Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm speaking up today for all the people in my electorate who are relying on JobSeeker whose needs have just been callously disregarded by this government and this Prime Minister. We now know that the government plans to cut the JobSeeker allowance and that the men and women relying on this payment will receive $100 less a fortnight.

This is devastating news for the 1.6 million people around the country who so desperately rely on the payment and it is devastating news for the 7,000 people in Jagajaga relying on JobSeeker to help them feed their families and pay their bills. That's an increase of more than 4,000 people in my electorate who are relying on JobSeeker since the start of this pandemic and just shows you how much this payment is still needed.

These people are out of work and looking for a job in a highly competitive market, and this is a time when they need more support and not less. People in my electorate have been telling me about the difficult juggling act they're trying to perform. They feel that any cuts in this payment are going to mean decisions around skipping a meal, maybe rationing medications or not being able to put petrol in their car. Cuts to the payment are not going to help these people find a job in an environment where so many people are unemployed and employers still don't feel confident about the future. Cuts to this payment are not going to help our local small businesses who need business and need support as they're re-emerging from lockdown. This government should extend the JobSeeker supplement at the current rate of $240 until March next year. It should also guarantee a permanent increase to the base rate of JobSeeker so that people can have some security going forward.

This week is NAIDOC Week, and I pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land, the Ngunnawal and the Ngambri people here. In this week of celebration I pay my respects to First Nations peoples across our country. I pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land of the electorate of Jagajaga, the Wurundjeri people.

The theme for this year's NAIDOC Week is: Always Was, Always Will Be. It goes to the heart of the unfinished business of this country. It's appropriate that, together with so many of my Labor colleagues, this week I recommit myself to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and all that it encompasses; a voice to this parliament, so that our First Nations people are heard and have the influence that they should have over their own destinies; and a treaty, a makarrata or truth-telling process, because there is so much that is still unsaid in this country. There is so much that we need to heal and we will be stronger for doing that work as a nation coming together, being honest about our past and giving Aboriginal people a genuine say in their future. I pay respects to the First Nations people who have occupied and cared for this continent for more than 65,000 years.