ian wrote on May 11
th, 2014 at 4:51pm:
Kat wrote on May 11
th, 2014 at 3:19pm:
I'm not denying that there are rorters, of course there are. There always have been, and likely always will be.
But their numbers, like those of the largely mythical 'dole bludger' have been, and are being deliberately inflated
and exaggerated in an attempt to ensure that Joe Public regards all recips as such and thus feels no sympathy for
them when the cuts and punitive measures are brought in, and will instead enthusiastically welcome the persecution.
simple observation skills would tell you the rorting is enormous, people in wheelchairs have trouble getting disabled parking spots because of all the able bodied people with disability parking permits. Next time you are at a shopping centre
stake out the disabled parking bays for half an hour, I doubt you will see one person who doesnt perfectly abled. I have done this myself a few times and Herbert is right, the majority are eastern european looking and perfectly able bodied. The disability pension has been rorted for decades by these professionals, time to put an end to this madness,
And there's the thing... they
appear to be perfectly able-bodied.
But appearances can be, and often are, deceptive. Yes, it's fairly obvious if one has limbs missing or is in
a cast.
But there are more invisible disabilities than visible ones. Can you 'see' cancer? Or MS? A tumour? PTSD?
A bad heart or liver? Osteoporosis? Can you 'see' mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, bi-
polarism? Minor brain damage or nerve damage due to an accident?
Of course not! But are these people less disabled (or not disabled at all) simply because you can't 'see'
the disability?
Again, of course not.
I myself have a partial disability (not bad enough to justify the DSP, and no, I've never tried to claim it) in
that I have serious issues with my knees due to old sporting injuries compounded by a motorcycle accident
when I was in my 20s. It's pretty easy to spot IF you know me well, but you couldn't tell just by watching
me get out of a car. And yes, it does have an effect on what type of work I can do (tiling floors kills me).
To claim that someone is pulling a rort simply because they don't
appear disabled is a bit silly,
really. It's like the popular but erroneous view, held by one or two here, that if you are on the dole it means
you have never worked or looked for work, and will never work or look for work. Or that all single mums
have five kids to five guys and only do it for the SP benefit and the baby bonus. Doesn't matter that the facts
don't bear the claims out. Of course these people exist, but their numbers are miniscule in comparison to
genuine recips. They are by no means representative of every DSP recip, dole recip or single-mum.
Your response to my post, taken together with some of the other comments I see here, only appear to
reinforce what I said above concerning the de-sensitisation of Joe Public to measures savaging DSP/dole
recips/single mums by tarring them all with the 'unworthy' tag, and that it is working, and working well.
People seem to be all too willing to believe that most are bludging or rorting, and that none are deserving
at all.
And God help anyone who tries to convince them otherwise, they'll just be tossed into the stereotype mix
as well, regardless.