Category: housing

WelfareMaxxing this Budget

So, it’s Federal Budget Day, and while the government tried to ease us into their cutting of the NDIS and there being little offered directly to the poorest to help their situation, there’s a few little interesting nuggets that tell you a lot about the government of the day.

One is the news that the Feds will give payments of about $6000 to community housing providers for each person on Youth Allowance or youth rates of DSP they house. This isn’t a nice little bonus to encourage them to rent to younger people, but a payment to stop them overtly discriminating in who they give tenancies to. You see, because they can only take 30% of your payment as rent, they don’t get as much from those on youth rates so they’re more likely to give a house to an older person on DSP or Aged Pensions. Obviously since there’s such a massive waitlist (in NSW the priority waitlist has increased from 5800 households in June 2021 to 12478 now) they’re not leaving places empty.

Of course, the government could look to lessen how far behind youth are starting when trying to get rentals by increasing the payments for all adults to the same rates by payments (Youth rates go to you turn 22)… I mean the Fair Work Commission has started making changes to youth pay rates for some awards this year. I don’t see much out there being cheaper if you’re 18-21 than if you’re 22….

we worked very hard to get over a dozen Labor MPs to break ranks in the lead up to the 2023 budget, but since then have heard from MPs that they're not allowed to bring it up anymore

— Jeremy Poxon (@jeremypoxon.bsky.social) 2026-05-11T03:04:21.523Z

This idealist wants to still see ALL payment rates ABOVE the poverty line. But it seems that those Labor MPs willing to break ranks to ask for such things have been told to shush, Labor doesn’t do that.

There’s talk there might be a $200-$300 tax break for all tax payers… in 12 months. Other things like shifting around tax brackets a little are always talked about – but I will of course come back to the idea that maybe lifting the tax free threshold would be a better place to start since it helps everyone on a wage and not just the top end. I’ll also add in that it’s kinda shitty that the tax free threshold is below the poverty line and they poorest lose out on tax and reduction in their welfare payments well before they peep the poverty line.

I completely understand why the government has baulked at the gas tax changes that were near certain before Israel and the US went at Iran, there are relationships to maintain and security of diesel supplies etc etc. I do think though this is why they HAVE to go bold on Capital Gains Tax and perhaps negative gearing this year, and perhaps revisit the gas takes when there’s less global uncertainty. Trump is not making an end to their trip to Iran look like it’s happening soon, even if they do ignore Israel’s intentions in Lebanon to make it the new Gaza and expand towards their Greater Israel ideal… I got petrol today and while it’s hovering about the price it was at the end of February with the excise cut, I think it’s gonna start creeping up again soon since there’s no end in sight. I don’t think Chalmers will extend the excise discount, so it’ll jump at the end of June too…

groceries in boxes and bags

Anyway, my goal at the start of the year to food blog my way through the year went quickly when mum has her strokes, and it’s been a full one, slow but long three and a bit months since. I’ve had Everyplate meals most weeks, but switched over the buying bull chicken and mince or thanking Dad for handing over his meat tray winnings other weeks – either because money’s been tighter or because I’ve felt adventurous enough to do a week’s meals myself but have regretted that about 50% of the time when that week has had long or mentally taxing days.

We’re starting to look towards what the next step is for mum, had a builder out with the OT yesterday to see what’s possible in terms of making access to the house easier and get an idea for redoing the bathroom as an open wet room. Dad and I have been starting to assist with Mum’s personal care more in the hospital and had a more formal training session with the physio on using the sling lifter today. She may need to go into a nursing home in the short term while we get the house done, but we’re still hoping to get her home full time and get the equipment and care support she needs. She’s going to get a wheelchair soon that she can then be transported in, so I’ll get Bruce onto finding a vehicle for Dad and us to transport her so we don’t have to rely on taxis.

a trolley of Aldi groceries

So, I was just back from visiting two food pantries and Aldi last week when a friend used the word “Welfaremaxxing” and I figured it could apply to us stretching our payments well beyond what most could by being creative in our purchases and other ways of feeding our families. But I would love to be able to have my meal kits to make my brain that little less taxed, and to not have to spend a whole morning using the privilege of having a car and good physical function to make sure I have enough cash to pay for the bills that can’t be worked around will free bread and zucchini.  Unlike many who can’t drive, don’t have a car, buses don’t go to the new warehouse the government’s funding for a foodbank, or are living in tents by the old station because they couldn’t get a rental and are only able to heat their food because a charity gave them a camp stove.

There’s being frugal and then there’s knowing that the government should be doing more to house and feed people rather than outsourcing it to charities and the individual.

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dog in front of houses at sunset

Budget asks and existential dread

Feeling a bit like Tweek from the 2016 South Park where President Garrison is threatening North Korea and cupcakes don’t solve the problem but I’m here making cupcakes (or muffins or whatever I throw together) feeding myself, feeding others and just trying to get through the days and weeks.

So, the Treasurer says the budget isn’t finalised, while preparing the ground for cuts to the NDIS, while disabled people just want to be supported to live. We want access to pensions that cover the rent and health care and food. We want governments and financiers to stop with the narrative of rorts, and perhaps approve the supports we know we need and know would make disabled lives worth living. We want some certainty.

We want fairer taxation. We want you to spend money housing people rather than allowing people to build their “wealth” and property portfolios while tent and caravan cities pop up.

 

I want aged and disabled care plans determined by qualified people, not an algorithm. I want the NDIS to stop fighting people who are just trying to survive. I want to know that my mother will be able to go back home after her stroke and get more than maybe one shower a week. I want to know that while I’m probably going to be my mother’s main carer, I’ll have support and equipment and extra paid supports as needed to make that a sustainable an safe undertaking for us all.

I want us to not suck up to genocidal presidents. I want to stop reading that it’s been x hours since a ceasefire started in an article about a town being bombed in Southern Lebanon.

I want a lot. Or not very much if you look at it as just wanting a rich country to support its people to live happy, healthy and dignified lives. That involves housing and welfare for all, adequate and safe disability and aged care. That involves being able to go to the GP when I need to and afford the medications I need to sustain my mental health.

I’m very much still running day by day. There’s equipment trials and a family meeting for mum on Friday. There’s helping my sister out so she can take care of her own mental health beyond what the NDIS will support her and her kids to. There’s walks with my dog and dinner and snuggles with my partner to sustain me. There’s a new Hello Kitty Island Adventure expansion pack and a mochi cafe to run. It’s about balance.

screenshot from hello kitty island aventure of a mochi cafe, a lilac cat and a ragdoll bunny

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Two More Years (for Eraring Power Station)

Eraring power station has always been a part of my life. Construction started in 1977 and it and I were unleashed on the world in 1982. It was announced this week they were going to again extend its life another two years, this time until 2029. Transitions are well under way and it’s surely becoming more and more expensive to keep it alive. There’s a battery project well underway locally by Origin, and will the huge amount of private households getting their own solar systems and batteries the load on the station is being shifted. Workers are getting support for training in related industries and people should be pretty damn confident that the old girl  won’t be needed by its new closure date of 2029.

All those people who are buying land for the McMansions in the shadows must be a little disappointed but the further push back. They, like us, get to experience the localised particulates for another couple of years. At least housing prices will hold for that time I hope, don’t wanna know how much more the local area will go up once we’re free of it. The small Myuna colliery was opened to directly supply coal to the station, and its workers are still waiting to hear if Origin will continue to buy coal from them til 2029 or finally stop as they keep threatening to do. Every time there’s a looming closure people talk about how everything will change and businesses will suffer, but we’ll see.

As a kid, I remember having this cold-war fear that my area of the world would only be a target for nuclear annihilation because we hosting the biggest Power Station in the land. That little concern bubble up whenever the world leaders tick us a little closer to doomsday, but all in all it’s pretty chill here in Lake Macquarie.

We used to travel to ovals near the station for interschool softball days. I think the netball girls also headed there. The local primary school closed in 2014 after having no enrolments for 2015. They rocked a brown and yellow uniform. It’s unlikely that Eraring itself would need a primary school again but the smaller public schools like Dora Creek and Cooranbong are going to see huge numbers once the estates are filled with families moving up from Sydney for affordable detached housing. There’s a twin service station being built on the M1 that’s only 2km from me, but fortunately no exits from the highway to the towns are planned. There’s two water trucks that run on a loop from the estate here to the build site for the servos ferrying water for dust dampening.

There’s SO much that needs to be done up here in terms of services to support the growing population. Like we still only have a two hourly train service on weekends, hourly through the week, there’s only steep steps to the platform, and there’s no bus connection between Dora Creek and Cooranbong, the two towns shall not meet. Cooranbong with its new sea of grey roofs  (it’s always a little hotter over there) in Watagan Park Estate got a Woolworths last month (which is great and quiet – but my partner did day it all feels litlle Sydney out there).

Our little semi-rural town’s need to get some support to handle our new residents and commenters in the coming decades.

Just do the little things to stay sane so you can rage against the big ones

Content warnings – suicide, death, social murder

Just sorting out my meds this morning, making sure I’m ready for another week. Looking after me so I can look after me and then look after others.

rainbow day and night pill box

We lost another community member.

David’s death is at the hands of the politicians who talk about helping others but leave them in the gutter. That put maintaining the status quo of more investment properties for themselves and their mates over having a public housing safety net for all who need and want it. Who want to make sure that the NDIS is seen as tough and efficient but can’t get back to applicants with supports and then make them reapply all over again, but oh look there’s another barrier because a report is now out of date or their drivers license is expired and so they can’t make ID points.

I’m tired and angry and sick of all this and it doesn’t have to be this way but those in the powers that be in governments and social services keep it this way.

Like, is this a good news story from the weekend? Daniel was repeatedly and illegally cut off his meagre welfare payment, surviving off the small amount his father was able to give him to pay for his medications. Daniel was made homeless by an uncaring system that can’t even get his own processes right. Daniel is getting nearly three years back pay – but that is only $52k. And he held off revealing his story until that was paid because through fear it would be withheld by a system that’s known to dish dirt on the poor and vulnerable to protect its own image and keep its system working.

They have learned nothing from Robodebt except that they can get away with it. That Daniel and David will be blips on their radars, that no matter whether it’s the red or blue team they can sweep them aside and keep their jobs or move into better ones. Royal commissions and NACC mean shit when Scotty’s got a new job and Bill Shortens robot got binned but people are still out there dying because the “Welfare” system doesn’t care about the welfare of the worst off.

A screenshot of a news article from the Sound Telegraph by Ava Berryman, dated Wednesday, 15 October 2025.The headline reads: "New SecondBite charity warehouse helps The Crew feed more locals suffering from food insecurity."The main image is a photograph showing a person in a high-visibility vest holding a cardboard box filled with fresh produce, including lettuce and red onions. The box has the SecondBite logo on the side with the tagline: "Ending Waste. Ending Hunger."The caption under the image states: "A new charity warehouse helps feed more hungry locals. Credit: Supplied"The text from the article snippet reads:"The launch of a new $2000 \text{sqm}$ warehouse in Kewdale could see about 20 million more meals per year provided to those in need through the help of one of Australia's leading food rescue organisations, SecondBite.The warehouse will help tackle food insecurity head on, with a goal to increase the amount of food rescued in WA by one million kilograms per year over the next two to three years."

Kylea Tink is Foodbank’s new CEO. You may remember her as a teal independent, but now she’s pretending to make a difference by expanding the amount governments and individuals spend on food relief – on the food itself, on the warehouses, the trucks, the fundraisers and the branding. Oh the branding. She joins former NSW Premier John Robertson who’s the NSW CEO. Because we need multiple layers of CEOs.

They’ll put out press releases about how many are going hungry and how you too cold help out by giving their particular organisation (or OzHarvest, or Second Bite) money to fund x amount of meals or a food hamper. These press releases rarely mention that this poverty is manufactured by supermarkets that would rather over order and over change and feel good donating excess stocks than running their businesses at slightly less profit but still making a motsa and not creating food waste. Or the politicians that give another grant for another warehouse, another charity another photo opp to support the needy, but could lift so many out of this situation with a nimble piece of legislation that lifts welfare payments above the poverty line. Or at all levels buying and building public housing (States and Federal and even local councils) so that people can be immediately housed rather than renting hovels through layers of community housing providers that don’t provide guarantees of tenure.

Poverty has risen over the three years of a Labor government, and people are dying. People are dying because they’re being left behind. They’re not able to afford to feed themselves properly or to attend to their health care – people can’t afford to go to the doctor or to buy the meds their need to stay healthy. NDIS is cutting supports that are working for people while telling us that no, noone’s losing supports and here we are losing our minds. Being house should be a given but relying on the private market when public housing has ten year wait lists and crisis accommodation is two weeks in a seedy mote with a dozen others at the worst points in their lives is certainly not helping anyone.

It’s a thousand straws on each camels back, and they all carry so much weight. People can’t do it alone but too many are forced to. And they struggle on and if they get the hand their need to make it through they just might. Is that hand going to be on a case by case basis from and for an individual or will our governments actually step up to provide the supports that people need? To everyone?

So I’m going to take my meds that I’m blessed to be able to afford and  stay strong for myself so that I can look after myself so I can look after others.

In terms of mental health numbers, in NSW I’ve found the mental health helpline useful for support for myself and others. There are other services and ideas listed on that page. Lifeline also has sms and online crisis chat in certain hours as well as the usual phone – 13 11 14.

The impact of a livable welfare safety net on this World Mental Health Day

I’ve written plenty before about how different aspects of Australia’s public health care and social welfare systems have helped or hindered my mental health. Getting DSP was a huge factor in being able to stabilise my mental health. Not because of the extra money – My partner rate of DSP is $888.50 a fortnight before rent assistance (singles get $1,178.70), while jobseeker is $726.50/$793.60 without supplements, but because I get to know that I’ll have a steady amount coming in each fortnight, that I’ll be able to pick up work for extra money as it suits me without losing the payment, and I don’t have to jump through the hoops of Job “providers” anymore.

We have data here in Australia that suicides dropped when people were getting the COVID supplement (welfare at the poverty line) and there was less requirements to engage in useless mutual obligations. Internationally – Brazil gave poor people money and their suicide level dropped too.

We hear of the futility of giving people therapy when they don’t have stable housing, when they can’t afford their meds, when they’re harassed by external pressures.

I could only complete the DBT block I did because I didn’t have mutual obligations or a job, it WAS a full time job fore me, even though it was “only” two sessions a week. The amount of energy I had to put into that to make it work and then to carry out the work in my own life left little for other things.

Participants in the DES and CDP systems – being renamed to Inclusive Employment Australia and Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES) respectively will be getting a reprieve from mutual obligations until new year while those services change over to their new programs, logos and contracted providers. But JobSeekers in mainstream services will have to keep jumping through hoops, even though there’s more and more evidence of people being suspended from their payments illegally or incorrectly, and little desire for the government of the day to address it.

Cancellations of payments have been suspended but that doesn’t mean much when you still could find your bank account empty on payday due to error – whether it’s through incompetence, malice or system design. Not good for the mental health I’d say.

Getting to sign a new least for another 12 months on this house, even though it was a $40/week rent increase, lifted another weight that I didn’t know I was carrying. And even though the inspection this week came after the lease was sign, there was still that weight of hoping that we’d cleaned well enough, that the preexisting damage wouldn’t be blamed on us. That having another person living here but not on the lease wasn’t gonna be a strike on our record.

Albanese is bragging about the 2 million visits to the urgent care clinics. Which, as I always say, have their place. But don’t take the place of having access to a bulk-billing GP (lol there’s none here) who knows you and can provide continuity of care. ESPECIALLY for those who need it most. The GPs in this area charge $100 upfront ($80 with a concession card). I really doubt that many at all will be changing to all bulk billing come November First when the extra incentives come in. We’ll see though. My GP DID bulk me last visit, but that was probably because I was near tears about a few things including talking about how one of my meds is $95 a month and not on the PBS. Which I need to not feel guilty about – every time I post something about GPs not bulk billing people encourage me to ask to be bulk billed, but then there’s the flip side of GPs posting about how they hate to be asked, and my belief that the Medicare payments should be raised to a level where all practices are able to viably bulk bill all patients. Such a socialist.

So as we make the rapid run to Xmas, I’m relieved to have signed a lease through to November next year, am doing a couple days HSC exam supervision for the next month, and feel settled again after a few months that just kept throwing things at me.

What little things are you doing for yourself to stay sane, because we can’t rely on the government to do them?

 

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