Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Anti-Poverty Week runs from 17 to 23 October 2021,

(ii) currently, more than 2.65 million people in Australia live below the poverty line with many at risk of homelessness, and

(iii) during 2020, around 3 million Australians were protected from poverty when the Federal Government increased income support rates; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to take immediate action to raise income support above the poverty line and invest in social housing.

The rate of people living in poverty in Australia is appalling. It's particularly appalling because we've seen so recently that it can be different. In 2020 we saw payment rates lifted above the poverty line for the first time in years. We heard from people who were trapped in poverty what a difference that made to their lives, what a difference the coronavirus supplement made. Conny Lenneberg, director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, wrote:

One family told us that for the first time they were able to eat three meals a day. Previously there were only three or four days in the week when they all could afford to eat meals. Sitting down to breakfast together each morning was a new experience.

A father of two young children, Tim, told us that for the first time he could afford nappies and formula for his seven-month-old, food and clothes for his three-year-old and still have enough for himself and his wife to eat well. Others have spoken about being able to afford fresh food for the first time, of being able to buy their medicines and pay their rent on time.

These are all things that the rest of us who aren't living in poverty take for granted. This government has made a choice. After seeing the demonstrable difference that raising the rate of income support made to people's lives, the government chose to once again slash the level of income support and force people back into poverty.

I also want to share the story of Melissa, who is one of the people forced to live on a payment below the poverty line: 'About six months after being put on JobSeeker, I made a suicide attempt. When I was asked why I'd done this, my only response at the time was, "Because I can't afford to live." The worst part after losing Mum was going onto JobSeeker, because I was thrown into even more poverty. It felt like everything was falling down beside me, and all of a sudden I didn't have the money to support me. We are not bludgers. There are real barriers to working, and we are just doing the best we can to survive.'

I emailed a lot of people who previously had been supporting our Greens campaigns and supporting the fantastic work that former senator Rachel Siewert did, over the last six years, on poverty and on raising the rate. I emailed them during the week, introducing myself as the Greens' new spokesperson for community affairs and asked them to share their stories with me about what it would mean to them if JobSeeker were doubled, what it would mean to them to be no longer living in poverty, and what their experience of living in poverty while living on JobSeeker currently was.

I had many people get back to me immediately. Some of the things they told me were that they often had to choose whether to buy food or medication or whether to keep the lights or heat on. Someone said, 'I had to stop medications I should be taking because I cannot afford them. My consumption of food has been reduced by so much in the last eight months that I have lost 30 kilograms.' Someone else said: 'I've managed to keep a roof over my head, but at the expense of everything else. This has affected my mental health, and I now spend most of my time in the house unable to go out.' Another person: 'I have a car I can't afford to run, so basically I am in this house 24 hours a day.' Someone else: 'I'm a diabetic, so lack of food causes my sugars to go down often, resulting in coma-like episodes.' 'I can't afford physio,' said another person, 'I can't afford medication all the time. When JobSeeker payments were increased last year, I could afford to pay my bills and not worry so much about having to work in pain in work that I'm no longer suited to.'

Then we have what happens to people who through no fault of their own find themselves not being able to work. This person said, after they had been living on JobSeeker for the last year: 'Since then, my savings, which are mostly made up of super money I withdrew, have gone down at a rapid rate. I've had to take out around $1,000 a month to get by. My employment provider has done nothing, literally. They refused to help with PPE, uniforms, self-education expenses. So with Indue making around 12k a year from me,' because they're on the cashless debit card, 'and the DSS provider getting around $400 once a fortnight from me for having to visit them, they are getting the exact same amount I receive in payments for these companies. The rate of JobSeeker payment is designed to punish people and to force them to work for bad employers who should not be in business.' One other person said, 'Being on JobSeeker feels like a punishment, a punishment for not being able to find work when there simply aren't enough jobs to go around. You see people around you enjoying the most basic things, like catching up with friends for a coffee, and you feel like you've been kicked when you're already down. It's a punishment, and it's killing people.'

What's particularly appalling when you hear these heartbreaking stories is that in the midst of the COVID pandemic the major corporations were raking in the funding hand over fist. They were making out like bandits. Costings by the Parliamentary Budget Office estimate that if just 65 corporations who paid executive bonuses or made excessive profits returned the JobKeeper funds that they got it would involve returning over $1 billion. But JobKeeper isn't the only program that corporations made very well out of. The last budget set out $11.4 billion in subsidies to keep burning fossil fuels and $1.4 billion for new coal and gas projects. So this government can afford to pay subsidies for the biggest polluters in a climate crisis but says it cannot afford to rescue people from the whirlpool of poverty that they are trapped in.

Of course, there are so many other forms of support for corporations and the ultra rich. Research commissioned by Anglicare estimated that the cost of tax concessions for the wealthiest 20 per cent in our community amounted to $68 billion every year. That research was several years ago, and I feel confident that the number hasn't gone down. But while the government is making the choice to reward billionaires and big corporations, it is also making another choice to force people into poverty, to force people to live on a payment whose rate is below the poverty line.

I also want to share some accounts of people who have faced Centrelink debts. Earlier today, in answer to my question in question time, the Minister for Families and Social Services told me that, no, they weren't going to be going after corporations who'd made profits out of JobKeeper and then said that the people who had inadvertently received both JobSeeker and JobKeeper had potentially committed fraud and, yes, they were going to go after them, because they'd committed fraud.

I want to share the voices that this government has made the choice to punish. This is what one person had to say to me: 'I was initially told that I didn't qualify for JobKeeper, along with 120 other casual employees. As it turns out, I did. In the meantime, I got JobSeeker. When JobKeeper came through I was back paid and rang Centrelink to let them know. In that conversation I explained the details of having to fight for JobKeeper. They informed me that they could not collect debt at that time by law and that I'd be asked to return overpayments when they were able to collect again. Even voluntary payment wasn't allowed. Many months later I get an incredibly rude phone call—'You didn't declare for JobKeeper for date X to date Y—and I had to go through the entire thing again, stating it clearly all on the record. I had written down dates and amounts approximately six months earlier and said I needed to find all that paperwork because the phone call was out of the blue. The amount they wanted returned was well over what I had recorded, and I went through it with a fine-tooth comb. It was two fortnights only, but they were attempting to get three. This did eventually get sorted and I paid the correct amount. But I'm in Melbourne, where we have spent around 43 per cent of our lives in lockdown since 30 March 2020. I have a casual job in retail. They dock my pay per fortnight that I get to work but don't account for the times I'm legally not allowed to. I'm earning well under the annual amount for pay docking. No system has been introduced to help us or to account for this. They are very quick to take our earnings but ignore completely when they owe us.'

This is how our government treats some of the most vulnerable people in our society, the poorest people, people who are really living on the edge. There are stories after stories of people living in poverty. It's a choice. It's a political choice. We could lift people out of poverty. It is possible. It's a political choice. We could raise the rate, like we did last year when people suddenly discovered that they could live life again, suddenly discovered that they could get by, suddenly discovered that they actually had enough money to eat well, to be able to get themselves to jobs and to be able to feed their kids. This is a political choice.

The Greens are calling for our income support rate to be lifted above the poverty line. It's the least we can do in the rich country that we live in. It is the least we can do. The response from this government—'That's going to discourage people from getting work'—is just such a furphy. The jobs aren't there. It's really just labelling people as dole bludgers when, in fact, we have people who are doing everything they can to keep their heads above water. It is the least we can be doing to be looking after people in our society. We are a wealthy country. We can afford to be doubling our income support rate, to be lifting people out of poverty, to be giving everybody the opportunity to be living meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's just groundhog day—here we are again! I know Senator Siewert's left and so someone else has got to start to make their mark, but this is just getting beyond a joke. I know that the Greens love to share stories, so I thought I'd start with a couple of stories of my own. I'm going to talk about John down in Jervis Bay who owns a hotel. He called me as he was making the beds because he cannot get staff. One of the reasons we couldn't get staff in rural and regional areas when we had the additional JobSeeker supplement being paid was that it was actually more beneficial for people to go lie on the beach than work. So all of these businesses that were requiring staff could not get them because people were earning more money, or a pretty good rate, not having to work and not having to participate in the economy or in the community in any meaningful way.

There are friends of mine up in Moree. I know I was referred to today, I think by Senator McAllister, as the 'senator for Sydney'. That's a little bit offensive after the decade and a half I spent in Moree. They cannot get a worker in as they prep the cotton gins for a boom harvest in cotton next year let alone where they are with the current grain harvest. If we want to talk about opportunities, there is more work available than ever before. The post-pandemic economy is absolutely booming. There are plenty of jobs at every level of skill. So we don't need to talk about the fact that some of them are highly skilled jobs. There are plenty of jobs across the board. There's plenty of opportunity for people who want to work.

This is the difference between us and those who sit at the far end of the chamber. We see our social security system as a safety net. It's something that is there for everyday Australians when they need it. It's not a living wage. It's not a substitute for participating in the economy and contributing to this country. The social security safety net that we provide is paid for by taxpayers. So we owe it to every single taxpayer to ensure that the safety net is not only sustainable, viable and accessible to everybody should they need it but also that is not a permanent stop. It's somewhere where we encourage people to do training. We offer job training, courses, resumes and advice on how to dress for an interview. All of those skills are provided because we know the best form of welfare is a job. And it's not just the cash side of it that helps. It's the community engagement. It's the interaction with workers. It's the boost to your own self-esteem and mental health. It's also a fantastic example to show your children. Too many children in this country grow up in a cycle of unemployment that leads to unemployment from generation to generation to generation. Whilst there is a JobSeeker rate, there are also substantial additional payments on top of that. They are never mentioned by the Greens at the end of the chamber. They forget about those things—rental assistance, phone assistance, family tax benefits part A and B, the pharmaceutical allowance, the healthcare card, bulk billing and medical services. All of these things are never mentioned, because they just want to talk about one rate and one rate alone.

I don't want to keep everybody here all night—we have had our hours extended already—but I want to read out a tweet today from a girlfriend of mine. She grew up in public housing. She tweeted: 'I managed to crawl out of that hellhole of public housing life, work and study since I was 17, buy a house, have a family, travel the world and even eat in fancy restaurants while doing interesting things for a living.' She is an absolutely outstanding example of someone who worked hard to pull herself up and contribute to this country. She has a beautiful son and a gorgeous dog, Scout, and she is contributing to this country in a very significant way. Our social security system is there as a safety net. It is there for all Australians. It is paid for by all Australians. Unlike other countries, we have no time limit. But we encourage Australians to take up the supports that we provide and to look at getting back into the workforce, because that is where they are going to be the most happy.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am also going to abandon what I was going to say and just respond to what has been said across the chamber just now. There are so many people in this country who rely on those support payments, and all the other additional support payments that were referred to, and they also would like a job. The understanding of those on the other side of the chamber that anyone who is unemployed is just a dole bludger, is lazy, just can't be bothered is a total and utter falsehood. There are people living below the poverty line in this country and they want a hand up. They want an education. They want to be able to get a job. And I can assure you that those employment services, whose praises have been sung, are not delivering on those promises. They are not providing the support that people need. It is Anti-Poverty Week and the biggest problem we have in this country is the attitude of some people to those who are disadvantaged, to those who are unwell, to those who cannot find a job. Thank you.

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Anti-Poverty Week provides everyone in this chamber an opportunity to stop and reflect, and I echo Senator Grogan's comments as well. Living in poverty is actually a permanent state of lockdown for people, and we have to see that as a reality for some Australians. It has a devastating impact on your health, your mental health, your relationships, your family, your ability to thrive and have a full life. It impacts on your ability to access safe housing, good education and health services. As others have said, this is a wealthy country and no-one should be living below the poverty line. Yet we have got a government that chooses income support payments below the poverty line. We have a social security system that fails First Nations people. This is compounded by the fact that this government wilfully chooses to put in place punitive programs that hurt our mob. These include the cashless debit card and the CDP. Until recently, CDP imposed harsh penalties and onerous conditions on First Nations people, particularly those living in remote areas. CDP actually exacerbated poverty and food insecurity and even led to First Nations people disengaging from the system altogether.

While people welcomed Minister Wyatt's recent announcement that CDP would be replaced, I'm sad to say that the new program doesn't look any better. The government hasn't announced which communities the trial of the next program will take place in and how they were selected. In fact, the Coalition of Peaks and Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory only learnt about this bill when it was tabled in parliament. This doesn't embody the partnership and shared decision-making that we First Nations people have been told should happen, with governments agreeing under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. It's ridiculous.

First Nations communities, elders, leaders and organisations have long demanded that all levels of government work in true partnership to create sustainable jobs that pay a living wage in remote communities. If the government listened, they would learn about the proposals from the community and address the job situation in remote communities. For example, the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory put forward their proposal on a Fair Work Strong Communities program to address the lack of good, sustainable jobs in remote communities. Under this plan, 12,000 jobs in community controlled organisations would be created, while valuing the strength and resilience of those communities and the cultural, environmental and community care work that is done there every single day. This is what is possible when First Nations people are in the driving seat delivering those solutions.

We are all aware of the devastating impacts that poverty can have on your mental health. Living in poverty means you are under constant stress. People who are trapped in the cycle of poverty often find it impossible to access long-term mental health treatments. Mental health services in Australia are out of reach for too many people who cannot afford to access them. It is not only the lack of mental health system services; it's also the inadequacy of the income support payments and the punitive approach to social security. Cutting or suspending someone's income support payment doesn't work. It hurts people in the long run and compounds their trauma and suffering.

Recently, the Greens announced our plan to create universal, unlimited and available mental health care through Medicare, funded by taxing the billionaires and the big corporations who are making the big profits. Imagine the positive impact that would have in our communities. When everyone can access free mental health support, our whole community will benefit through an improved quality of life, improved relationships and better performance while studying or working.

One of the key solutions to addressing poverty is raising the rate of income support payments above the poverty line, which this government has failed to do. First Nations people experience poverty at a higher rate than non-Indigenous people. This is a direct result of the ongoing legacy of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. Raising the rate of income support payments above the poverty line will have a direct impact in our communities.

During the Senate inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart, NAAJA provided evidence from a client who lived in the remote community of Beswick. They said:

Went back to work yesterday. Finding it hard to pay my bills and housing. Finding it hard to buy food. When you're on that Newstart, it's not enough. It's making me feel hurt inside. You've got not enough to pay your bill or power, or even buy food. Just recently I got debit from my bank. When I went to take it out I only had $54 dollars. It caused me and my son to fight and argue about the money I had. When you're struggling with that Newstart allowance, it hurts inside how you're going to buy food and power. I like to share my money. Even though it's so small. I like to buy food and share with my family. It makes me sad inside when I can't do this. It makes me feel worried about what to do. It makes me feel like I want to hurt myself. It makes me stressed.

I sometimes run out of money.

Hearing that should hit you right in the chest. This amount of stress is caused because people are living below the poverty line.

We all saw what happened last year when the government doubled the rate of JobKeeper payment. People across the country finally had enough money to put food on the table, afford essential medications and pay their rent This extra income had a huge impact on families doing it tough as a result of the pandemic. It meant they had enough to cover the basics like healthy food, warm clothes in winter and after-school activities like sport and music. Importantly, it relieved stress on parents and children, which compounds hardship, and, as a single mother, I can attest to that. Some of it was also a means to escape violence. I'm proud to be a part of the only party in this place that has consistently called for an increase in income support payments.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Rice be agreed.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to defer the vote on the motion.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.