Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are some very clear indicators of a struggling economy and a struggling society. Low interest rates, high household debt, the number of people seeking food relief and homelessness are all at or near record levels right now in Australia. Interest rates are at 0.75 of a per cent. That is a very clear indicator that the economy is struggling. The minister said that you link a strong economy with poverty. If the strength of the economy is any indication of poverty then you can't get any lower than that.

Each month, around 815,000 people seek food relief. That is a 22 per cent increase over the past year of people asking for food. Across the country, 116,000 people are homeless. There are 200,000 people on social housing waiting lists. Household debt, at around $2½ trillion, is at 199 per cent of household income.

In South Australia, where the unemployment rate is above the national figure, the food relief numbers are much worse. According to a Foodbank report, 134,620 South Australians—that is one in 13—go hungry every month and seek food handouts. Since 2018, 17,500 more South Australians are seeking food relief every month. Most of them are women. South Australian charities report that they are unable to assist almost 8,000 people each month. These figures are not surprising when we consider that three million people live below the poverty line and, of those, as the member for Barton has quite rightly pointed out, 739,000 are children. There are 1.1 million people who are underemployed, and another 700,000 plus are unemployed. In my state, of course, the figures are worse; 16.3 per cent of South Australians, or one in six, can't get enough work. We also have 961,000 people each year delaying or avoiding taking medicine due to cost. Similarly, 1.3 million people avoid medical visits because they can't afford it. We see petrol prices and energy costs going up literally every day. Right now, petrol prices are probably at a 10-year high.

The cost of living increases whilst income continues to fall. What is the Morrison government doing to help people that are struggling? Absolutely nothing. This week, in Anti-Poverty Week, we might have expected some announcement or some commitment towards helping people that are struggling in this country, but we didn't hear a single word—not even a statement from the government in response to Anti-Poverty Week. The government's response, as we just heard from the minister—and as we hear here time and time again—is, 'Get a job.' There is no care and no compassion for people facing real hardship. The government not only simply says, 'Get a job,' it actually targets the most vulnerable, trying to squeeze every last dollar out of them. It targets them with things like robo-debt, the cashless welfare card, the drug testing of welfare recipients or targeting pensioners by trying to cut the energy supplement, changing the indexation method, changing the assets test and even trying to increase the pension age to 70.

For people reliant on the National Disability Insurance Scheme struggling with a disability, the rollout has been a disaster while the government tries to save $4.6 billion so it can balance its budget. Simultaneously, people on home care packages and elective surgery—who, in most cases, are people who are very much struggling—are on waiting lists of up to years.

Then we go to deeming rates, which this government refuses to bring in line with reality. I know that pensioners across this country who, as a result of the low interest rates, are having their income cut are also struggling, because, simultaneously, the deeming rates are not even looked at.

I haven't even touched on the poor people that have to rely on Newstart, nearly half of whom are over 45 years of age. These are the people who have most likely had their place of employment closed down and been made redundant. At their age, it's almost impossible for them to get a job, particularly if they only have limited skills.

The reality is that this is a government that has no compassion and no care for people who are struggling. It doesn't care about the health outcomes, the education outcomes, the self-worth or the low morale that poverty imposes on people. This is a government that has no plan to alleviate poverty and ensure a fair go for all. Almost half a year after the election, this is a government still stuck in its own post-election party.

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