unfairness. We are pushing back against the tide of ridicule and suppression.
We are re-claiming our power.
We are not your serfs. We are not your servants. We will not be constrained by your oppression, your judgements, or your ridicule.
We are not animals and no more will we allow ourselves to be confined within the corrals of your Jobnetworks. We will use every means at our disposal to close down your punitive gulags.
We are not slaves. We are not convicts. We will not submit to the chains and shackles of your Work for the Dole. We will not allow you to brutally exploit our labour.
Our homeless are not scum. Our sole parents are not bludgers. Our pensioners are not invisible discards. And our disadvantaged are not blights on your social landscape.
Our unemployed are not Newstart Criminals. Our disabled are not an embarrassment. Our mental health sufferers are not cannon fodder for your funding cuts.
Our Aboriginal brothers and sisters on welfare are not targets for your quarantining experiments.
Our razor wired Asylum Seekers are not your political prisoners.
So we are taking to the streets.
So we are taking you on.
We will picket your Centrelinks.
We will force you to raise Newstart and other benefits above the poverty line.
We will demand our right to live with dignity.
We will demand a Basic Income Guarantee for all.
We will stop the unfair judgement and demonization of all Welfare Recipients.
We will demand that you withdraw welfare payments from the corporations and the rich.
We will demand that you stop attacking the poor.
So we are taking to the streets. We are building our barricades.
And to you, the Government of this land, we say this …
YOUR DAYS OF UNFETTERED POWER ARE OVER!
