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representatives vote 2020-10-29#1

Edited by mackay staff

on 2020-11-06 10:42:27

Title

  • Bills — Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020; Second Reading
  • Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020 - Second Reading - Keep motion unchanged

Description

  • <p class="speaker">Rebekha Sharkie</p>
  • <p>I rise in support of the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020. I recognise that the proposed additional economic support payments are necessary to support those on Centrelink payments such as the disability support pension and the age pension. As the member for the oldest electorate in South Australia, I am sure many of the constituents in Mayo who currently receive these payments will welcome these additional funds. I'm also supportive of the proposed retrospective changes to the youth allowance independent paid work concession. That will support young people who continue to work towards financial independence. This change acknowledges the impact that COVID-19 had on the employment status of many young people in our communities and ensures they're not penalised for an economic crisis that was by no means their fault.</p>
  • <p>A revision of the paid parental leave work test period is also welcomed as this measure openly acknowledges the impact COVID-19 has had on a parent's ability to remain employed during one of the toughest economic downturns in Australia's history. Providing working parents with more lenient requirements to access their payment has the potential to support many more parents to remain home with their newborns instead of being forced to return to work early so they can continue to pay their bills.</p>
  • The majority voted in favour of a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/debate/?id=2020-10-29.27.4) that "*the words proposed to be omitted stand part of the question.*" In other words, they voted to keep the words of the motion unchanged. The motion in this case was "*That this bill be now [read a second time](https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/bills-and-laws/making-a-law-in-the-australian-parliament/).*" Giving a bill a second reading is the same as agreeing with its main idea.
  • ### Proposed change
  • > *That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:*
  • >
  • > *"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:*
  • >
  • > *(1) notes that:*
  • >
  • >> *(a) since the start of the recession, the number of people relying on unemployment payments has doubled;*
  • >>
  • >> *(b) many pensioners—including those on the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment—have faced increased costs during the pandemic; and*
  • >>
  • >> *(c) the Minister has the power under the Social Security Act to extend the Coronavirus Supplement; and*
  • >
  • > *(2) calls on the Government to:*
  • >
  • >> *(a) extend the $250 per fortnight Coronavirus Supplement until March, in line with Jobkeeper;*
  • >>
  • >> *(b) better support pensioners—including Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment recipients—facing increased costs in protecting their health because of the coronavirus pandemic; and*
  • >>
  • >> *(c) announce a permanent increase to the base rate of the Jobseeker Payment".*
  • <p>I am, however, disappointed to see that there is no mention of the fortnightly $250 corona supplement continuing past 31 December. If you have a look at the Centrelink website, it says, 'From 1 January 2021 your payment will change to the normal JobSeeker rate.' Just to inform the House exactly what that normal JobSeeker rate is, if you are single and you don't have children, it is $565.70 a fortnight. That's not a week; that's a fortnight. It works out to be $282.85 a week. If you are single and have dependent children, it's $612 a fortnight&#8212;so just over $300 a week.</p>
  • <p>It's worth noting that this supplement not only supports the 1.56 million people currently receiving JobKeeper and youth allowance payments across Australia; the additional supplement has also provided much-needed financial assistance to parents receiving the parenting payment, students receiving Austudy and ABSTUDY living allowance and farmers receiving the farm household allowance. Nearly two million Australians are having to remain vigilant, struggling to plan for their future or even budget for Christmas, and they do not know if their fortnightly $250 coronavirus supplement&#8212;that extra $125 a week&#8212;will continue past the end of this year.</p>
  • <p>This legislation provided the government with an opportunity to put millions of people's minds at rest and to provide them with certainty, acknowledging that this year has been one of the toughest yet. We are all aware that the cost of living has increased since COVID hit, and the additional coronavirus supplement has been necessary to ensure individuals and families are able to meet those increased expenses. For years now I have called on the government to raise the rate of Newstart, now named JobSeeker, as most recipients were living below the poverty line prior to the introduction of the coronavirus supplement. These additional funds have provided a much-needed reprieve for individuals and families who were previously struggling with rent, school fees and other essential items. Unlike many Newstart recipients, most of us in this place have never needed to make the choice between purchasing meals from the supermarket or paying rent to ensure that we have a roof over our head. We mustn't forget that that coronavirus supplement actually helps all of our local businesses, because it gives people who are on Centrelink that extra money and then they spend it locally. They are not spending it on overseas holidays. They are spending it in our local IGA. They are spending it in our local grocery stores.</p>
  • <p>So, in closing, I do support this legislation. I would urge the government to provide some certainty to people who are on Centrelink and currently receiving that coronavirus supplement, particularly people who are on JobSeeker, formerly known as Newstart, because no Australian can live on just over $250 a week. It really just is impossible.</p>
  • <p class="speaker">Luke Gosling</p>
  • <p>A lot of big figures have been thrown around in the last few months&#8212;billions of dollars of support and a trillion-dollar debt&#8212;but it is grave news indeed, and I want to let all of our fellow Australians who are listening this morning know, that as of yesterday we found out that there will be 1.8 million Australians on unemployment payments by Christmas. Under this coalition federal government, we've seen a situation whereby an extraordinary number of Australians will be unemployed and needing that social support. We have seen the new Department of Social Services' figures come out of Senate estimates that show the number of people on unemployment payments will increase by many hundreds of thousands and will indeed surge to about 1.8 million by December. My colleague Senator Katy Gallagher, the shadow minister for finance, confirmed this in a question to a DSS official in Senate estimates. At estimates, it was also confirmed that the number of people forced to get by on unemployment benefits will be higher in 2024 than it was before the recession. That is no nowhere near a snapback in terms of getting Australians back into jobs&#8212;and this is what we feared.</p>
  • <p>The member for Barton and shadow minister for social services said: 'These revised figures show this job crisis is getting worse and the government's planned Christmas JobSeeker cut will hurt 1.8 million Australians. Unemployment is painful and unfair. Hundreds of thousands of Australians will bear the impact of this recession for years to come. The Prime Minister needs to show compassion by announcing a permanent increase to the JobSeeker payment.' I wholeheartedly agree with the member for Barton. The budget was a missed opportunity to permanently increase JobSeeker. With up to 160,000 Australians expected to lose their jobs and 1.6 million Australians on JobSeeker, the government missed a massive opportunity to deliver certainty for Australians doing it tough by delivering a permanent increase to JobSeeker in the budget. With more jobseekers for each job vacancy, there are simply not enough jobs for everyone who needs one. Unlike what the Prime Minister is fond of saying, it is not a case of 'if you're good at your job you'll get a job'; there simply aren't enough jobs. To not be able to see that is, unfortunately, a dereliction of duty and a failure of leadership.</p>
  • <p>It is particularly difficult in our regions, where the job market is worse than in the cities. In the major cities you have the benefit of large populations. As businesses and the economy open up, there will be employment. It will still be difficult for some cohorts, but there will be employment. In the regions we want to see more support. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an understanding of the correlation between cutting JobSeeker and the effect on small businesses. ACOSS have published a report that talks about the massive benefit to the economy of this indirect stimulus. As I've been saying for months now, as far as the Territory is concerned, the people that I represent from Darwin and Palmerston, the business owners as well as the employees&#8212;in particular, the unemployed; and those numbers continue to rise&#8212;it is exactly the wrong time to be cutting back on this indirect stimulus to our economy.</p>
  • <p>The fact that the government doesn't even know how many jobs will be lost when unemployment payments are cut at Christmas time is a concern. We cannot close our minds and our hearts to the suffering of those who are doing it tough. Also, it is going to be a massive benefit to businesses in our economy if we do this in a sensible way. What we need to be doing is giving a permanent increase to JobSeeker so that those who are unemployed, some for the first time in their lives, have some certainty going into Christmas. I certainly hope that is the case.</p>
  • <p class="speaker">Matt Thistlethwaite</p>
  • <p>( As we get closer to Christmas, Australians of all persuasions are relying on the coronavirus supplement for certainty. They need some form of certainty and support from the government, not a cruel cut. That's why Labor's seeking to amend this bill, the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020, to ensure that the coronavirus supplement is extended until March next year, in line with JobKeeper, and to require the government to announce a permanent increase in the JobSeeker payment.</p>
  • <p>Many organisations have come out in support of a permanent increase in JobSeeker. Quite simply, you can't live off the old rate of JobSeeker, which roughly equated to about $40 a day. If you speak to someone that has had to try and survive on this measly payment, you find that it basically means that they find it extremely difficult to actually look for work, because most of their time is devoted to making ends meet and looking after family members, particularly if they're single parents. So it's the worst time for the government to be cutting support for people who've lost their jobs, whilst unemployment is still going up.</p>
  • <p>The Department of Social Services has told Senate estimates that the number of people on unemployment payments will surge to 1.8 million by December, an increase of 300,000 over previous projections. It was also confirmed that the number of people forced to get by on unemployment benefits will be higher in 2024 than it was before the recession, with DSS projecting the average number to be 1.3 million in 2021, a million in 2022 and 900,000 in 2023-24. We know that the increase in unemployment comes as the Morrison government's been caught out inflating jobs figures associated with budget measures by nearly one million jobs. The Prime Minister's big promise on jobs, the so-called JobMaker, hasn't even lasted until the end of budget month. We know from the Treasury department that, out of the claimed 450,000 places, the hiring credit is only expected to support and create 45,000 new jobs. Out of the claimed 130,000 jobs from its technology road map, none are included in the budget. And, out of the claimed 80,000 direct and 300,000 indirect jobs from its manufacturing announcement, none are included in the budget.</p>
  • <p>It's the deepest and most damaging recession in almost a century, and the Australian people deserve a government that creates jobs, not just headlines. This government has form when it comes to big announcements and all of the associated fanfare, but, 12 months after a program's been announced, we find out it hasn't delivered one job. There are a litany of programs across previous budgets delivered by this government where that is the case. They're all about the spin, all about the announcement, nothing about the follow-up.</p>
  • <p>The recent Anglicare Australian Jobs Availability Snapshot shows just how bleak the employment prospects are for many jobseekers, particularly with the government's underwhelming response to this recession. The report reveals more than 100 jobseekers are competing for every low skilled job vacancy across the nation. Many of the jobseekers in the jobs snapshot are older Australians, yet the government's Restart program, which it touts as its signature policy for the over-50s, has been an utter failure in getting older people back to work. Not only is it unsubscribed; 40 per cent of the workers under this program were out of work within three months.</p>
  • <p>If the Morrison government were serious about driving down the unemployment rate and kickstarting the recovery, it would not be excluding almost a million Australians over the age of 35 on unemployment payments from the new multibillion dollar Wage Subsidy Scheme. These Australians are rapidly approaching the JobSeeker Christmas cliff, with no certainty about the future of their support payments and how they'll find themselves competing with a subsidised younger workforce.</p>
  • <p>The Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the Labor Party, Anthony Albanese, has announced that a Labor government will train thousands of workers, and our next generation of tradies will come through our jobs and skills guarantee. We will build and manufacture in Australia through our National Rail Manufacturing Plan. We will cut childcare fees and put more money into the pockets of working families. We've called on the government to do more, right now, to create work for thousands of tradies in almost every suburb and town across the country by investing in projects that fast-track urgent repairs to social housing. I visited several social housing tenants in properties in the electorate that I represent, and many of those properties are in dire need of repair, and urgently. This is a program via which the government could provide support for tradies in every suburb and every town across the country. It could make sure they have the opportunity to work to provide much-needed upgrades to public assets&#8212;public infrastructure that provides people with a roof over their head and helps deal with problems in our society such as homelessness and couch surfing.</p>
  • <p>In the depths of this crisis, when the country needs a jobs plan, when the private sector is withdrawing investment and support for projects, when the country needs the support of government to fix some of the social issues we have, this government is sadly lacking. We have another grab bag of announcements and spin without any follow up-through policy that provides real support for jobs for people in this country.</p>
  • <p>Decisions taken by the coalition mean that this recession will be deeper and longer than it has to be; that it will push more workers into the unemployment queues and jeopardise Australia's recovery. That, unfortunately, will be the hallmark of this government and a great shame for generations to come.</p>
  • <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>