Duncan Storrar's Q&A crowdfunding money 'to buy toaster, school uniforms, holiday'

Duncan Storrar plans to spend some of the tens of thousands of dollars raised for him through a crowdfunding campaign to buy a toaster for a homeless shelter.

Duncan Storrar

ABC Q&A audience member, and crowdfunding recipient Duncan Storrar. Source: ABC Australia

Some of the $56,000 raised through a crowdfunding campaign for Q&A audience member Duncan Storrar may actually go towards a toaster.

The campaign, "", began after he questioned Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer about the government's proposed tax cut for people earning more than $80,000 on the ABC panel show.

"I've got a disability and a low education, that means I've spent my whole life working for minimum wage," he said on Monday night.
"You're going to lift the tax-free threshold for rich people.

"If you lift my tax-free threshold, that changes my life. That means that I get to say to my little girls, 'Daddy's not broke this weekend, we can go to the pictures'.

"Rich people don't even notice their tax-free threshold lift. Why don't I get it? Why do they get it?"

In Ms O'Dwyer's response she used the possibility of a cafe buying a $6000 toaster as an example of how company tax cuts would benefit small businesses, prompting confusion and ridicule among the community.

Campaign creator Samuel Fawcett told ABC 774 in Melbourne Mr Storrar hoped to use the money to buy a toaster or an oven for a homeless shelter.

He said Mr Storrar also had ideas for where he would like the rest of the money to go.
"He's wanting to harbour it somewhere so his kids can get covered for uniforms, computers at school and all those kinds of things," he said.

"And he wants to take them on a holiday."

Mr Fawcett said he had started the GoFundMe campaign "to kick Duncan some cash to say 'look, I can offer you enough money for a sandwich and milkshake' that he so desperately wanted".

"I started off with a small donation then I guess people just got behind it," he told ABC774.

"It's been quite dramatic and it just boomed.

"He was overwhelmed that so many people cared for him and wanted to give him funds to purchase things."

On the campaign page, Mr Fawcett wrote: "Duncan seems like a good bloke and every little bit of cash goes a long way".

"We reckon he deserves a bit of a helping hand so we've decided to buy him a new toaster," the page says. 

"[Six] grand oughtta cover it. And if he has a little bit left over, maybe he can take his kids to the movies or something."

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Published 12 May 2016 12:00pm
Updated 12 May 2016 12:15pm
Source: SBS News

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