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

Bendigo welfare agencies and not-for-profit organisations are speaking out against the harsh measures outlined in the Abbott government's first budget. Ken Marchingo, chief executive of Haven Home Safe has said the federal budget will force poor people to do the heavy lifting while the rich completely escape from any changes. He says:

What we've seen is ideology dressed as economics. What we've got is politics masquerading as policy.

What we've seen in this budget is like an undergraduate university politics club in place of simple solutions for complex problems.

I agree with Ken. In a modern, complex, pluralistic economy, bobbing around in an international sea of complexity and competing economies, beating up poor people is not the way to go forward.

In the Abbott government's first budget we have seen changes to Youth Allowance and family tax benefit B. On these proposals, Ken said:

The notion that people under the age of 30 are somehow so well progressed in their life that they can lose their job, meet their rent, meet their utilities, feed and clothe themselves whilst unemployed, without a shred of government assistance for six months. Who on earth are they kidding?

These are the words of Ken Marchingo, who is the CEO of a not-for-profit organisation in my electorate. I agree with Ken and call on the government to rethink these changes now.