Grateful Dead

Nickname for deceased Australians in receipt of economic stimulus payments.

Thousands of dead people were sent cash payments under Australia’s economic stimulus package, Agence France-Presse reported:

The Australian Tax Office said the 16,000 deceased – dubbed “the grateful dead” by local media – received payments of up to 900 [Australian] dollars ($700) each earlier this year, costing an estimated 14 million dollars ($11 million).

The payments were part of a 42 billion-dollar ($33 billion) stimulus package passed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government in February that gave cash handouts to all eligible Australians who lodged a tax return last financial year.

The so-called “manna from Kevin” aimed to get cash registers around the country ringing as a means of cushioning the economy from the impact of the global downturn.

According to The Courier Mail, 27,000 Australian expats also received the $700 payment, as did numerous non-Australians who were working in the country but have since left. The Daily Telegraph reported, “opposition MPs have also claimed some stimulus payments have gone to prisoners and pets left with estates after their owners had died.”

Kevin Rudd defended the program and chided opposition politicians for their lack of sensitivity:

“You’ve got people jumping up and down making a political point, in the Liberal Party and elsewhere today, talking about dead people as if it’s just a loose bit of political commentary,” he said. “I think we just need to show a bit of respect here.”