Unemployed and vulnerable to carry budget savings burden
The government is seeking to return to surplus by balancing the budget off the backs of the poor
The Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union congratulates the government on successfully sweeping the most vulnerable people in society under the rug in the federal budget.
Scott Morrison is crowing about economic recovery, but he’s ignoring the reality. There are 1.6 times the number of people on unemployment payments than there were before the pandemic, and 3.6 times the number of people relying on these poverty payments who actually have a job.
This budget does nothing to support unemployed, underemployed and insecure workers. The Coalition’s choices will do nothing but make our lives worse.
The only fair and reasonable response to poverty is to put more money in our pockets – today. We need to be able to afford the basics to live so we actually have the change to secure a sustainable job. Instead, the Treasurer is again making budget savings on the backs of people who are already worst off, taking money from people in the New Employment Services Trial and ramping up aggressive debt recovery and funnelling more money from workers to employers with useless hiring subsidies.
The social security system kills people and nothing in the Treasurer’s announcements today will make that better. No matter how many people manage to get a job in the year ahead there is no excuse for continued brutality in our social “safety” net.
The Morrison government chose to inflict savage cuts on unemployed people in April while no one was paying attention and now they’re getting away with forcing millions to live in deep poverty, while we're told this isn’t an austerity budget. But those of us trying to survive on social security payments know austerity when we see it.
We are frustrated by the opposition’s cowardly refusal to criticise the government for its total lack of care for the most vulnerable people in the community. But after decades of bipartisanship on denying the humanity of people who rely on income support we are unsurprised.
Politicians in this country need to start taking their jobs seriously and ensure that every person is supported and cared for. Every decision they make to hurt us is a choice.
Media contacts: 0413 261 362 / 0404 089 575; media at auwu.org.au
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