Royalties & dole? No further comment from Centrelink

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By ERWIN CHLANDA
 
Centrelink will make no further comment on an Alice Springs News Online report raising questions about the suspension or cancellation of welfare payments to people receiving mining royalties.
 
While the Human Services Department claims it has “one of the most sophisticated electronic data-matching systems in Australia”, it “does not keep data regarding the cancellation or suspension of Centrelink payments as a result of mining royalties”.
 
The News put the following additional questions to the department: “While the whole issue of mining royalties is far from transparent, a reasonable rule of thumb is that the pay-out to individuals is equal to the amounts being invested.
 
“Have you gone to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) website and checked the amount of money royalty associations have invested? It is in the tens of millions of dollars.
 
“Have the individual royalty recipients declared corresponding amounts as their income? If so, how much?
 
“You are saying welfare recipients have an obligation to declare other income. What makes you think they are?
 
“ORIC records are very comprehensive, showing the names of members of royalty associations. Are cross-checks being made to see if any are welfare recipients?
 
The department’s reply: “We don’t have anything to add to our previous response.”
 

4 COMMENTS

  1. What about the numbers of people who are on Disability payments for a broken leg 10 years ago?

  2. Amazing. Apartheid is still alive and well in federal, state and territory departments and there is a culture of cover up and hide.
    Government departments that function on the agenda of racism and discrimination. Something really wrong with our elected members when they are idle and support this continued violation of rights of all Australians laws and policy.

  3. Possibly none, Greg Simon (Posted December 13, 2014 at 9:43 pm). Certainly not many. And probably a hell of a lot less than there are wealthy business people concealing part of their income and failing to pay a large part of their taxation dues.

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