Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Safety Net) Bill 2023 and urge the government t do more to alleviate poverty in Australia. In a country like Australia, we should be able to set our safety net at a level that means people can access the basics of life and live with dignity without destroying incentives to work. We should be able to avoid people living below the poverty line, which is about $68 a day for a single adult. This would still be significantly lower than the minimum wage and would be unlikely to disincentivise people from finding work. Below this level, we are trapping people in poverty. People are unable to pay rent and bills or cover the cost of fresh food. Buying petrol or fixing the car are nearly impossible, as is buying suitable clothing for a job interview or even getting a haircut. It is hard work living in poverty and our system can be punitive. People feel shame, isolation, they lose connection with their communities and find themselves in entrenched disadvantage.

Under this bill, people on JobSeeker will move from $49 a day to $52 a day, well below the poverty line of $68 a day. This will provide a small amount of help to 580,000 women, 318 people under 25, 150,000 First Nations people and 245,000 mature age Australians. This increase is better than nothing but it won't make a significant difference.

The government's own economic inclusion advisory panel found that, on every available indicator, the current rates of JobSeeker and related payments were seriously inadequate. This was true whether they were measured against payments overseas, against the minimum wage, against pensions or against the poverty line. It recommended restoring the relativities of the mid-1990s when unemployment benefits were about 90 per cent of the age pension. This would be an increase from $49 a day to $68 a day, but the change made in this bill is $3 a day instead of the $19 a day recommended by the panel.

Across communities there is also broad support for a substantial increase. ACOSS has issued an open letter calling for a scientific this $19 a day increase. It has been signed by a huge range of MPs, community leaders, economists, prominent leaders and academics. The Business Council of Australia and the Committee for Economic Development of Australia also back this change.

My electorate of Curtin is relatively wealthy, but one of the things that constantly impresses me is that my community is not entirely self-interested. I meet people every day who are worried about others, people who want to live in a country where we treat people should fairly. The data bears this out. Surveys consistently show that a majority of people think that JobSeeker should be higher than it is.

What would it actually costs to pull unemployed people out of poverty? ANU analysis shows that lifting JobSeeker to 90 per cent of the pension rate would cost $5.7 billion a year, which is a four per cent increase in total welfare payments and less than one per cent of total government spending. So it would increase government spending by one per cent and left a million people out of poverty.

I acknowledge that we need to address the structural deficit in the budget. Inflation affects everyone. But in a budget of $680 billion, surely we can find $6 billion so that all Australians can be fed, housed and live with dignity. There are numerous ways to do this and there is broad appetite for a broad Ken Henry style review of our tax system. We could consider taxing passive income. We could increase GST. We could make serious reforms to the PRRT or, in the absence of broader tax reforms, we could reshape the stage 3 tax cuts. Therefore, I support the member for Brisbane in his call on the government to ensure that no-one is left behind and to lift all income support payments above the poverty line. I would also back the opposition's call to increase the income free area to $300 a fortnight to allow jobseekers to earn more and still retain the full JobSeeker allowance. I think work needs to be done to at least cost this option.

In relation to other changes in the bill, I support the increase of $92 a fortnight for single JobSeeker recipients age 55 and over. This drop in eligibility age from 60 to 55 reflects the fact that that older Australians face additional barriers to work and are more likely to stay on JobSeeker for longer.

I support allowing parents to stay on the single parenting payment until their youngest child turns 14 rather than eight years old. I, along with a number of people on the crossbench, have been calling for this change for a number of months. About 57,000 people will benefit from this increased financial support provided each fortnight. More than 90 per cent of the parents who will benefit from this change are single mothers. As a mum, I know that kids don't stop needing you when they turn eight. It will give mums the support they need while they have primary-school-aged kids. Single parents won't be forced to juggle child care and working obligations until their children are older and more self-sufficient.

I also support the increase of 15 per cent to the Commonwealth Rent Assistance. While this will do little to assist most renters in our current housing crisis, at least it's something for the 1.1 million Australians who are on income support or family tax benefits and currently receive Commonwealth Rent Assistance. Rent increases are having a huge impact on a large number of Australians. The ABS showed that almost 95 per cent of new tenants in February 2023 signed leases charging more than the previous tenant paid at the same property and close to 70 per cent of new tenants had their rent increase by more than 10 per cent. With vacancy rates at record lows and no real relief in sight, this is a start for the people who need it most, but it doesn't address the longer term issues in housing. Until we are willing to look at broad reform of our housing sector in Australia, small changes like this will have to do.

Most Australians want to live in a country that gives people a fair go. We should be able to afford to provide a decent safety net that helps people get to their feet rather than trapping them in poverty. These changes make a start and recognise that there are a lot of people struggling with the cost of living at the moment. I urge the government to listen to the voices of the community, business and its own committees and build on this start to give all Australians a fair go.

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