Attacking Labor won't create a single job or help wages growth. The reality is that
people are suffering desperately. The lack of wages growth is having a major impact on
people's lives, yet this government refuses to act to stimulate the economy. The RBA,
the IMF, state and territory governments, and businesses are calling for the Morrison
government to stimulate the economy. We have seen the IMF, the OECD, the Reserve Bank and
Deloitte Access Economics all downgrade Australia's expected growth. The IMF indicated that we're
going to see an increase in the unemployment rate. And who do you think will feel this
the most? It's the vulnerable, it's the unemployed, it's our young people in remote and regional
Australia, and First Nations people in remote communities with no jobs.
A submission to the Community Affairs References Committee into the adequacy of Newstart and
related payments from Dr Frances Markham and Professor John Altman at the ANU said:
The simplest way to reduce poverty in remote Indigenous Australia is to raise the rate
of Newstart. It is not hyperbolic, but merely a restatement of the epidemiological evidence
to point out that the current rate of Newstart is killing Indigenous Australians. Life expectancy
gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians cannot be expected to close while
the rate of Newstart remains so low.
Yet what does this government do? They attack Labor rather than make any moves to boost
the economy. This government refuse to raise the rate of Newstart, and those on Newstart
and youth allowance experience poverty at the highest rates. The inadequacy of Newstart
is an economic issue as well as a welfare and wellbeing issue. Newstart recipients are
six times more likely to face poor health outcomes, they're more likely to suffer from
multiple conditions, they're more likely to suffer from mental health, and they're more
likely to be hospitalised. Poor health is a barrier to work and we all know this. People
are struggling to afford the basics and the essentials, and they're struggling to meet
their medical and healthcare costs.
And what about CDP? CDP, not CDC—but we'll get to that at some point. CDP, the Community
Development Program. The Work for the Dole program in Australia pays $11 an hour. The
national minimum wage is $18.93 per hour. How can people be expected to look after their
families? How can they afford groceries and power bills or put fuel in their vehicles?
In September 2017 there were 32,600 CDP participants, 82.5 per cent of whom identified as Indigenous.
We were told during the last term of government that this government—the Morrison government—would
find 6,000 jobs for those 33,000 people. There were big promises on jobs. Well, where are
those jobs? Six thousand subsidised jobs were supposed to commence in February this year.
It's October. That very quietly was downgraded to 1,000 jobs, and now—wait for it—the
Morrison government has very quietly put out a package of just 100 subsidised jobs on CDP.
One hundred jobs—not 6,000, not even 1,000. They've just quietly said, 'We'll give 100
jobs.'
Senator Ciccone: Five thousand, nine hundred to go!
Senator McCARTHY: Precisely! That's 100 down from 6,000. That is quite a reduction in the
employment opportunities that were meant to come, and where are the jobs? This government
has no plan for our country. It has no plan to deal with low wages and rising prices,
and the cost of essentials is skyrocketing. Electricity prices are increasing and child
care has become unaffordable under the Liberals. Australians are worried about the economy,
but Scott Morrison and the Liberals are pretending there is no problem.