Media/Politics

Australian Largesse: Why are Australian taxpayers paying for this welfare island? Today Tonight Damien Hansen Rorting in Paradise An update from the GoV: “Rort” is Australian slang for “scam, hoax, misrepresentation, deception, or other fraudulent scheme to gain (financial) advantage”. More than five hundred Sunni Muslims live in the Cocos Islands, a tiny archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The Cocos are Australian territory, and their largely unemployed Muslim inhabitants have been rorting Canberra out of millions of dollars in jizya for decades. To make matters simpler, the local imam is also the welfare officer on the islands. Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this news report from Australian TV: Below are excerpts from the accompanying news article: It’s a little-known Australian territory that’s closer to Sri Lanka than Canberra, where locals depend heavily on Centrelink payments to stay afloat. The bulk of the population is on welfare, and many are claiming much more than they should. The island’s population relies heavily on Canberra to maintain their isolated existence, and each year tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are channelled to the external Australian territory’s population in the form of welfare payments and grants. Despite the idyllic setting in the Coco Islands however, there is trouble in paradise. 2,750 kilometres northwest of Perth, and halfway between Madagascar and Canberra, is Australia’s most isolated Centrelink office. Home Island is the unemployment capital of the Indian Ocean. It is home to a unique group of Australian citizens living in paradise at the taxpayers’ expense. From the office Haji Adam coordinates welfare payment for the 550 odd population living in the unspoilt paradise that is Australia’s Cocos Keeling Islands. Adams is not only Centrelink’s agent but also Chief Imam, the religious leader of the Muslim community which for nearly three decades has battled unemployment. Living in paradise comes at a cost. The jobless rate fluctuates from 60 to 80 per cent, and the cost of importing food and freight is high. “At the moment I have a number of customers who really have expressed their concern about the rate of payment from Centrelink. It is not really enough because of the cost of living, so I think it is really difficult,” Adam said. Next financial year, the Federal Government has allocated nearly $53,000 for every person on the islands. All up it is around $37 million to maintain health, education, communication and airline services, and that is on top of a dole bill that runs into the millions each year. Read more » Shrouded ‘Fashion’ “Myth dispelling” and more blather: [YouTube] ISLAMIC FASHION EXHIBITION HOPES TO DISPEL MYTHS (by reinforcing stereotypes) Update! There are white people! Needless to mention that they are economically better off than the Malays, which irks SBS redistributor Dick Whittington: He’s shocked by the cultural gap and animosity that have opened up between what’s become the white West Island and Cocos Malay Home Island.