In case you missed it, the government last week, tacked on an amendment to an unrelated bill that would give police the power to recommend the cancellation of social security payments, before a conviction. All you need is an outstanding arrest warrant and a police officer who decides it is a serious enough crime and the recommendation can be made.

That completely overturns the principle of innocent before guilty as well as sets up a double standards – politicians facing charges are paid until a court has delivered a verdict. It risks abuse on the most marginal people and then being used against protesters or anyone else police and the government decide is a ‘risk’.

You can read more about that here.

It looks like there has been some action since the government slipped this all in – Lidia Thorpe plans on moving an amendment to the unrelated bill this amendment is tacked onto to remove it all together in the senate and it looks like some others like ACOSS and Economic Justice Australia are getting involved. Groups like the Antipoverty Centre and Nobody Deserves Poverty as well as advocates like Tom Studans were among the first to raise concerns over the amendment, which had been not been raised during the inquiry into the original bill.