More than 3 million Australians are still in poverty today, after Labor's do-nothing budget left income support below the poverty line for the fourth consecutive time, the Greens say.
As stated by Greens Social Services spokesperson Senator Penny Allman-Payne:
"This is a nothing budget designed to blunt conservative political attacks as part of a cynical strategy to cling to power. But what's the point of having power if you're too afraid to use it?
"JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, the DSP - all of these social security payments remain below the poverty line today. This is what 'leaving no one behind' looks like to Labor.
"The argument that we can't risk giving Australia's poorest people a slightly less precarious life because it's 'inflationary', while we let supermarkets price gouge and 1 in 3 big corporations pay no tax, needs to be retired from the public discourse. It's neoliberal brain rot.
"It's clear at this point that Labor is too gutless to help poor Australians and the Liberals have absolutely no interest in doing so.
"We can't expect real action on poverty if we keep letting them take turns in power. Change starts by voting for someone who'll fight for you.
