Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

(a) notes that:

  (i) Anti-Poverty Week is from 14 to 20 October 2018,

  (ii) in Australia, which is ranked as the second wealthiest county in the world, there are currently 3 million people in Australia living in poverty, including 739,000 children,

  (iii) Australia has no poverty reduction plan, and despite economic growth, poverty levels have remained entrenched at a high level,

  (iv) Newstart and Youth Allowance have not had an increase in real terms since 1994, and

  (v) the poverty rate for sole parents rose from 35% in 2013 to 59% in 2015, and rates of poverty for sole parents remain high; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to abandon their punitive approach to social policy and the demonisation of those accessing the social safety, and make it a priority to address poverty in Australia by raising Newstart and Youth Allowance by $75 a week.