Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to not block this bill. I don't support it. It doesn't go far enough, and it's typical of this government that, when it comes to people in need, they fail to deliver. But here, on our side of the House, the Labor benches are not going to get in the way of something when it's better than nothing, and this legislation, the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Strengthening Income Support) Bill 2021, represents the first real increase in unemployment payments since 1994. So, even though we know it doesn't go far enough, we have to accept, like chewing broken glass, that an increase is better than no increase. But it's important to be aware that the government would not have done this without pressure from the community and from Labor. That's because helping out those in need is not something that's normal for this government. They have to be dragged kicking and screaming to extend a hand to those who don't have a net worth of a couple of million bucks.

The bill permanently increases the base rate of working-age social security payments by $50 a fortnight, $3.57 a day. This will increase the base rate of JobSeeker payments from $565 a fortnight to $615 a fortnight, and it'll benefit some 1.9 million people, including 1.2 million on JobKeeper, 322,000 on youth allowance and 350,000 on parenting payments. In practical terms, though, people relying on social security still face a $100-per-fortnight cut to their household budgets. That's because the coronavirus supplement, currently at $150 a fortnight, will come to an end at the same time.

Already the state governments have had to jump in and fill a gap. Just yesterday, the Victorian Labor government announced a $620 million Jobs Victoria scheme with more than 450 advocates to help people find jobs. This is the key issue. No-one actually strives to be poor. No-one strives to be living on or below the poverty line. The jobs are not there for people. This is the real issue. People can't get jobs, and this government has sat on its hands during this pandemic and done absolutely nothing to increase job rates.

The only thing that they've done is establish the dob-in hotline, for employers to dob in people who haven't agreed to a job. The difference between what we do and what they do has never been starker. Labor helps employees find work. The coalition punishes those who can't. Where is the hotline from this government to help people who've been systematically underpaid? These people don't have a hotline, because the government know where they get their votes from, and it's not from people who are looking for work. If you can't be counted on to support the coalition, they don't care about you.

The Victorian government is right to be concerned about the end of JobKeeper. In McEwen, unemployment and youth allowance support has doubled since the start of the pandemic. But I've also heard concerning calls from members of the travel agency sector. One constituent who runs a travel agency business has implored me to get the Treasurer and the Prime Minister to support the travel agency sector. We tried, but, as usual, they ignored. She was concerned that this sector would be the last to return to pre-pandemic levels because of the effect of border closures. Unless the support is extended, she will have to close her business.

Too often, discussions about social security do not put affected people front and centre. Living in poverty or getting by on very little is very tough. It's a full-time job being poor: trying to negotiate payment plans, hunting down the cheapest options on things, dealing with inadequate and slow public transport, and coming up with reasons, explanations and excuses for why you can't come along and participate. That's to say nothing of the stress that it causes or the worry that comes from knowing that your bills are due and you don't have money to pay them. It's hard to have a go when you can't get a go.

Labor has long been calling for an increase to the rate of unemployment payments, as have many others, including the Governor of the Reserve Bank, the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Retail Association, academics, experts and the Council of Small Business, just to name a few. There are simply not enough jobs in Australia for everyone who needs one. There are seven people on unemployment payments for every one job vacancy, and that doesn't even begin to count those Australians who are underemployed—underemployment is the great scourge of this society—who aren't receiving payments. In Victoria there are 45,000 vacancies and 338,000 people receiving unemployment payments. That's 7.4 people on unemployment payments for each job vacancy. How is a dob-in hotline going to change those numbers?

This is a government that has a shameful track record on pension and social security payments. With the help of the Greens and the crossbench, they have been able to cut over $12 billion from the pension and social security. This has included cutting the pension for 370,000 people by changing the asset test, completely cutting the schoolkids bonus, cutting pensioner concessions and freezing family tax benefit rates. Labor opposed these cuts. Labor has also been able to block another $12 billion in cuts to the pension and social security. We have blocked this government's cruel attempts to make people under the age of 30 wait six months for unemployment payments. Imagine that—having to wait six months in a pandemic, through no fault of your own. Because of the inability of this government to actually lead, you lose your job and then you're forced to wait six months to get payments. They cut the family tax benefits. They wanted to increase the pension age to 70, but Labor stood in the way. They cut paid parental leave and called mothers 'double dippers', and they scrapped the energy supplement for new applicants.

In this place, Labor has stood up for people in need of social security, and we will continue to do so. Australians now know that an Albanese Labor government will be on their side. As I said at the start, I'm not happy about this, but I'm not going to block this bill, because people are in need. What would be nice is if the government actually put people first.

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