Face of Nation : An elderly woman has shared her heartbreaking experience with Australia’s welfare system on live national television, leaving one of tonight’s Q&A panellists at a loss for words.
The questioner, named Ricci Bartels, said she was forced onto Newstart at the age of 62 following retrenchment at her former workplace, and more than three years later remains unable to find a job. “What would you or how would you suggest people like me have a go to get a go?” she asked the panel, quoting Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Liberal MP Jason Falinski said he “doesn’t know enough” about the woman’s personal circumstances to comment, but said the government “has done a number of things to make sure our system is as bespoke as possible”. Responding to him directly, the woman then shared more of her emotional story, revealing that being on Newstart has been “the worst time of my life”.
“The loss of dignity, the loss of friends because you can’t go out, you can’t socialise, not eating proper food even though I suffer from various ailments … for me it has been the worst time of my life,” the woman said. Mr Falinski appeared to be at a loss for words, before responding: “I can’t tell you how … I don’t know enough about your life circumstances to comment.
“All I can say is we as a Government are doing as much as we possibly can to create a system that allow people to get as quickly from welfare to work as possible. We have a very highly targeted welfare system in this country. It has been very successful in ensuring poverty levels and inequality are kept low. Independent member Zali Steggall said Australia’s welfare problem was “an embarrassment for our nation”.
“I agree with the policy that we need to create opportunities and job opportunities to get off the welfare. But the welfare has to be at a level that you can live reasonably,” she said. “You have to be able to still have that quality of life, a standard. You can’t have it where it pushes people so low and we talk about mental health issues and isolation … and if the rate is so low, which it is, it’s the lowest in OECD countries … I think it’s embarrassing for us as a nation that we haven’t addressed it and raised it.
“We have an economy that’s flatlining and it needs a boost. We have addressed it with tax cuts and things that are coming into play but the RBA has come out and said the boost of raising Newstart would actually kickstart as well the economy in putting more funds into the system. Fellow panellist Cassandra Goldie, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, said Ricci’s question represented a “huge problem in our social security system”.
“In case you hadn’t heard it, just about everybody else in the country agrees that Newstart is unbearable. It is not working. And it desperately needs to be increased to something that’s liveable after over 25 years of not having been increased in real terms. Towards the end of the segment, host Tony Jones asked her what she would say to Mr Morrison if she could speak to him directly.
