Daniel Taylor from Kununurra W.A has made the decision to end his hunger strike on the 17th day, due to concerns for his health and well-being.
Despite not receiving any answers to his questions from Minister for Human Services, Alan Tudge, or any other politician, Daniel says this is affecting the people he loves too much to continue at this point, but he is not giving up his fight.
Day 17
In a Statement made to Activist News this morning, Daniel says “Thank you to all the people who have supported me. It is not over yet, I am going to get healthy and then I am going to get answers. This is only the beginning, I started by myself but support has come from everywhere. We will unite and together we will stop this abuse of human rights”
Mr Taylor planned to travel to Melbourne to hand deliver a petition to Mr Tudge’s office and and ask his questions, initially that plan was thwarted when Daniel discovered you could not use the card to purchase discount flights online, and you had to go to a travel agent, which charges a significant amount more. A fundraiser was started to help get Mr Taylor to Melbourne, but at this point in time Daniel is far too unwell to travel. His determination has not wavered and he still plans to give the petition to Alan Tudge in person when he is well enough.
As the cashless welfare card trials continue in Kununurra, more and more families are running into problems. The card does not allow you to pay bills online. You cannot pay mortgages to offset accounts with this card. You cannot pay the landlord private rent. Instead of helping people get out of financial trouble, these cards are getting people in more and more debt and putting more stress on already struggling families. Indue is set to make a fortune if this card is rolled out nationally and their shareholders are the only people who truly benefit from this privately run cashless welfare system.
Minister for Human Services office
For now these trials are only affecting people of Ceduna and Kununurra, but if we do not stand up to this now, it will affect the entire country.
Kathryn Wilkes, admin of the national “Say no to welfare card” page claims “The Welfare Debit Card is a gateway to allowing a private company being able to take control of our countrys’ social security funding, something always protected by our government, now in the hands of a private pre paid card service without the protections of a bank. Worse it will disadvantage the most vulnerable and the low income people of this country, whilst making money for all involved and costing it’s recipients their financial and autonomous freedoms.”
Please continue to sign and share the petition. The hunger strike may have ended, but this fight is not yet over.
Click here to sign the petition
The post Health Concerns Force End To Hunger Strike appeared first on Activist News Australia.