Morrison Government's Newstart cuts will leave you with nothing for emergencies

Linda Burney on ABC Sydney Breakfast with Wendy and Robbie - Monday, 2 December 2019

WENDY HARMER: Linda Burney is the Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services. She joins us from Canberra and she’s going to tell us about what this new move will mean. Good morning to you Linda.

LINDA BURNEY, SHADOW MINISTER FOR FAMILIES AND SOCIAL SERVICES, MEMBER FOR BARTON: Good morning to you Wendy. Hello Robbie.

ROBBIE BUCK: Good morning Linda.

HARMER: Well, the figures are here, Linda. 180,000 plus people are over 55 on Newstart. I suppose a lot of them would have $18,000 – is it just about cash, or what else does it include?

BURNEY: A liquid asset is more than just cash in the bank. It can be money owing to you from an ex-employer through a redundancy payment. It could be shares; it could be debentures. A whole range of things, including potentially, loans to your children. So it’s not just actually money on hand. And as you’ve indicated, Wendy, in your introduction, this is in my view, and in the view of the Labor Party, completely unfair. It means that people for example, a guy is 50; he’s been made redundant from the car industry; he gets a redundancy payout; and the government is proposing that the redundancy payout, which is equal to your liquid asset has to be used before you’re actually eligible for any sort of Newstart payment. And to me, that just gives no leeway if there is an illness in the family; if the car blows up; if something happens. It’s really unfair.

HARMER: I guess though, that folk might say Linda that $18,000 is a fair cushion for you – and something to fall back on while you go out and look for work. And the government is trying to cut costs here. So some people might say that that’s fair enough. What do you say to that? You know, I mean $18,000 – how far do you think that that might go?

BURNEY: Well, it’s $18,000 if you’re single - $36,000 if you’re a couple – and over a potential six month period, that is not a lot of money. And it means that these are people – all of them Wendy – have worked their entire lives; they’ve paid their taxes; they’ve done the right thing, and now they are being punished because they’ve had a redundancy payout, which is usually not of their own making. And if the government could give some sort of logic to this; some sort of rationale for doubling the wait time – I’d be really happy to look at – but there is absolutely no rationale; no logic to it except to pull back or gouge back money.

BUCK: Although, I guess people will see welfare as a safety net. So it’s there to catch you if you really do fall on those extraordinarily hard times. If you do have money to be able to spend to be able to sustain yourself, is that – do you need a safety net when you’ve got the money?

BURNEY: Look, I’ve had in every interview I’ve done on this particular issue, and there’ve been many, that prospect Robbie has been put to me, but my response that if you are – if all you’ve got is $18,000 between – and you’re unemployed and you’re 55, tell me how far that’s going to go, because it is very difficult for someone of that age, sometimes with a low skills base, to actually get another job and the idea of having to wait for half a year before you can access a fairly small social security payment, when you’ve worked your whole life; when you’ve paid taxes, to me is not fair, but particularly if the government has no logic for it.

HARMER: And we do know Linda that people in that older age bracket are the ones who are spending a long time on Newstart, do you have the figures there in front of you?

BURNEY: Yes, so you are absolutely right. Half of the people on Newstart are over the age of 45 and a quarter of the people on Newstart are over the age of 55. And that’s both men and women. And we know some of the social issues facing women in that age bracket. Particularly if they don’t own a family home, if they’re in the rental market. So the demography is really important when we have a look at Newstart and we also know that people that are older are on Newstart for two to three years before they get other employment. And they are desperate, all of them, for other employment.

HARMER: I guess sometimes – I sometimes wonder about this. I wonder if people sometimes in Canberra don’t imagine that they would ever be without work, Linda.

BURNEY: I think there is something in what you’ve got to say. I mean, people listening to us Wendy – many families live from pay-packet to pay-packet. And for many families, if you didn’t have two or three pay-packets, then you would be homeless. And we know that having a roof over your head is the most important contributor to a person’s wellbeing, and being able to get other employment. And the stress and the worry and the anguish of someone that’s worked for 40 years, being put in this situation, I think is just untenable.

HARMER: So what does this look like on the floor of parliament, Linda?

BURNEY: Well, it’s interestingly – I know you’ll get a smile out of this – it’s called the social security integrity bill. I can hear you laughing. And it’s being introduced into the House of Representatives, this morning. It will into the senate, well I imagine this week. And I do know there is – I can’t be too specific, but I do know there are aspects of this bill – because this isn’t the only aspect that really is unacceptable. There are other aspects around migrants, that people have some major issues with. So whether or not it’ll be voted on this year, remains to be seen.

HARMER: All right, well we better let you jump out of the chair and scoot into chamber. It’ll be starting in a moment I imagine.

BURNEY: We will.

LINDA BURNEY

TRANSCRIPT - MONDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2019