Single Parents under attack; We DEMAND our pensions back

    

  From Jan 1 2013 Single Parents whose youngest child is 8 years or older lost access to The Single Parents Pension and were forced onto the unstable onerous Newstart Allowance.

ANationwide Single Parents Rallies 24th August 2013

Sydney Rally 11:30am:  https://www.facebook.com/events/537930259594280/

media: 0450266938 - 

•  Single Parents lost between $120 and $300 per fortnight in income alone- at a time when Politicians received 3 pay rises in 18 months.
• As well as the monetary loss Single Parents have lost a range of concessions. Instead they now have to meet onerous Job Network Provisions which deprive them of time and the capability to plan their time effectively around their families needs.Job Network Agencies impose their self serving timelines instead.
• Many Single Parented Families have been forced from their Homes by the simple fact that they are no longer able to meet Housing Costs. Some have been forced to take accommodation in rural areas where no jobs exist. Others have been forced to return to live with abusive spouses. Many Single Parented Families are now Homeless, forced to live in tents or where ever they can.
• Parenting should be valued. Parenting is the basis of Family.Family is the basis of Community.Community is the basis of a vibrant society. We must not consent to undermining these basic building blocks.

Occupy Sydney join with Single Parents in demanding immediate restoration of Single Parents Pensions - as an option For all Single Parents until their youngest child turns 18. 
  The Labor Federal Government and Liberal led opposition have agreed that there should be no reversal of the decision to (from Jan1 2013) take Single Parents  Pensions away from Single Parented families as their children turn eight years of age. Single Parented families are now forced onto invasive Newstart where under "Mutual  Obligation they are forced to become income generator units for Job Network Agencies.

Occupy Sydney suggest that Single Parents Families and supporters who wish to participate in the upcoming 2013 Oz elections vote elsewhere and put Liberal and Labor last.

Many Single Parents already choose to work at least part time. In fact the official statistics below clearly show that the majority of Single Parents of children aged 6 plus work.  They have struck a life balance which accommodates their families needs and their ability to work. As Newstart Clients the option of holidays is gone with many being forced to leave permanent part time jobs to suit the contractual obligations of belligerent Job Network Agencies. Other Single Parents have been forced to give up long term part time work as earnings from these sources are eroded by onerous extra Jobseeker related commitments.

 Single Parents forced onto Newstart have lost their family holidays as unrelenting Job Network Service Providers force them onto programs which keep the Service Provider funded but usually provide no benefits to the Single Parent. These Job Network "Training modules"- often providing training with zero meaningful independent recognition, have the almost universal effect of costing Single Parents in both monetary terms and in stress. 
  Single Parents play a vital role in raising their children.Their children deserve to know that their parent is always there for them. It is vital that single parents retain the flexibility to cater to their childrens ever changing societal sporting educational and emergency needs in a timely manner. Few selected to become single parents.  The overwhelming majority of Single Parents do a creditable job of raising their children as positively contributing members of society. 

 If in two parent families each parent has 50% parental responsibility then a single parent has 100% responsibility.

•   Sydney Single Parents demand a return of Single Parent Pension availability to All Single Parents with Child caring responsibilities as of Right.
• Sydney Single Parents DO NOT endorse ANY Policy which takes away their Choice to Work or Care for their children's best interests as they see fit.

Society Under Attack from Govt: Single Parents

On January 1st 2013 the Callous Australian Federal Government with customary Marie Antoinette like indifference cancelled the Single Parents payment-forcing thousands of single parents onto the disempowering and heavily onerous Newstart,the Aussie version of the Dole.
Occupy Sydney vehemently oppose this anti Family attack on another already economically  marginalised group within society.
The Australian genesis of this flawed Government strategy lies in the Corporate serving McClure report concocted by a Committee steered by then Mission Australia CEO Patrick McClure for the Howard Government. The Report, loosely based on The Alberta Tough Love program introduces some furphies which serve Corporations in their quest to make bigger profits on a lower labour unit cost also serves Government in its quest to manage people and the Marginalisation industry in its perennial  quest for growth.
  The basic flawed tenet is the Reports concept of 'mutual obligation' which holds that claimants of income support should have an exchange obligation i.e. to engage in 'training' (a profitable adjunct for the poverty industry,particularly Mission Australia. If that is mutual obligation then what is the governments obligation when it collects among the highest taxes in the world? McClures Mutual obligation is an additional obligation to paying tax when you work.
  In an extension of the same flawed logic subsequent Labor governments have deemed that Single Parents should not be able to choose full time parenting despite the full time nature of the role. Instead they should make themselves available at often unsustainable pay rates as Corporate wageslaves.
The Government decision to force single parents onto Newstart will have a destabilising effect on families as tired out poorly paid sungle parents are forced to trek hours each day to poorly paid jobs or worse to faux training courses which bring cashflow to monetising agencies while leaving single parent families socially as well as economically destitute.
Occupy Sydney support a Single Parents Social Wage and join grassroots single parents in calling for an immediate livable single parents social wage for those who want it.