Welfare recipient ‘not sorry’ for spending Centrelink payments on drugs

While the pension and Centrelink payments are meant to be for Australians in need, a welfare recipient has sparked fury by admitting he spends his payments on ice and marijuana. Appearing on Monday’s episode of A Current Affair, a 30-year-old man called Adrian said he spends his Disability Support Pension and rent assistance on drugs.

“I can’t really deny it. I can’t really say anything against it,” Adrian said, smiling on camera. “I use dope and ice. Probably once a week ice but dope, every day.”

Adrian said he wasn’t proud of his choices, but laughed when he said he did use his money on drugs. He also referred to himself as a “king” and explained to reporter Reid Butler that he always makes sure he’s got tobacco, rent and food first and then purchases his drugs.

“It works. Trust me. You can budget for anything as long as you budget properly,” he added.

Shocking footage showed Adrian’s rental home – which is paid for by taxpayers – covered in rubbish, drugs and mess. He said that people have been using welfare money on illegal drugs “since Centrelink came out” and refused to apologise for his habit.

“I could say I’m sorry but it wouldn’t really mean anything,” he said on camera. “Tomorrow I’m just going to go out and get more drugs.”

He added: “Even if the police came and charged me for what they saw on TV, I don’t really care. I’m willing to cop that on the chin.” He also explained that he’s been doing drugs for a long time and he hasn’t been caught once.

Elsewhere in the interview, Adrian described himself as “the most useless bum in Australia”. He receives $2,076 each month in welfare and $138 a fortnight for rental assistance and claims he’s on the disability because he has ADHD. Adrian is capable of working part-time but said it was hard to find a job.

Alarmingly, he added that he could do with some more money on the pension and proudly cut up his drugs on camera. There are calls for all welfare recipients to be subject to drug testing, while viewers at home vented their frustration at Adrian’s attitude.

One viewer on Facebook wrote: “This guy needs to be helped and the cashless card would be a great idea for him and others like him. That is the only way the card should be done.”

Another comment read: “He says he is not proud of what he does, yet he laughs about it. What a waste of his life and money, some families are struggling to make ends meet on welfare and this man abuses the generosity of the Australian taxpayers,” while a third added: “Well that’s more than I get for an aged pension.”

It comes just days after the Department of Human Services revealed that the number of public tip-offs it received about welfare fraud skyrocketed last year. The department, which oversees Centrelink and the likes of Newstart and the Age Pension, received more than 90,000 tip-offs regarding alleged benefits fraud in the 2018-19 financial year, concerning welfare payments as well as Medicare and Child Support.

Welfare payments make up around one third of the government’s overall annual expenditure, totalling around $184 billion each year. This system is supported by the tax system, with the average Aussie estimated to contribute more than $7,000 of their annual income to the welfare system.

Meanwhile, fortnightly Age Pension payments are set to increase from September 20 by $7.20 to $933.40 for singles and by $10.80 a fortnight to $1407 for couples combined – with both figures including Pension Supplement and Energy Supplement.