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

Poverty is a political choice. It's a choice made every day by the government of this country when they choose to keep the rate of income support below the poverty line, and every day that they let rents skyrocket stratospherically. Make no mistake: they're making a political decision to keep Australians in poverty.

The price hikes we've all felt over the last few years have been dire for people on Centrelink poverty payments. There are levels of widespread deprivation that I've never seen previously in my life. Almost 650,000 households across Australia are in severe housing stress. The government was elected with the simple goal of serving the Australian people. They have clearly failed when millions of people can't put food on the table or heat their homes, and when people receiving JobSeeker and related income support payments are at the highest risk of living in poverty. While Labor is spending $368 billion on the AUKUS submarines and planning to give over $30 billion a year in tax cuts to the wealthiest in our society, people on income support are having to make devastating decisions, like to pay the rent—which means they won't be able to afford to buy food or medicine—or to pay the electricity bill. These are the inevitable consequences of making these heartbreaking decisions. Malnutrition, skipping medication and medical appointments all have knock-on effects. Not having enough money means that people cannot maintain good health, leading to ever-increasing future costs. It's expensive to be poor!

The truly devastating thing is that we know the government has the power to change this. They've done it before! In mid-2020, the overall number of people in poverty fell by 646,000 people, including 245,000 children. These people were receiving COVID support payments that lifted them out of poverty, but they were kicked right back down when these payments were stopped. Labor could address the cost-of-living crisis today by raising the rate of income support and investing in social, public and affordable housing at the level that's required to address the crisis. The full extent of harm being done by Labor's policies is immense. The Labor government is not only letting down millions of Australians but it's also abandoning future generations. There are countless children who should be enjoying their studies and play with their friends but, instead, they worry about their next meal. Activities like sports or music are out of reach. How can they even consider these luxuries when affording food is a daily struggle?

Patricia, who is on JobSeeker, said the following in an ACOSS report on the cost-of-living that was released this week:

There is so much impact it's not possible to list it all. Basically, you are in survival mode 24/7. High stress high anxiety, feelings of embarrassment and shame, failure to provide for your child, I worry a lot about the impact on her. She's a child. It's not fair that she has to ration food and doesn't get to do things kids should get to do.

As the chair of the Community Affairs Committee, I've been listening to heartbreaking stories of this crisis in both the poverty and rental inquiry hearings. Housing and poverty in Australia are at breaking point. An analysis of over 45,000 rental listings in 2023 found that zero per cent of rentals were affordable for a single person on JobSeeker.

It doesn't have to be this way. The Greens' plan to raise all income support payments to $88 a day would alleviate the stress that so many Australians are feeling right now. We're also calling on the government to invest $2½ billion dollars each year directly into public and affordable housing, and to put in place an emergency freeze on rent increases right now. The ACT has had rent control since the nineties and the sky hasn't fallen in. Just last week, Germany announced plans for a three-year rent freeze in acknowledgement of the skyrocketing cost of living. These are not utopian ideas; they are clearly achievable. The only missing piece is ambitious leadership.

Labor, you are in the seat driver's seat. There's no-one else responsible. You can continue down the same road or you can be courageous and put human lives before profit. I call on Labor to seriously invest in public and social housing. Make unlimited rent increases illegal and raise the rate of income support to $88 a day. Future generations will look back at this point in history as a massive failure of this Labor government unless something changes now.