Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in favour of the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020 and also the amendments moved by the member for Barton. I was happy to second the amendment earlier today, and reserved my right to speak until this moment. I cannot believe that we are standing here talking about changes to the Social Security Act, many of which are overdue, yet do not have a proposal from the government to increase or maintain the most significant payment, the coronavirus supplement. We are seven weeks away from thousands of Australians on JobSeeker and youth allowance being forced to go back to the old Newstart rate or the old youth allowance rate. We will see thousands of Australians forced back into poverty if this government doesn't act soon. That is why Labor has put forward this amendment calling on the government to at least keep the current COVID supplement rate, that extra $250 a fortnight, going until March. Line it up with JobKeeper. We believe there needs to be a permanent increase in the base rate in an ongoing way. The pandemic has proven that the old rate was just unliveable, and the newer rates have really changed people's lives. We've heard stories in our electorates of people who have been able to live with dignity, secure a roof over their heads and look for work—and not simply survive, not be destined to poverty, which is what the old Newstart rate did.

I want to share a couple of examples from my electorate of people who have spoken out about how their lives have changed and how petrified they are that this government will do nothing and simply let them fall back to the old rate in seven weeks time. Peter Austin said that, with the increased JobSeeker payment, he was able to buy warm clothes and shoes this winter. He said he was able to go out and buy some food and even put petrol in the car. This is the reality. They're not people who are living on millions. They're not people who are spending it on expensive trips or luxury items like watches. They're spending it on the basics. He said: 'It might not seem like much, but to me it was a lifeline. Every fortnight the old JobSeeker payment would go on bills. I was always trying to find some way to survive. I'd usually have to dip into what little super I had.' He said that he felt like he was being kicked constantly by this government. He had worked hard his whole life and this was not the Australia he grew up in. In that moment when he found himself unemployed at 65, those few years away from retirement, he felt abandoned. He said, 'I'm not living a lavish lifestyle; I'm just getting by.' The supplement that he is receiving is helping him, and yet what this government wants to do, pre Christmas, is kick him back to that old rate.

Melissa Anthony is a single mum in her 30s receiving the single parenting payment and she also qualifies for the supplement. She said the current payment increase allowed her to pay a little bit extra into her utility bills and her mortgage so she could have a small financial buffer, because she just doesn't trust this government and what will happen in the future. She also acknowledges that the job market has been severely impacted by COVID-19 and, no matter her previous experience or her previous roles, she doesn't know whether she'll actually gain a job, because of the competition. Melissa says that the base rate of JobKeeper must permanently be raised and supports what Labor is doing. She said that the misnomer out there that this will entice people not to work is simply a furphy, that having a higher rate keeps people out of poverty and allows them to look for work. With the increase, Melissa, who has a six-year-old child, has said she has been able to build a buffer, pay her council rates and actually smile and not stress about money.

Then there's Sharon. Sharon was on the old Newstart rate and spoke bravely to the media about her experience. She, unfortunately, is becoming the new face of who is on JobSeeker. She is in her 60s, unemployed and looking for work and also, prior to the supplement being introduced, was homeless. She said that the higher rate has made a world of difference. She said: 'All of a sudden I went from facing poverty, being homeless and being quite frightened to receiving enough money to keep a roof over my head and to start thinking about other issues, like finding work and addressing health issues. The extra money has given me a sense of normality. It is just enough to get by and I'm worried what will happen if I go back to the old rate. Will I be able to afford my new home?' These are real people and real stories. These are people who are saying, 'Don't push me back to the old rate.'

We are in a situation, because of the COVID-19 recession, where jobs are hard to come by. Sure, there are jobs available in my electorate. I see the job ads pop up on my Facebook feed. A lot of them are in hospitality and are for part-time or casual work. They also call for people with skills and experience in hospitality. It's hard to have experience in hospitality when the sector has been closed. But that's what they're looking for. I raise this because it's hard for Melissa, Sharon and Peter to apply for jobs in a sector where they don't have the experience. In the markets they've come from there simply aren't jobs. This government is not doing enough to help with retraining. There is a real disconnect between the people looking for work and the jobs that may be available.

The other part to this motion that I really hope the government supports is an obligation for the minister to better support pensioners. There was huge disappointment in my electorate when the government announced all pensioners would get is an extra $250 one-off payment. It doesn't increase the base rate. Increasing the base rate helps pensioners keep up with the cost of living helps. Everything is going up. If you take out child care, if you take out luxury items, if you look at the cost of fuel, if you look at the cost of basics, such as energy or food, CPI is going up—yet the pension did not. When people found out that all they got was an extra $250 in my electorate, I was told things like, 'It might help me pay for part of the summer energy bill,' or, 'It might help a little bit with Christmas, but it's not going towards supporting me to survive going forward.' Many of our age pensioners worked hard and started work in a world where there was no superannuation. They entered the workforce under the belief that they were paying it forward—that they paid their fair share of taxes, and, when they retired, there'd be a decent pension to live on.

I've also been contacted by people on the carers pension, the carers payment and the disability pension, all of whom are saying that costs have increased for them and that they need extra support from this government. They are disappointed. As one person said to me, 'Is this an attempt at a bribe—that I might be happy with this one-off payment?' They get the importance of a regular increase to their base rate. They get how that will make a difference.

I also really support the call for this government to announce a permanent increase to the base rate of JobSeeker. How much more evidence do they need that this rate needs to go up—that we as an economy and as a society cannot afford to have people fall back to the old Newstart rate? If you really want to see us come through this recession, the economic data is in: you increase JobSeeker and you increase these payments, and that money flows through the economy. It will have a better impact on our economic outcome in this country than very big tax cuts at the top end of town.

In relation to the bill that's before us—and we support the bill as it's been put forward—I do want to make a couple of comments. I cannot believe it's taken the government this long to put forward the required changes around paid parental leave. The fact that this bill backdates these changes to March 22, when the pandemic first hit, demonstrates just how slow this government can be when it comes to supporting families. There are babies that are now six months old. It's hard to believe that it's taken them that long. We've had how many sitting days since 2 March? It's not like we haven't been here, yet we're only dealing with these changes now. Because the government have delayed and brought this change in now, it will create complexity and confusion. Some families may have debts and others may be owed money. Tax time is going to be a nightmare for many.

It's disappointing it took so long for the government to extend support for new parents—people who had their babies in the most difficult of times and who've been through the last six months where, in states like my state, there have been no parent groups because of COVID, there has been no Tumble Tots because of COVID and there has been no opportunity for family and friends to get together. They've struggled on their own. When they've needed a government to help them, the government hasn't been there.

I've also got some concerns about the changes to youth allowance. I do support encouraging young people, if they want to do a gap year or to work in agriculture to earn a bit of money, to qualify for youth allowance. But I do have to ask the government whether they have actually put in place the safeguards. We know that the agricultural industry is riddled with exploitation. So, if young people take up this opportunity to work through November to December and take that gap year, the first question is: Will they earn the $15,000? Will they be exploited? Will they be properly paid? Will they be safe? Perhaps more of our young people would have the gap year in Australia if this government did more to clean up the industry and ensured the safety of people. I don't criticise all farmers; many farmers are doing the right thing. But there is an underbelly of exploitation in our agricultural industry. One of the reasons we've become so reliant upon overseas workers—undocumented workers and backpackers—in this industry is because it is riddled with exploitation.

I also can't believe that it's taken the government so long to bring forward the changes around concessions for people demonstrating independence when it comes to youth allowance and Abstudy. Again, this measure is backdated to 25 March 2020. I do welcome the improvements to stillborn baby payments and infant deaths. I couldn't imagine not coming home with Daisy last year—to be one of those parents in that tragic situation of not coming homing with their newborn. I couldn't imagine the heartbreak and the trauma. The least that we can be doing is supporting these payments so that they're not worried about money. It also gives me an opportunity to say that we need to be doing more: more research, more support, more funding for health care in this area for families so that they don't have to go through this heartbreak of losing a baby towards the end of their pregnancy or in the first year of their life. I feel for those families. I know that many in this place have spoken of their own personal grief of personal connection.

These changes before us are needed. Some of them are overdue. Some of them may help in terms of agriculture and helping people claim youth allowance but it's still quite small stuff. The government isn't doing enough of the big, bold reform to really help people, particularly when it comes to our social welfare system. I strongly urge them to back our amendment around JobSeeker. One million job-seekers have been left out. Older workers are not supported by this government in terms of finding real job opportunities. Pensioners missed out with only 250—That's it? That's all they get when you spend a trillion dollars plus in a budget? It's missed opportunity to help the hundreds of thousands of people who are on JobSeeker—but not a jobs plan.

We want the government to do better. They are the government until the next election. The foundations we put down now are what will determine whether this is a long and deep recession or a shorter recession. If we support them through a strong social welfare system they will then support the rest of us. It's not an old saying: you give someone on a low income a dollar and that dollar gets spent in their community. Supporting people on youth allowance and on JobSeeker supports local business. As I said, it's good for our economy, it's good for our community, it's good for these individuals and their families. I strongly urge those opposite to adopt Labor's modest, and I say modest, amendments going forward.

See this speech in context