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

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) on 1 April 2021 the Morrison Government will force people looking for work, students, and single parents back to payments of $40 a day, condemning millions in our community to live well below the poverty line, 500,000 of which are children,

(ii) the Government introduced tax cuts for millionaires, but are now refusing to properly support the more than 1.3 million people out of work while the pandemic continues,

(iii) with the big banks ending mortgage holidays and state-based eviction moratoriums lifting, thousands of Australians are at risk of losing the roof over their heads, going without essential medications or food on the table, and

(iv) returning JobSeeker to $40 a day will only further entrench poverty, diminishing people's capacity to participate fully and meaningfully in our community; and

(b) calls on the Government to urgently commit to a permanent and ongoing increase to the Jobseeker Payment and Youth Allowance before the Coronavirus Supplement ends on 31 March 2021 to ensure all Australians can live in dignity and not in poverty.