Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that this is the last sitting week before the Federal Budget will be handed down on 6 October 2020;

(b) recognises that the poverty rate for people on JobSeeker Payment dropped from 67% to 6.8% after the introduction of the $550 Coronavirus Supplement;

(c) acknowledges that, when the Coronavirus Supplement is cut by $300 a fortnight on 25 September 2020:

(i) the number of people in poverty will increase by 740,000,

(ii) people in our community will be in mortgage stress and rental affordability will plummet to 0.2% for people on JobSeeker Payment, and

(iii) more than 1.1 million children will be living in households that have their incomes cut;

(d) recognises the importance of leaders showing support for unemployed workers during these times; and

(e) calls on the Government to:

(i) maintain the rate of the Coronavirus Supplement of $550 a fortnight to ensure people on income support do not slip into poverty during this pandemic and recovery; and

(ii) include adequate increases to income support in the October Budget that ensure that people on income support can live above the poverty line.