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

You know who is most affected by the cost-of-living crisis in Australia? It's the millions of Australians who are not just struggling to get by but are not getting by on income support. It's those millions of Australians who are at risk of homelessness, who can't afford food, for whom food has now become a discretionary item because they are living on poverty payments. They are living on the poverty payments of JobSeeker, student allowance and youth allowance. They are living on the disability support pension. They are living on the aged pension. They are the people who are most struggling to get by.

I want to share a story from Sarah, who is barely scraping by on JobSeeker:

… I am struggling to get by, even with the JobSeeker payment. I work 2 days a week, sometimes 1 day, but it feels like the moment I get paid anything from work my payments are severely cut. I was certainly earning more on Austudy, which shouldn't be the case. Those on JobSeeker are now also forced to report TWICE, once to WorkForce Australia and once on the Centrelink app. The two systems obviously aren't connected to each other and it is causing double the workload for people who are already struggling. I'm currently struggling to put petrol in my car, afford healthy meals/fresh produce and have just had to use my back up rent money to buy groceries. I don't have the kind of family supports that mean I can just ask my parents for money. My father is out of my life and my single mother has my younger sister to look after as well as three pets on an average wage.

Raising the rate of JobSeeker and other social security payments would mean that I would have more time to devote to my studies, less mental and physical ailments from not being able to look after myself properly. I can't afford the dentist, I can't afford therapy, and, if my GP decides to cut bulk billing, I won't be able to go to the doctor either. Considering going to the doctor literally saved my life from cancer, this is a terrifying thought.

Labor like to think of themselves as a progressive party, doing the work to help the everyday Australian, but we are being left to rot at the bottom of the priority list. The opinions of businesses and lobbyists are being put before our very real, life-altering needs. If they raised the rate of social security payments to at least the poverty line, they would have millions of grateful Australians ready to support them. We are a wealthy country and we should be capable of looking after our own.

Hear, hear, Sarah!

In terms of Labor's promises, the No. 1 promise Labor have broken is their promise that they weren't going to leave anybody behind. Millions of Australians who are struggling on income support are being left behind. We have to raise the rate to above the poverty line and cap rents, freeze rents and make life liveable for people who are surviving on poverty payments. (Time expired)