Nova Peris (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the report Bridging our growing divide: inequality in Australia. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the chair of our committee, Senator Siewert, for her incredible amount of work and extend my thanks to the witnesses who came forward and presented during the committee work. It is really quite interesting listening to both sides of the chamber. Senate Seselja was talking about bringing people together and not leaving people behind. The thing is that in order to do that you need investment. This is what this report is all about.

When I decided to get into politics, I did so because I wanted to fight for change. I wanted to address the massive inequalities that exist within Australia. If we cannot acknowledge that these inequalities exist, we are in complete denial of what is real and what is not real in this country. Above all, this report is fundamentally about people—human beings—and it is about providing information that allows us to better understand the compounding impacts of inequality and how it affects people that reside in our society.

This inquiry was also concerned with the extent, as we have heard from Senator Siewert, of income inequality in this nation. Primarily, it relates to the gap between those with the highest incomes in this country, those with the lowest incomes in this country and, in some cases, those with no incomes living in this country, as well as the distribution of incomes in the wage-earning population. It was of particular concern to me that these particular groups—which are divided in this society purely because of their income—have a limited ability to gain access to housing, education and employment, which are the fundamental things that play a major role in everyday life for every Australian.

One of the most particular things which, for obvious reasons, were of grave concern to me was the income of the many disadvantaged groups in this country. Some of those disadvantaged groups, which I have spoken out about and advocated for many times, are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; our older citizens who are also jobseekers; people living with a disability; those with mental illness; our refugees; single parents; and disadvantaged women. Many members of these groups are vulnerable to poverty and inequality for many reasons that they simply cannot control. That is why people need a helping hand. We could be arguing until we are blue in the face, but that is a reality of human beings. There are a lot of people out there who will always require a helping hand.

Typically among the lowest income earners in society, who are disproportionately represented in this report, are those who are recipients of social security and who are also public-housing tenants. The extent of income inequality, its effects and possible remedies relates to a number of policy areas, which involve all three levels of government. One of the things that the report identified was that the minimum wage should remain, as it is an important mechanism for low-income earners to avoid the poverty line and participate in society. Evidence shows that the minimum wage makes a huge difference to income inequality and the rates of poverty.

It is important that the minimum wage is set at a level that reflects the rising cost of living in Australia. In particular, in the Northern Territory—my home place—we have a vastly higher cost of living than anywhere else in this country and other Australians. Territorians are paying substantially more for our food, health care, fuel and rent. In fact, the Australian average weekly expenditure on food is $221.50; in Darwin it is $232.80. Another thing that is quite remarkable is that, just outside the region of Darwin, the weekly expenditure of Darwin rural area people on food is $256.90. That is a cost that continues to rise, while the minimum wage remains pretty much static.

The Northern Territory's Council for Social Services' most recent report on the cost of living states that households who depend on remote stores for their shopping are spending more than one-third of their income on food and are paying nearly 50 per cent more on food than urban households. These members of the Territory community are some of the lowest income earners in the country. For example, a family in a remote area that spends $256.90 a week on food may not be able to afford a power card, which is imperative to having power in a remote community, and therefore they do not have electricity for their fridge. In this country, we have fellow Australians who simply cannot afford electricity, which is simply astounding.

Income inequality is just one of the many inequalities that has driven poverty faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The current focus of Australian governments is to reduce the level of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's disadvantage across a number of key indicators. This year's 2014 Closing the gap report found that progress towards reaching targets on these indicators had been mixed. Income inequality is not the only issue that many people from regional and remote communities are faced with. Unemployment was a big factor in this report, and exclusion from the labour force is also a significant factor, especially in the Northern Territory. The 2011 census found that only 46.2 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were employed, compared with 72.2 per cent of non-Aboriginal Australians. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's unemployment rate was more than double the rate for non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Overcoming income inequality is a process that will require long-term economic and social investment. I encourage the state and territory governments to recognise and act on creating long-term sustainable employment opportunities for all Australians.

We all know that dignity is enhanced by work. It is important to me that we make every effort to ensure that all Australians have fair access to health care, food security, employment and housing. Without a thorough understanding of the corrosive effects of income inequality, this cannot be achieved. It is incumbent on government to use all of the recommendations of evidence provided in this report to define a better and fairer policy response to inequality, which remains the major social issue facing our country.