Slavery by any other name

Try before you buy

Our reptilian overlords have recently sought to change our 'slave for the dole' regulations. At the moment those poor people on the dole (unemployment benefits) and other government assistance are forced to do demeaning manual labor for no pay.

A little back story, many months ago a Facebook group i am a member of posted the picture below and asked for a tagline for it. The man in the picture is our Prime minster, the woman is a billionaire heiress who owns a lot of Australian mines.

'Tony, get the dole bludgers working in my mines already, having to pay my workers is a burden.'

Dole Bludger is a derogatory term for anyone who is receiving unemployment benefits. The Liberal Party (Radical right wing, not truly liberal) are repeat offenders when it comes to demonising the unemployed. It is ironic how that jokey caption might possibly be a reality.

Tony Abbot said to a group of business representatives recently;

“That person (person unemployed for 6+ months) can do up to four weeks of work experience with your business, with a private sector business, without losing unemployment benefits so it gives you a chance to have a kind of try-before-you-buy look at unemployed people,” 

If this passes it means that the slave for the dole program will extend beyond government employers and go to big business, and yes i don't see why mines would be excluded.

Further with an endless supply of forced free labour, why are businesses going to actually employ someone? 

This is absolutely unacceptable, the unemployed deserve dignity, we as Australians must condemn slavery in all its forms. To read real life examples of why this is a bad government policy see Work For The Dole Horror Stories on Facebook.

Again, I am not affiliated with these at all but thought they were great, especially if your being forced into slavery, why not look the part with a Dole Slave shirt.

Collins dictionary defines slavery as;

1. The state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune
2. The subjection of a person to another person, especially in being forced into work
3. The condition of being subject to some influence or habit
4. Work done in harsh conditions for low pay. 

Australia has signed the  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)  treaty. The ICCPR among other things should require Australia to not use forced labour or slavery. below are some interesting points found within;

• The right to freedom from slavery and servitude is an absolute right. This means it cannot be limited or qualified under any circumstance.
•  Subsection 270.6(1) of the Criminal Code defines forced labour as the condition of a person who provides labour services and who, because of the use of coercion, threat or deception, would not consider himself or herself to be free: (a) free to cease providing labour or services, or (b) free to leave the place where the person provides labour or services. 
•  The Criminal Code criminalises servitude, which is defined in subsection 270.4(1) as the condition of a person who provides labour or services and who, because of the use of coercion, threat or deception, would not consider himself or herself to be: (a) free to cease providing labour or services, or (b) free to leave the place where the person provides labour or services, and who (c) is significantly deprived of his or her personal freedom.
•  In a case involving Australia, the UN Human Rights Committee stated that work required under the 'work for the dole' scheme did not constitute forced labour under article 8.

We see by the last point, that this treaty has proved useless in protecting Australians from slavery, servitude and forced labour. I can not fathom how, taking into consideration the first point, the last point was made...

If you want more information on slavery in Australia (in its worst forms) a good starting point would be the Anti-Slavery Australia website. They seem like they do good work.