Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my electorate of Newcastle there are 5,157 people on Newstart. That's more than 5,000 people struggling just to survive and keep a roof over their heads, let alone find money for job seeking and attending interviews. The Morrison government's abject cruelty of doing nothing while people are being forced to live on $40 a day is nothing short of despicable.

Make no mistake: Newstart is so low it's driving people into deep poverty and making it damn near impossible to get out once they're there. Indeed, a recent ACOSS survey found a staggering 84 per cent of Newstart recipients go without a meal just to get by. That this could be happening in a wealthy, generous country like Australia is an absolute disgrace. It's no good for jobseekers, it's no good for employers and it's a disaster for regional economies like Newcastle—indeed, a recent Deloitte study found increasing Newstart would generate $8.5 million worth of economic activity in Newcastle alone.

When the Business Council, ACOSS, John Howard and the Reserve Bank are all singing from the same hymn book and demanding that Newstart be increased, only the most arrogant, entitled, out-of-touch government would refuse to listen. It's time to start listening, Mr Morrison. It is time to increase Newstart. Let's raise the rate now.