Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Social Security Amendment (Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment) Bill 2023. This bill will allow people who have been impacted by natural disasters to get support faster. Over the past years, Australia has witnessed how heatwaves, fires and floods are threatening lives and destroying communities. When people have had their lives and their communities disrupted by these events, it's often impossible for them to return to employment, and frequently people find themselves without the means to support themselves or their families, let alone rebuild their lives, which is why, of course, the disaster recovery payment is so important. Looking forward, we're expecting to have the most significant bushfire season since the Black Summer fires in 2019 and 2020, which poses an enormous risk to Australian communities. It is critical that people be able to access financial support like the government's disaster recovery payment during this time, which is why the Greens are supporting the fast passage of this bill.

This bill supports the automation of the process of accessing claims. I want to note that, while we support a faster process, we are always wary of automation in our social security system. We have had one robodebt. We cannot afford another one, which is why the Greens will be keeping a close eye on the automation process involved in processing the Australian government disaster recovery payment and we will continue to scrutinise it in our social security system.

The Greens know, however, that supporting people during natural disasters doesn't stop with a one-off payment. We must also support resilient communities, and a key way of doing that is ensuring that no-one is living in poverty and that people have access to adequate, safe and affordable housing, because natural disasters not only threaten lives but also have devastating consequences that extend beyond the immediate event. People find themselves displaced, struggling to make ends meet and facing the daunting task of rebuilding their lives.

As the chair of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee, in our inquiry into the extent and nature of poverty in Australia, I have heard story after story about the devastating impact of poverty on individuals and communities and the compounding impact that this has in the wake of natural disasters. In February this year, the inquiry heard from people in Lismore about the ongoing impacts of the devastating floods in 2022. During the inquiry, the committee heard from a range of local community services and organisations. We heard that, at the time, thousands of people who used to own or rent their homes before the flood crisis had since been left homeless or with inadequate housing. North Coast Community Housing told the committee that, at the time of the hearing, you could drive from Lismore up the highway to the Tweed, and at any one of those rest stops along the way you would see up to 20 or 30 cars each night with people sleeping in them.

We heard that rents have been rapidly rising in the region, making it even more difficult for people displaced by the floods to find safe, secure and affordable accommodation for themselves and their families. The inquiry also repeatedly heard how the inadequacy of income support payments is impacting people's abilities to survive before, during and after the floods. We've got to be looking after people, and not just with the immediate disaster relief payments. We have to have measures in place so that they are looked after well after the floods have gone. One Nimbin resident, Chibo, shared his story about the gruelling nature of being unemployed and having to survive on Centrelink. He said:

… I'm normally a very positive, joyful person who tries to inspire my community as well as the young people I do sports with. I have a positive, the-glass-is-half-full attitude. But I must say, I've never felt so mentally tortured as when I was unemployed, starting with Centrelink treating you like you're the last dirt from the street. Just coming into the whole situation—and I think a few people pointed it out in front of you here today—really impacts on your lifestyle, on your nutrition level, on anything. As soon as something goes 'pop' which wasn't being calculated for, like if you have a car and you have one tyre problem or something, that's $50 to $150, depending on the car and tyre size. That just throws you out while you were maybe saving up for getting the fridge repaired or something. It is such a stressful state.

Our inquiry highlighted the need for adequate social security, with many of those impacted by the Lismore floods left in long-term homelessness. Rents in the region have also been significantly increased, which, coupled with rising interest rates and a lack of rental caps, have priced many residents out of returning home. Additionally, of course, we know that so-called natural disasters are becoming more and more common due to the climate crisis, and we know that the costs of those natural disasters are being disproportionately borne by people living in poverty. Creating resilient communities means supporting people before and after natural disasters, and it means raising the rate of income support, abolishing mutual obligations and ensuring that our social services are well funded to deal with these kinds of disasters.

On climate, the climate crisis is putting lives at risk right now. We've got to be going far beyond just natural disaster relief payments. The science is clear: every tonne of coal and gas burnt increases the intensity and the speed of changes to our climate, which means more floods, more intense storms and more rainfall in already wet areas. Climate change is exacerbating the frequency and severity of natural disasters. The government, Labor, the Liberal Party and the Nationals can no longer keep their heads in the sand. Climate change is here, and we need to be taking the action that the science demands. That's no new coal and gas. It's reducing our carbon pollution by at least 75 per cent by 2030. Australia is facing climatic conditions we have never experienced before, with bushfires exacerbated by drought, higher temperatures and earlier and longer summers.

These so-called natural disasters are only going to get worse unless we take the urgent and appropriate action, the scientifically led action, to reduce our carbon pollution to zero as quickly as possible. The Australian government disaster recovery payment is undoubtedly a lifeline for those affected by natural disasters, but we must acknowledge it's also a reactive measure. To create truly resilient communities, we need to take a proactive approach. We need to stop the mining and burning of coal and gas and oil, otherwise all our lives are at risk. Future generations deserve to live not just on the lifeline of a disaster relief payment; they deserve a safe climate future. Australia must join world leaders and pledge to phase out coal and gas, and the huge subsidies that are propping up our fossil fuel corporations. There's still time to avert the worst of the crisis if we do this, which is why the Greens are calling for the government to increase natural disaster preparedness funding to $600 million a year and to fund $7.8 billion in renovation and home building grants to help local communities build and upgrade critical infrastructure that reduces natural disaster impacts.

Lifting funding for emergency services, and natural disaster preparedness and response, is a basic and essential step in building resilience. We need to see the decisive and immediate action to address climate stressors. We are in the midst of a climate emergency. Without an urgent reduction in our carbon pollution, we are risking catastrophe. To do nothing is to risk everything. Fossil fuels have to stay in the ground if we want any real hope of reducing emissions and preventing or reducing the number of natural disasters.

In conclusion, the Greens will be supporting the fast passage of this bill today in support of communities in which change is urgently needed. The housing and cost-of-living crises are only worsening and have been exacerbated in areas hit with climate disasters. People without adequate government support are struggling to make ends meet, let alone rebuild their communities. Communities across the country are facing dire circumstances in the middle of a climate crisis. Without affordable housing or sufficient Social Security, people on low incomes have zero capacity to recover from disasters. In supporting this bill today, I ask the government to see that poverty and climate are the clearly interconnected issues that they are. As well as taking this action of increasing the speed with which people can access disaster recovery payments, we need to be taking the bigger and proactive climate action to prevent further irreparable damage to our climate and our people.