Elder Electorate

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (15:30): Today, I rise to speak on an issue affecting a significant number of residents in my electorate of Elder and, I suspect, statewide. It is a matter that many constituents have raised with me and I am very concerned for the welfare of these constituents. On a daily basis, I have constituents reach out to my office worried for their futures. They are worried for their children's welfare and their futures, and they are worried because the cost of living expenses are not being met by the current Centrelink payments.

We live in an increasingly expensive world and those on low incomes or Centrelink payments are being increasingly disadvantaged, in large part due to our federal government policies and attitude to those who are not able, for many reasons, to earn their own way in life. The recent Anglicare Australia Rental Affordability Snapshot painted a stark picture. The majority of low income individuals are struggling to afford appropriate housing. We know that Housing SA and community housing struggle under the sheer volume of people requesting support. We know that many South Australians are living rough on the streets.

Newstart Allowance for a single person without children is around $536 a fortnight. This amount is to cover rent, food, bills, clothing, transport and medications. I did a quick search online earlier this week and struggled to find even a share house in the Adelaide suburbs that costs less than 50 per cent of that, with rent assistance for a single no dependant share house situation, where there is a subsidy of $88.13 a fortnight. Even share housing, a situation that does not suit everyone, is increasingly becoming unaffordable. When we add the bills that the standard household faces, the problems worsen.

In summer, many South Australians in these situations make the choice between food or staying cool. In winter, they make the choice between paying their rent or paying for heating. These are the most vulnerable people; often they have medical conditions that make the weather not an inconvenience but a life-threatening situation. The trade-offs that people find themselves making in this situation are stressful, fear laden and guilt ridden, as I hear firsthand, 'Shall I buy school shoes for my child this week or shall I cut down to two or one meal so I can do that, or shall I forgo prescription items that are essential to my health or my family's health?' The list goes on.

I am hopeful that the South Australian government's energy plan will deliver tangible results for my constituents by both increasing reliability and reducing cost, but energy is only a small part of the pressures that squeeze their purses. We have a federal Liberal government that through its actions says that it does not care for its vulnerable people. We witness this with the Centrelink debt drama earlier this year where people who could least afford it and who had the least resources to fight it were chased for debts that did not exist in many cases (or in any case, as far as I could see) and had to face down the full and intimidating power of the bureaucratic hurdles before they could even discuss the debt with a real live person.

All of us heard of and saw the traumatic impact that this had on many South Australians. We saw them victimised, singled out and blamed instead of addressing the systemic and societal issues that contribute to the plight of these most vulnerable people. We also see low income earners have their income under threat, with penalty rates being threatened and stripped. At the same time, the Liberals are keen to change shop hours and deregulate them, which says that those who are at the lower end of the wage-earning scale apparently do not deserve time with the family and that apparently they should be happy with lower wages. The Liberals want you to work longer hours for less pay. That is shameful.

We as a state need to stand up for our vulnerable. We need to ensure our systems are in place to help people off the streets and into affordable housing. We need to put pressure on the federal government to increase pensions and welfare payments. We must fight for the vulnerable of our state to ensure a fair standard of living for our constituents. We must give each and every South Australian dignity.

This is not a political issue. It is a societal issue, a state issue and a community issue. Every South Australian citizen deserves to live in appropriate and affordable housing, to afford to have the heater on and their fridge full, to have access to health care and education, to live with self-worth. I call on all members in this house to stand up and fight for South Australians doing it tough. Society can only be judged by how we all treat the vulnerable and how we include them.