Labor and the Greens have called on the Federal Government to restore welfare payments to support vulnerable Canberrans during the pandemic lockdown.
The Commonwealth provides COVID-19 Disaster Payments for people who can’t attend work because of restrictions and Pandemic Leave Disaster Payments for people who must quarantine, isolate, or care for someone with COVID-19, as well as regular welfare payments like JobSeeker and Youth Allowance.
But opposition parties believe more must be done.
Last year, almost a third of Australians were on JobKeeper, while unemployed people received a coronavirus supplement of $550 per fortnight. When the government introduced those measures, ACTCOSS CEO Dr Emma Campbell said last week, unemployed people could afford to eat regularly, see doctors and buy medicine, pay off bills, and save for their future, while poverty rates “plummeted” from 8.6% to 5.2%.
But when those supplements were phased out in March, poverty rates rose to 9%, above the pre-COVID level, and more people are now unemployed than before: 30,600 according to the ABS, between 45,000 and 97,000 according to a Fair Work Commission report.
Labor
Labor has called on the Government to re-introduce JobKeeper (“without the rorts”) and pay people on social security, including those on JobSeeker and Youth Allowance, the higher rate of the COVID-19 disaster payment.
“The Government demonstrated the power of social security last year when they pulled half a million people out of poverty with the Coronavirus supplement – then they pushed them all back into poverty when they ripped it away in March,” said Labor MP Alicia Payne.
“Right now, Canberrans, New South Welshmen, and Victorians are in the same, or I would argue worse, position than they were last year. The Government has apparently lost its appetite to help people.
“Local business is also in need of more comprehensive ongoing support from the Federal Government – to give them certainty beyond lockdown or being named a hotspot.
“People are crying out for help; the Government needs to listen to them.”
ACT Greens
The ACT Greens have also called on the Federal Government to immediately reinstate the unconditional COVID-19 supplements that enabled so many to get through the 2020 lockdowns, and to boost online and phone services to guarantee people access.
“The swift action of governments last year literally saved countless lives, paying people to stay home with confidence and comfort, safe in the knowledge that they could make ends meet,” said Tim Hollo, ACT Greens candidate for Canberra. “We need the same approach now, with lockdowns as severe, and the delta strain even worse.”
The Greens said they welcomed the support packages the ACT and Federal Government had introduced, but there were huge gaps, especially for the unemployed. The Greens want:
- JobSeeker to be immediately lifted to at least $80 a day, above the Henderson poverty line;
- JobKeeper 2.0 to be reintroduced, paid directly to workers, not corporations;
- A $3,000 disaster payment not only for those who lost work but also for those who have none;
- An immediate boost to online and phone services for Centrelink, to enable everyone to access support payments during lockdown.
“People have lost work and can’t even get through to Centrelink to get the support they need to get by,” Mr Hollo said. “That needs to be fixed right away.”
Mr Hollo said the current approach was “a tragic, heartless failure that demonstrates a complete lack of care for what so many people are going through. The situation is as bad as it was last year, when the Covid supplements were introduced. We urgently need them again. Pay people to stay home!”
Dr Tjanara Goreng Goreng, ACT Greens Senate candidate, blamed the government’s refusal to institute these supports for the current crisis.
“The majority of the country is in lockdown due to this government’s botched vaccine rollout. How can they think it’s OK to just expect people to get through it?”
Through their 2021/2022 Federal Election campaign, the ACT Greens are calling for the social security system to be reformed.
“Australia’s welfare system, with its nasty, punitive approach, paying private companies to surveil people and force them to jump through hoops to get support that’s way below the poverty line, is a disgrace,” Mr Hollo said. “We have to end this approach, once and for all, and bring in a system that helps everyone who needs help.”
“Poverty is a policy decision,” Dr Goreng Goreng said. “We could end it by raising income support from $44 to $80 per day. Instead, one in three big corporations pays no tax, and both the Labor and Liberal parties have chosen to give the rich tax cuts.”
Labor said last month that it would keep the Coalition’s “stage 3” tax cuts: people earning between $45,000 and $200,000 a year will pay the same tax (30%), while the 37% tax bracket for people earning more than $120,000 has been removed.
The ACT Greens said the Australian Unemployed Workers Union had tirelessly advocated for a more just social security system during and outside the pandemic.
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