The ACT Greens have condemned the Federal Government’s decision to reduce and then withdraw disaster payments as soon as jurisdictions reach a certain vaccine threshold.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced today that the COVID-19 disaster payment would be phased out once 70 and 80 per cent of over-16s were immunised, while co-funded federal business support payments will also taper off.
Tim Hollo, ACT Greens candidate for Canberra, said the Federal Government’s linking its financial support to vaccination rates instead of demonstrated financial need was a cynical and heartless approach to this crisis; it would affect many vulnerable Canberrans, who had already been impacted by the economic and emotional pressures of the pandemic.
“This is damaging austerity ideology at its worst, leaving people to struggle while handing billions to already massively profitable corporations and wealthy individuals,” Mr Hollo said.
“The notion that everyone will be fine, financially secure, and employed as soon as lockdowns are lifted is absurd. It will take time for people to readjust and businesses to open. We need to support workers as we gradually come out of lockdown.
“Vaccines reduce risk a lot, but they don’t eliminate it. We need every tool available to us to help people make the safest possible choices, and that includes supporting people who need income support to abide by restrictions.”
Tjanara Goreng Goreng, ACT Greens Senate candidate, said: “We’re a wealthy country, yet today the Federal government has said, ‘We don’t care about the poor. We don’t care about vulnerable members of the community. We don’t care about local jurisdictions trying to prevent the health system we have underfunded from failing’.
“This is so typical of this government’s lack of accountability – they simply refuse to take responsibility for their failed vaccine rollout, which has plunged most of the country into the latest lockdown. As always, vulnerable members of our community pay the price.”
Mr Hollo and Dr Goreng Goreng renewed their calls to raise the rate of income support from $44 to at least $80 per day.
“Poverty is a policy decision, as is the decision to give tax cuts to the rich and let billionaires and big corporations get away without paying any tax,” Mr Hollo said.
“The ACT Government, and indeed every state and territory, are still mopping up the Federal government’s failure to roll out an effective vaccination program for vulnerable people and everyone else in 2020,” Dr Goreng Goreng said.
“COVID is still spreading throughout vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, many of whom will be directly impacted by this decision.”
An even bigger tragedy, Mr Hollo said, was that the States and Territories could not step in and prevent this; there was no system to distribute support directly to people whom the Federal Government denied a liveable level of income support.
ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said he was frustrated the Federal Government could undermine the ACT Government’s efforts to effectively manage this pandemic.
“The ACT Government is taking the public health approach that the Commonwealth should be,” he said. “The threshold of 70 per cent does not include 12- to 15-year-olds, who are included in the ACT’s recording rates.
“This age group has been a known source of spread of the Delta virus. If we don’t include this group in our vaccine count, then we ignore our high school populations and the families of these children in our considerations.”
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