16 News

Thursday 20 March marks 5 years since the Scott Morrison government raised income support by $275 per week. Overnight, it lifted nearly a million people over the poverty line – but later Morrison ripped away these supports, plunging people back into poverty. 

On the same day this year, the Albanese government will increase JobSeeker by only the legislated indexation rate – a paltry $1.55 per week, leaving single JobSeeker recipients $220 below the poverty line.

News headlines say we’re in a cost of living crisis, but this is an unnatural crisis created by political cowardice: Poverty is a policy choice, and one that Parliament could overturn today.

Welfare recipients and advocates are holding  a joint press conference at Parliament House on Thursday 20 March to mark this anniversary and share the simple policy solutions that could end poverty in Australia: increase payments, expand eligibility, and end the punishing and pointless system of “mutual” obligations.

For those who can’t make it to Canberra, there will also be a  free online event on Monday 24 March at 7:30pm AEDT with Antipoverty Centre, Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, Anti-Poverty Network Queensland, Anti-Poverty Network South Australia and Nobody Deserves Poverty.

Fiona Moore – Nobody Deserves Poverty; Disability Support Pension recipient:

“The coronavirus supplement in 2020 showed that governments can choose to lift people out of poverty overnight. With the supplement, people were happier and healthier – able to buy fresh fruit and vegetables and the medications they needed. Many were able to actually find work in this time without the added survival pressures of poverty. Keeping people in poverty is unnecessary, and subsidies are no substitute to giving people cash to support themselves.”

Brendan Folwell – Anti-Poverty Network South Australia:

“The COVID supplement was a wake-up call for our members who saw that a better life was possible with just a small increase to their welfare payments. Forcing people back below the poverty line was an act of cruelty that will not be forgotten any time soon.”

Avery Howard – Vice-President, Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union; JobSeeker recipient:

“With the fourth Budget from this Government being handed down next week, they have shown us time and time again that they are choosing to keep millions of us in poverty. The Supplement made it obvious that they can vastly alleviate poverty in Australia, but they are intentionally keeping us back in some misguided attempt at a ‘responsible budget’. There’s never anything responsible about trapping people in poverty.”

Kristin O’Connell – Co-coordinator, Antipoverty Centre; Disability Support Pension recipient: 

“Five years on, when Centrelink payments feel more inadequate than ever, it is hard to think about the extraordinary outpouring of relief and joy when the JobSeeker payment was lifted to the poverty line, and the despair when it was ripped away. It is cruel and insulting for governments to insist every six months that the crumbs we receive through indexation are an ‘increase’, while our rent and bills go up faster than payments ever do.” 

Jayden Oxton-White – Anti-Poverty Network Queensland; Disability Support Pension recipient: 

“2020 was the first time in decades that we had a substantial raise to JobSeeker. This showed people that both major parties were well aware just how dire the situation is for people on income support payments. The fact that they then took it away further illustrates just how callous this colonial system is to those who are disenfranchised.” 

Maiy Azize – Deputy Director, Anglicare Australia: 

“Five years ago, the Government gave hope to hundreds of thousands of people when it raised the rate of JobSeeker and pulled them out of poverty. Lives were transformed, with many people being able to afford food and shelter – and plan for the future for the first time. It is all the more hurtful that we’ve gone so far backwards. The Government chose to end poverty once before. It can choose to do it again.”

Elise Klein OAM – Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU:

“5 years ago, the Federal government showed how to end poverty in Australia. Today, rather than doing what we know works, the government chooses to inflict poverty on thousands of Australians. This is not necessary, make no mistake about it. Poverty in Australia is largely a government policy choice”. 

The ACT Greens have called on Labor Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek to revoke the Canberra Airport’s approval to build a 35 metre wide road which will bisect the habitat of critically endangered species and push the Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon further into extinction.

Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens Jo Clay said that despite the community’s best efforts, the Northern Road development at the Canberra Airport precinct will likely see one of the last three remaining dragon populations perish.

“Labor talks a big game to protect the environment with promises of no new extinctions under their watch. But when action is needed, they simply sit back, fold to developers and put our species and ecosystems at risk of extinction,” Ms Clay said.

“This road is not needed – I understand its main function is to serve as a private, VIP road for people like Dutton and Albo. It’s another example of Labor being more connected to the needs of developers and big corporations than everyday people and our planet.

“Across Australia there are very few patches of Natural Temperate Grassland the size of the area that the Northern Road will bisect. This road will fragment the population and could make one of our last three dragon populations extinct. How much more destruction must there be until Labor says enough is enough?”

In 2023, the former ACT Greens Environment Minister and community secured a commitment from Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to reconsider protections for the earless dragon before this road progresses.

“There has been no transparency or explanation from the Minister on why this work was allowed to commence. This site is critical for the dragon and other threatened species. She committed to no new extinctions but she is watching another happen all over again,” said Isabel Mudford, Greens candidate for Canberra.

“Tanya Plibersek must halt this project before the Federal caretaker period commences – otherwise we will see another species become extinct under hers and the Albanese Government’s watch.

”Our national environmental laws have been failing for years – Labor have thrown in the towel this term to fundamentally reform our systems.

“With Greens in the balance of power we can deliver environmental laws that prevent destructive developments like this one, and hold corporations to account for the damage they cause,” said Ms Mudford.

Background:

• The Northern Road Development was granted approval in 2009 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, subject to varied conditions. These conditions were set without any consultation with the ACT Government. A Grassland Earless Dragon Recovery Team was responsible for implementing a Recovery Plan at that time. They advised the road would have minimal impact on the population if it went around the core habitat area.
• In 2023 the Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon was up-listed to ‘critically endangered’ – the last stop before extinction. The Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek committed to reconsider protections for the earless dragon before this road progresses.
• The ACT Government 2024-25 budget included funding for emergency response measures to rescue the Canberra Earless Dragon from extinction.
• Construction was first reported by the media on Monday 24 February 2025. In these articles, Canberra Airport Group are reported to have agreed to pause road construction.
• Following news coverage, the ACT Greens contacted both Minister Plibersek’s office and the Canberra Airport Group on 25 February 2025. This was followed up with a formal letter to Minister Plibersek on Wednesday 5 March 2025. To date, there has been no response.
• The ACT Greens formally wrote to the ACT Chief Minister and ACT Environment Minister on Sunday 2 March 2025 seeking urgent action to elevate the issue with their Federal counterparts and ensure the Canberra Airport Road does not make a species extinct.
• The Australian Greens wrote to Minister Plibersek on Thursday 6 March 2025 calling for the Minister to intervene and revoke the road development.
• The ACT Greens were alerted on Thursday 13 March 2025 that construction has recommenced on the road. Ms Clay visited the site and confirmed construction vehicles operating on Friday 14 March 2025.

The Greens have welcomed a historic breakthrough for better management of packaging waste and recycling in Australia, following today’s release of a joint statement from key industry groups in support of a mandatory product stewardship scheme for packaging by 2026. 

The question is, will Labor act now? 

Greens spokesperson for waste and recycling, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson: 

“Australia has missed plastic and waste reduction targets for decades because our self-regulated or voluntary system of reducing plastics simply does not work. 

“Agreement between industry and environment groups for binding regulations on reducing packaging waste is an important and historic moment. Having the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) sign-on is especially significant.

“APCO has always been coy about publicly advocating for a mandatory product stewardship scheme, even though many of its members want stronger regulation from government. The organisation has been plagued by a handful of powerful packaging companies, retailers or brands that have refused to do the right thing in committing to national waste reduction and recycling targets.

“Successive governments have spent decades delaying action on legislating legally binding packaging reduction regulations, in the hope that big corporations will miraculously pick up their game. The polluters have had their chance to clean up their act and they haven’t. 

“Tanya Plibersek threatened multiple times in this parliament that she would step in and regulate polluters if they couldn’t get their act together, but she has never followed through. In the dying days of this parliament there is an opportunity here for her to win some credibility back by finally introducing a mandated product stewardship scheme for packaging and soft plastics.”

Today the Leader of the Victorian Greens Ellen Sandell has called for a large-scale home and community electrification package including extra rebates for batteries and solar panels, home insulation and the reinstatement of the community climate adaptation grants program, which was cancelled by the Victorian Labor Government.

Ms Sandell has called for this climate action package to be included in the upcoming Victorian State Budget, saying that the recent cyclone Alfred that hit Queensland and New South Wales needs to be a wake up call for all politicians that much more needs to be done to avert more climate disasters.

It comes as Victoria also just recorded its hottest summer on record, with many people forced to swelter in recurring heatwaves or face massive energy bills for running air conditioning. 

Extreme weather events are costing billions of dollars as recent reports indicate that Cyclone Alfred has cost more than $1.2 billion of damage, people missing work and having their businesses forced shut by ongoing power outages.

The Victorian Greens say that we need to be doing more to prepare communities and prevent them from footing the bill of climate disasters, but instead Labor continues to burn coal and gas and has cut multiple climate programs. 

Infrastructure Victoria just outlined that we’re behind on climate targets and the most recent data says that Victoria’s emissions have risen by 5%. 

While Labor has cut the Community Climate Change Adaption Program, the battery rebate program, Home Heating and Cooling Program and reduced solar panel rebates as well as continuing to burn coal and gas. 

The Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell said that the Victorian Government was not doing enough to prevent climate disasters or prepare communities for extreme weather – and that a large-scale cash-back program to move homes away from gas and install batteries and solar on Victorian homes would reduce energy bills as well as reduce emissions.

the Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell: 

“Labor in Victoria has cancelled and cut multiple climate change programs while continuing to burn coal and gas which make climate change worse.”

“Communities shouldn’t have to continue to foot the bill for climate disasters while Labor governments cut climate programs and continue to burn coal and gas”

“We’ve just had the hottest summer in Victoria’s history and Cyclone Alfred wreaked havoc on NSW and Queensland, it’s not good enough for governments just to clean up after climate disasters, we need to prepare communities for the future and do everything we can to prevent future climate disasters by reducing our emissions now.”

“The Greens are calling on Labor to reinstate cash-back programs for home batteries, and increase rebates for home solar panels, so that people can afford to move away from expensive gas heating to reduce their emissions and their energy bills”

In light of Four Corners’ reporting overnight suggesting Australia’s early childhood education and care system is at breaking point, the Greens are urging the Government to set up a Royal Commission.

Investigative reporting from the ABC’s Four Corners program has highlighted a series of deeply troubling revelations including instances of serious abuse, staff misconduct, over-enrolment and other issues caused by a trend of putting profit over care. There is evidence that these issues may be systemic and occurring in centres across the country. 

The Greens early childhood education spokesperson, Victorian Senator Steph Hodgins-May, says the Prime Minister cannot keep ignoring alarm bells, such as those identified in the Four Corners report, and must set out a clear roadmap to reform via a Royal Commission, similar to the one into Aged Care Quality and Safety. 

Greens early childhood education spokesperson, Senator Steph Hodgins-May: 

“The Prime Minister can’t keep ignoring the alarm bells that are ringing so loudly within the childcare sector. It’s time for a serious overhaul.

“The Greens are urging the government to initiate a Royal Commission, like was done with the crisis in the aged care system, to make sure that every childcare centre in the country is operating safely for both the kids in care as well as the staff.

“The reports we know about are likely just the tip of the iceberg. A Royal Commission into privatised early childhood education would bring to light the extent of the problem, and help pave the way for reform. 

“The current system is riddled with problems after years of neglect and marketisation of policy—it is too expensive, inaccessible and, at times, even harmful.

“Labor’s childcare subsidy encourages for-profit providers to minimise costs, increase fees and make greater returns often at the expense of our kids. It’s a broken system.

“The Greens believe in free universal education for all—right through from children to university—but we recognise a low-cost flat fee of $10 a day would be a significant improvement on the current approach.

“With more Greens in Parliament, we can fight for free, universal and high-quality early childhood education.”