The Australian Government does it again...
Australian Government Refugee Allowances vs.Aust Pensioners
It is interesting that the Federal Government provides a Single Refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890.00 and each can also get an additional $580. 00 in Social Assistance, so a total of $2,470.00 per month.. Family of 4 can receive $9,880.00 per month or yearly $118,685. A single Australian pensioner who, after contributing to the growth and development of Australia for40 to 50 years, receives only a monthly maximum of $1,012.00 in old age pension and GuaranteedIncome Supplement. (Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees!)
*Let's send this to all Australians so we can all be ticked off and maybe we can get the refugees cut back to $1,012.00 and the pensioners up to $2,470.00 and enjoy some of the money we are forced to submit to theGovernment in taxes.
* KEEP Forwarding to every Australian to expose what our elected politicians are doing to the over-taxed Australians
It makes me angry that lies like this can be spread, simply because people are ignorant of the truth, and don't do any fact checking of their own.
Even if I wasn't studying human rights (with a particular focus on refugees), I would have been mortified by this email. I know that it simply is not true. But I was particularly incensed by the fact that there is absolutely no basis in fact for any of this. At the time, I didn't have the time to go and find the statistics for myself, but whilst discussing it with my mother on the weekend, I tried to inform her of some of the truth. I don't think I did very well.
However, today Kochie (from Sunrise), posted a brilliant blog post about this very issue, busting the myth and doing some excellent education in the meantime.
As a way of trying to spread a bit of the education myself, I replied to everyone who I knew had received the fowarded email with the following:
Hi All,
Some of you know me, and some of you don't. My name is Erin, and I'm (my mother's) daughter. I'm a solicitor and I'm currently undertaking my Masters of Law in Human Rights, with a special interest in development, indigenous rights and refugees.
I wanted to bust the myth that this email was sending around.
Refugees do not receive more in benefits than Australians do. In fact, whilst on the books as an asylum seeker, their allowance (which is 89% of the Centrelink allowance) is paid by the Red Cross and they are, therefore, not supported by the government (financially). Once they are granted permanent residency (which is not an easy process), they are entitled to the same benefits as any other permanent resident of Australia, including people from South Africa, New Zealand or England who have been granted permanent residency.
There are many more statistics about all of this, but Kochie from Sunrise has compiled an excellent list of facts about the true state of affairs for refugees in Australia. It's not long, and I ask that you take a couple of minutes to read what he has to say and be informed about refugees in our country. He also links to a number of sites which provide more information.
Then, if you forwarded this email on to anyone, I ask that you send my email on to those people, so that they too may be informed about this genuine issue in Australian culture. Thank you so much for your time in reading this email.
Please be assured that I will not use your email any further after sending this one.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to email
me.
Thanks again.
Erin.
If you've received that email, and maybe passed it on, please give consideration to sending an email similar to mine above to educate people about refugee issues so that all Australians know the truth, and aren't simply acting (and voting) out of the fearmongering that such emails cause.
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