Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A letter has been received from Senator Siewert:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:

That Newstart is no longer a transition payment and people receiving Newstart and Youth Allowance are living in poverty.

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

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

This motion is focused on the complete furphy that the government still runs about Newstart and Youth Allowance, and that is that they are transition payments, that people go on them and off them and then move into work. I wish life were, in fact, like that, like it was previously when people could easily find work and were only on unemployment benefits for a relatively short period of time—perhaps a matter of weeks; up to six weeks. That simply is not the fact in 2019. In fact, it wasn't the fact in 2012 or in the mid-noughties when the value of Newstart started decreasing compared to payments like the age pension and when people started getting stuck on Newstart for longer and longer and longer. Let's look at how long people stay on it. The latest information from the Department of Social Services shows that people spend, on average, 156 weeks on Newstart. That's right: three years. Some people are stuck on it for a lot longer, and I'll go into that detail very shortly.

It's clearly not a transition payment. It is clear that people are living in poverty when they're living on Newstart. The data shows us that, out of the 722,923 recipients of Newstart, 128,139 people were on Newstart for one to two years; 200,196 people were on Newstart for two to five years; 125,408 were on Newstart for between five and 10 years; and 27,765 people were on Newstart for over 10 years. It is very clear that Newstart is no longer a transition payment. For thousands of Australians, being on Newstart and youth allowance is unfortunately a lasting reality.

If only the argument that people should get a job were true. The latest statistics said there were only 159,000 jobs available compared to 722,923 people who are looking for work. There is clearly a great imbalance between the number of people looking for work and the actual jobs available. When you look at the evidence, you can see that poverty in and of itself is in fact a barrier to finding a job.

Our employment services are failing to assist people adequately. It's costing us, as in fact was mentioned by the government yesterday, nearly $7 billion. Those services are not doing the job properly, that was also established through the jobactive inquiry that reported late last year. It showed that the jobactive services were not doing the job, that people are only getting parts of those services, that they're not getting adequate support and that they're not getting support that meets their needs. Thanks to the changes in the eligibility process, many of the people who are on Newstart have a partial disability. Through welfare to work, people were transferred off the disability support pension onto Newstart. Those people with the partial capacity to work (a) are not getting properly supported through the jobactive system and (b) are also getting stuck on Newstart for a long time.

Newstart can't be a transition payment when there aren't enough jobs. Many people are therefore condemned to long-term unemployment. Data released by Minister Cash shows that nearly four in five jobactive participants have had their payments suspended in the last 12 months. So people are not only on particularly poor payments but also now more at risk of losing those payments by having them suspended through the new targeted compliance program or, in fact, having them cancelled.

Anybody who thinks that people are living on Newstart is so sadly out of touch with reality because trying to live on just over $277 a week is no picnic—believe me. Last night I read out the accounts of people stuck on the cashless debit card. On Monday night, I read out into the chamber the experiences that people had sent to me about life on Newstart. There was a gentleman, aged 59, living with his two dogs in a tent because that's all he could afford. The latest Anglicare survey of housing affordability showed no affordable housing—none!—in any of our major cities around this country.

Can the government please stop running the argument that this is a transition payment and that people just want to be stuck on Newstart. They don't. I've never heard from one person on Newstart who thinks it's fantastic to be stuck on Newstart and they really want to stay there. What I have heard from people is that they are struggling to make ends meet, even to be able to buy second-hand clothes in order to be able to dress appropriately, for example, for an interview; and to be able to feed their kids.

The latest data, just the other day, from ACOSS showed how many people are skipping food, skipping meals, and that parents in particular do that in order to feed their children, as of course you would. If you are low on resources and you have a choice between feeding your children and feeding yourself, of course you are going to feed your children—although children are also going without. I've had people send me accounts of their experiences, telling me about how they didn't send their child to school that day because they couldn't send them with lunch. People also send me accounts of how bad they feel when their child can't go to a birthday party because they can't afford a present for their child to take to the birthday party. And they don't have birthday parties for their children, because they simply can't afford it.

Yesterday, the latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, commonly called the HILDA Survey, was released. The survey found that the proportion of people living below the poverty line increased from 9.6 per cent to 10.4 per cent in 2017. The poverty line in Australia is around $460 a week for a single person with no children. But Newstart is just $277.85 a week, which falls far—significantly so—below the poverty line.

In the minute and a half before I finish speaking, I'd also like to remind people that Newstart has not been increased—a real increase—for 25 years. It has simply not kept up properly with the cost of living, particularly the cost of living when you are on a low income, and the goods that you need to buy. If we look at the replacement rates for unemployment payments, Newstart is the second lowest unemployment payment in the OECD. The government also runs the argument, 'Oh, it's not so bad, because you get extra supplements.' I really hope that the people who are on Newstart who get an extra 65c a day under the energy supplement, which is the majority of the supplements that they receive, spend their 65c wisely! I don't think that even buys you a stamp in this country anymore. As for the people who receive rent assistance—the majority of people on Newstart don't get rent assistance—remember that statistic I gave you about the lack of affordable housing? The money they get for rent assistance goes nowhere near what you need to find an affordable property and a place to live. Newstart is too low. It is a barrier to employment. It is unfair that this country is not raising Newstart. (Time expired)

Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this matter of public importance. The theme is that 'Newstart is no longer a transition payment' and so forth. But my first question is, through you, Madam Acting Deputy President Brown: when did the Greens give up on the idea that people should have a job? When did they say, 'It's too hard to find jobs for young people, people in remote communities and older people, so, instead of doing what we must to help you find a job, let's just bump up Newstart and stay on benefits indefinitely'? And we the Greens will no longer have to worry about our job-destroying impact on the Australian economy and, in particular, the Queensland economy.' When did they decide it was no longer worth fighting for more jobs?

I was so interested in this that I did a little bit of googling, as people do. I was trying to find out if the Greens have ever had a single policy that encouraged job creation. Well, yes, they do. They've got a policy about jobs. It may not be about job creation, but it is a policy about jobs, and it is this: to stop using coal for energy and to stop digging it out of the ground and to end all of the jobs associated with it.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Gallacher on a point of order?

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stoker is well aware of standing order 187 that senators should not read speeches in the chamber, and I ask her to conduct a bit of debate rather than reading a prepared ideological speech.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the Senate knows, many people use copious amounts of notes—

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Including Senator Gallacher!

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't need any help—when giving their contributions. I call on Senator Stoker.

Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Gosh, if that's his definition of reliance on notes, I'd hate to see what the alternative looks like.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please resume, Senator Stoker.

Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But their jobs policy is to just end all jobs arising for the mining sector, and what a jobs policy that would be. They're also happy with massively subsidising—of course using taxpayers' money—everything to do with renewable energy, except of course wind farms, which they are no longer into; they've had a bit of a rethink on whether or not that's something they still value. Never mind that the long and the short of the Greens policy is the end of jobs for most Australians, and never mind that they have walked away from wind power and their enthusiasm for it, because it's pretty ugly and they're concerned it's a threat to birdlife. Maybe they're not so keen on renewables after all and so their only policy is a shutdown.

But, even if the Greens have given up on jobs, we have not. The Prime Minister has said—and I agree—that the very best form of welfare is a job. And that's not just because it provides a person with an income, although that is really important. It provides the individual with the dignity of self-sufficiency. It gives a person somewhere to go, a chance to do something—purpose and accomplishment. It gives them an ambition to achieve, to do their very best, and that's why I'm so very pleased to share some of the many things that the government is doing to ensure that everybody who wants a job can get one.

Let's start with school leavers. The Transition to Work support program is a great place to start. It supports people who are aged 15 to 21 to help them to enter the workforce or finish their education. They often receive pre-employment support to improve their work readiness, and that can include apprenticeships and traineeships or further education. The Youth Jobs PaTH Prepare Trial Hire program helps employers to find and recruit the young person that's right for their business

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a sign of exploitation and underpayment.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator O'Neill.

Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And employers can receive a wage subsidy of up to $10,000, as a part of this scheme, to incentivise giving people who need a go that very first chance. Youth Jobs PaTH also prepares young people who are aged 15 to 24 with the right skills—the soft skills that are really important to getting a go at work. They can sometimes be simple but important things, like learning how to present yourself right, how to communicate properly in the workplace and how to work as a team. We can't always take for granted that those are things that people will come to adulthood knowing, and it's great that there are ways to make sure people have the skills they need to be work ready. And, recognising that there are some places where there are far too few jobs—for example in outback Queensland, where the youth unemployment rate is about 24 per cent—there is relocation assistance of about $9,000 to help people to move to where the work is. While I don't want to see people leave our regions, it is wonderful that there is facilitation of work for those who really want and need it.

I know that Work for the Dole isn't a favourite of the senators opposite, but it has a real purpose. All skills are good skills, and things like being on time, learning to work with other people and some job experience, even if it's not necessarily a person's first preference, are meaningful and can give the experience and confidence needed to be able to apply for a job and to offer oneself as a valuable employee to others.

There are the Harvest Labour Services and the National Harvest Labour Information Service to help connect workers with employers in harvesting areas across Australia. For years fruitgrowers have bemoaned the lack of workers and they've relied on backpackers to help in the picking seasons. But these are jobs that Australians can be doing. Indeed, when I talk to farmers across this country they would love to be able to hire young Australians to be able to take on these jobs. It would be a wonderful thing if more Australians were willing to come out to the regions and get into this important work.

The good thing about these schemes is that access isn't limited to people who are receiving income support payments, although it is wonderful that it is also available to them. The seasonal work incentives trial offers financial incentives to encourage jobseekers to take up short-term seasonal work opportunities in the horticultural industry by providing them with an opportunity to earn more income without necessarily affecting their income support payment.

Our $525 million Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow program will create up to 80,000 apprenticeships in areas of skills shortages. It forms a part of the $3 billion invested in the vocational education sector in the 2018-19 financial year.

Just this month, the additional identified skills shortage payment became available to eligible apprentices, and their employers, commencing in 10 occupations that are currently experiencing national skill shortages. This will help apprentices to get equipped for work.

The other hot point we face in employment is older workers. It's a little bit sad, really, because these people have so much input and guidance they're able to share with others. I really have valued the input and guidance I have received from other older workers throughout my career. They are the ones who often have the corporate knowledge and the 'been there, done that, got the T-shirt' kind of that attitude that can be of so much help to younger people in the workplace. They've often have made the mistakes and they know how to go about avoiding making them again in the future. It's often wise advice to take.

Employers who don't hire a person due to their age are, in my opinion, missing out on some of best workers there area in the market. You can teach anyone computer skills but you just can't substitute experience. That's why we created the restart wage subsidy, an incentive of up to $10,000 to employ eligible jobseekers who are over the age of 50. Then there's the Career Transition Assistance Program for people who are aged 45-plus. This is help for older people who still want to work to get their computer skills up to speed and to help them with their resumes and with applying for jobs.

There are wage subsidies to help encourage employers to hire eligible participants in ongoing jobs, by contributing to the initial cost of hiring a new employee. Wage subsidies can help to build a business and give employers great flexibility in their hiring options.

Up to $10,000 is available for new employees who are aged between 15 and 24 years who are Indigenous or who are over the age of 50. And up to $6,500 is available for new employees who are aged 25 to 29 who are parents or registered with an employment services provider for over 12 months.

You can see, I have not given up on jobs even if some in the Greens have. The coalition has created 1.3 million jobs in the private sector since coming to office in 2013 and it will not back off in creating more. Australia's welfare system is comprehensive and targeted. Newstart, as tough as it is, is a safety net. The government doesn't pay the welfare bill, the taxpayer does, but we are always on the side of Australian jobseekers.

Debate interrupted.