This article argues that exclusionary representations of welfare recipients constructed in the speeches of Australian politicians have facilitated the implementation of punitive welfare measures and that these representations have significant implications for recipients’ moral identity and standing. Representations of welfare recipients in political speeches have constructed them as a threat to the economic and moral wellbeing of ordinary Australians. The paper uses critical discourse analysis to analyse the speeches of Howard Government ministers and compares them with recent speeches by Prime (...) Minister Julia Gillard. (shrink)