Face of Nation : The unemployment benefit, which hasn’t seen an increase for 25 years other than twice-yearly adjustments indexed to inflation, came under the scrutiny of a Senate committee during the week amid ongoing widespread demands that the payment should be raised.
Anti-Poverty Week (October 13-19) will host a number of events, including Cassandra Goldie, chief executive of peak welfare body ACOSS addressing business leaders at a breakfast hosted by St Vincent de Paul in Canberra on Monday. ACOSS has been running its “Raise the Rate” campaign for a number of months, calling for a $75 per week increase to Newstart.
Dr Goldie will be joined to launch Anti-Poverty Week by Independent senator Jacqui Lambie, ACT Federal Labor MP David Smith, and territory MPs Shane Rattenbury and Joy Burch. The Morrison government has so far batted away widespread calls to increase Newstart from welfare and business groups, economists, the Reserve Bank, federal Labor and the Greens, as well as former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce.
