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

The sentiment of 'stop the poverty machine' is what I want to focus on. Poverty exists in our society today. People are suffering from inadequate income support and from the price gouging of the major supermarkets. We have a huge problem here in Australia; people are literally starving. Where people cannot afford to eat, they are choosing, on a daily basis, whether they are eating, paying their rent or paying for their medications.

This bill that we are talking about today is part of the solution to address this problem, to improve life for ordinary Australians. What I want to do with my time here today is just share one more story with you about somebody who is just struggling so much. They're an ordinary Australian, one of the many who have written to my office saying, 'This is my reality.' This is from a constituent of mine called Peter. Peter says: 'How are people on income support payments like JobSeeker, people who are expected to live on the meagre rate of $55 a day, supposed to keep up with the current price gouging of these supermarkets?'

Peter forwarded me an email that he had sent to the government about the recent indexation of JobSeeker that Labor had tried to claim as a cost-of-living measure. Peter said: 'Today we know that, due to indexation, JobSeeker and other payments will be increased by about 96c per day. This is hardly adequate. It's better than nothing, but it comes from a very low base. This increase of 96c a day is little more than a loaf of bread per week. Choice found the average cost of a loaf of bread to be $4.45. I will deliberately use food terms, as many on income support are on or below the "breadline". Choice say that a packet of white sliced bread used to cost $3.40 on average but now costs $4.45, the cost of white sliced bread has gone up 41 per cent since 2019, bread from Coles went up 37 per cent on average, bread from Woolworths went up 56 per cent on average and bread from IGA went up 37 per cent on average.

The reality is that many are actually skipping meals. Charity after charity report the difficulties of meeting the cost of living. Those on average incomes are struggling. The reports across the community sector are uniform. I was on JobSeeker in the past while waiting to be assessed for the Disability Support Pension. I ate once per day. That meal did not include quality cuts of meat and fresh fruit and vegetables but consisted of eggs, tinned soups or pasta. The maximum rate of JobSeeker for a single person is $762.70 per fortnight. An older Australian aged over 55 years and on support for nine months is entitled to $816.90. These figures include allowances excluding rental allowance.

From previous discussions with your office'—this is presumably Minister Rishworth's office—'the Prime Minister's office and relevant ministers' offices, replies typically pointed out that rental assistance is available. I have been told ad nauseam that the Labor government increased it, even though this rental assistance bears absolutely no realistic relationship to rent. One response from a Labor minister mentioned the availability of financial counselling. That reply was condescending and patronising. The problem is that rates of JobSeeker and Youth Allowance are too low. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, in its December quarterly report, indicated that rents in Melbourne had increased on average by $15 a week. Ninety-six cents does not even come close to meeting this.

The Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee last year recommended real increases, and this was largely ignored. Unemployment and poverty come with other impacts: loss of hobbies, pursuits, social interaction and self-esteem, diminished self-worth and increased physical and mental health problems. Most of our social lives are built around food and drinks. We go out for coffee; we have a beer. These simple pleasures are difficult for our most vulnerable. Again referencing Choice, even instant coffee is hard. The price of instant coffee at Coles and Woolworths has gone up 18 per cent since 2019. Prices have gone up by approximately 79c per hundred grams. That's almost all of one day's indexation rise.

People on JobSeeker are not working. They are not doing well now. The amount of JobSeeker is not enough to provide basics. The amount is so low it's likely to negatively prejudice job seeking. If they are ill or hungry, or skipping food or medical care, they'll not do well in an interview or a test. Employers increasingly use a range of tests. There needs to be a substantial increase to all income support payments, and people need real assistance now.'

There are a number of solutions that have been put forward by the Greens and have a lot of support around this parliament. These divestiture rules are one solution that would stop the price gouging of supermarkets and enable people like Peter to afford to eat just that little bit more. When we couple that with increasing income support to above the poverty line, to above $88 a day, then we'd be in a situation where people like Peter—millions of Australians like him—would actually be able to feel that they've got a future in this country. They would feel that they are supported by this parliament. They would feel that they have the opportunity to get their lives back on track. There are a combination of things we need to be doing, and it is abundantly clear to anybody looking on that what we're doing at the moment is not working. With the price gouging of supermarkets and the absolutely poverty payment rates of income support, people are just suffering. They are more than doing it tough. They are more than struggling. There are people literally starving in Australia today.

We are a wealthy country. It is absolutely unacceptable that we should have such poverty in our country today. There are solutions that we can put on the table and that we could legislate for. One of those is to have divestiture powers so that Coles and Woolworths don't have the power over people that they have at the moment. The other is for this government to play its part and increase income support to above the poverty line to break the poverty machine and make sure that all Australians have the opportunity to live their best lives.