Why should we care about poverty?

So I started a short course last night – “Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Disadvantage in Australia“. My fees were paid for by AUWU, which was sweet of them, and will help put me on the same page as all the not for profits and their staff doing and writing the course when I’m posting for Nobody Deserves Poverty. Last night’s lecture was a lot of background theory and definitions, I may have glazed over at points when they started talking numbers, but it was good to be able to take time to do readings and put my thoughts into words for a more academic audience, rather than my blog posts or Twitter. Like formulating a response to someone hinting towards personal responsibility for poverty without saying as much in pre discussions. But still bringing myself and my experiences, I mean I was there in the Zoom with my hello kitty fleece and onesies downunder onesie on….

In two weeks Jim’ll have given his budget speech, papers will have their winners and losers, and other parties and organisations will be preparing their responses. And there will be a year til the Federal Election. Which should be interesting, let’s see if Albanese can come back from angering many women on the weekend, not just by lying by lying about lying, and using the “But I’m the primeminister” line which was not at all helpful.

Free coffee!

We were talking in line at the foodbank this morning, since we were there before opening, about how everyone is just extra stressed at the moment, and that how if someone pushes in here or another example was a guy wandering cluelessly in front of the like at Centrelink, you have to be cautious about calling them out on it. Because sometimes you get the oops, I’m sorry, but sometimes you might get punched. If politicians aren’t able to keep their cool with women and model that behaviour, how’s everyone else going?

So, why should we care about poverty? was a question posed at some time last night. Perhaps it’s beyond politicians to care about it because of it being the right thing to do to look after others, but perhaps the possibility of being voted out, of rising unrest among the masses, might make them care. Or they may just try to arrest their way through it.

It’s the start of May, so I’m meant to look back at some of the things I got at the foodbanks last month. It was an up and down month financially here, with the boys struggling to finish a job and finally getting paid for it, and different places being closed for school or public holidays, or simply not having deliveries that week. But there was a great rockmelon, a terrible bottle of vanilla pepsi max that got poured down the sink, and so many breads and crackers.

I also did a lovely roast chicken with veges from OzHarvest. These little bean tubs keep giving, and I still get very excited when there’s bananas! Then we had good paydays, and braved the supermarkets screaming why is everything so expensive and paying because we could this fortnight for the big and little things we’d been holding out on. I finally got olive oil, but I keep forgetting soy sauce.

There’s 10+ days of rain here, so the boys are working between the showers. Occasionally someone stops to look at the boat for sale on the front lawn but moves on. I’m trying to keep up with washing on the racks, still trying to figure the best place for them. I looked at the app for the electricity and estimate on that freaked me out. So while I think there are many better ways than paying the electricity companies money directly to subsidise our bills, I’m really hoping, personally, for it to continue for another year lol. I’ve said before I don’t see how they could end it before the election, they’ve cornered themselves on that one.

So, happy May Day.

You can do it Jim, you can lift millions out of poverty this budget. I believe in you?

Ahh, Jimmy Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim, Muppet Treasure Island is such a amazing adaptation on the classic novel – pirates, romance, travel and song. Jim here is the kid, wishing for a better live beyond poverty and servitude, taking a risky opportunity to escape that and sail the seven seas.

Pirating is different these days in Australia, as a country we became quite adept at it before streaming services, and with their fragmentation and price rises it’s on the rise once more. I wonder if the average Jim would prefer to know of welfare recipients pirating their favourite shows or spending that $10 on Amazon Prime? Or, as is often the case, they’d rather neither and tell us to sell our PCs, cancel our internet, give up any entertainment and spend that time writing our resumes on the computer at the local library and applying for jobs that don’t want us.

It was quite a week for you numbers guys, Jim. You got your inflation figures in, and they weren’t great and weren’t bad. What stuck out for me is rent was still going up much more than other essentials, and essentials were still going up more than the less essential things in life.

The inflation figures and ensuing panic on HECS debts (though not as bad as last year!) got you to say you might do something about HECS indexation, oh and also about paying final year uni students for their labor on placements so they don’t have to waste the first three years of a degree because they can’t afford to live for those final subjects.

2024: Rental Affordability Snapshot Australians are facing a rental market that has never been less affordable. The 2024 Rental Affordability Snapshot surveyed rental listings across Australia and found that affordability has crashed to record lows. Out of 45,115 rental listings, we found that: 289 rentals (0.6%) were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage 89 rentals (0.2%) were affordable for a person on the Age Pension 31 rentals (0.1%) were affordable for a person on the Disability Support Pension 3 rentals, (0%) all sharehouses, were affordable for a person on JobSeeker 0 rentals (0%) were affordable for a person on Youth Allowance. In response to the findings, Anglicare Australia is calling on the Government to return to directly funding and providing housing itself, instead of leaving housing to the private sector. Anglicare Australia is also calling on the Government to wind back landlord tax concessions.

Much needed, but of course they don’t solve the problem of all the people who can’t afford to live and rent while they study because Youth Allowance and Austudy are so low and there’s no affordable rentals for people trying to better their chances of employment as you keep asking us to do, through study.

Then there’s the “Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee” that you put together last year, asked them for their recommendation, a key one was raising JobSeeker and other related payments to 90% of the aged pension, which you said was too much so threw $20/week at those people, and they’ve come back with the same figure this year, to which you’ve replied that ppl should be happy about last year’s response and that you can’t find everything hey?

Of course you “can’t fund every good idea” but there’s a difference between saying you can’t fund a good idea and saying you don’t want to fund an increase to welfare payments above the poverty line that would see benefits for all in the community – from ensuring people can afford to feed themselves, to decreases in crime that was seen during the Covid supplements, and might help that “social cohesion” you keep banging on about.

It does sting when you boast about a surplus, or even if you don’t boast about it but just say that people’s health and welfare now is not as important as your other choices – to keep a surplus to later, or any time you announce money for submarines, or  we remember that the stage three tax cuts, while you modified them, still favour those on higher incomes to the tune of a quarter of a JobSeeker’s annual payment. An amount that they would have been better off by last year if you’d implemented your committee’s recommendations.

So Jim, you still have two weeks to play around with your numbers, and my people still have two weeks to try to get in your ears about welfare recipients lives and our ability to participate in society being worth funding. Maybe the image of the older lady being arrested over Canesten and frozen pizza is one that might make you think people being able to afford their groceries is a good thing?

Or Mel being reminded that your other lil numbers guy, Andrew Leigh of the gold plated cheese platter, used her story about not being able to afford to eat and getting scurvy while in opposition to call for a raise on Jobseeker, but then won’t do anything to help her now and instead posts cute cartoons about evidence based policy and scurvy on Twitter, while we try to remind him that there was a great experiment on a no-strings livable basic income here in Australia with the Covid supplement and the removal of obligations in 2020. A period that saw improvements in property crime rates, because people could afford to live.

So, you can do it, Jim. You can raise JobSeeker and other welfare payments. You can raise them above the poverty line, anything less is just a reminder that some people are worth leaving behind, and you don’t want to leave anyone behind do you Jim?

 

 

Five weeks til the Budget, are you trying to dash our hopes already Jim?

You are the federal treasurer. You can pull the lever at any time to reduce homelessness and poverty. However, it means you won't be able to do a press conference boasting about a budget surplusWhat do you do?
Jim Chalmers’ Trolley Problem

It’s five weeks until Jim Chalmer’s hands down the budget that Labor will likely try to ride into the next election. “Cost of living” is the buzz phrase still, and he and his colleagues are drip feeding us what to expect, and also what NOT to expect.

This week Jimmy made sure to play down any hopes for anything significant for those on welfare. We’ll likely see a repeat of the $125 ish a quarter energy bill relief (or we won’t see it it goes straight to the companies) because your bill without it would be a pre-election nightmare for Labor. Plus it’s also been a tool for them to fudge the inflation figures – if the discount is applied BEFORE it gets to our inbox, it doesn’t count as inflation, right? Even though the gov still pays for it, the company still pockets it, and everyone gets to grin and shake hands.

Of course, the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee is yet to report back, as they are to do at least a whole two weeks before each budget. But last year’s key recommendation of raising Job Seeker to 90% of the pension rate was ignored, so I’m not holding my breath for their recommendations – but I’m curious will they go as hard as last year? Or, will they not and say why bother?

Also, where are those backbenches who signed the call for a significant increase to Job Seeker? Were they bought off for $20 a week too?

Greens MP boosts Lake Macquarie City Council candidates

Abigail Boyd and Bryce HamGreens MP Abigail Boyd boosts Lake Macquarie City Council candidates

Lake Macquarie Greens have launched environmental activist and campaigner Bryce Ham as candidate for North Ward of Lake Macquarie City Council along with veteran Greens campaigner Jane Oakley as candidate for East Ward, who has long advocated for improved pedestrian safety across Lake Macquarie neighbourhoods.

Their campaign for Council received a double boost from Greens NSW MP Abigail Boyd who covers Hunter, Central Coast and Newcastle in the NSW Parliament.

Greens NSW MP for the Hunter, Central Coast and Newcastle Abigail Boyd said:

“From the local to the global scale, Bryce Ham already has impressive experience as an effective activist and campaigner.  Bryce is committed to a long-term vision for Lake Macquarie that will maintain this area as one of the most desirable places to live in NSW including through sustainable transport options, protection of our environment, and public infrastructure development that puts residents first.”

“Bryce’s commitment to a safe and stable future included his bravery in joining The People’s Blockade of Newcastle Port last November. Bryce and over 100 fellow protesters were fully exonerated by the Magistrate’s Court, who described them as valuable contributors to society who have done outstanding work in their communities and have a genuine concern for the environment.”

“Lake Macquarie residents can expect both Jane and Bryce to deliver on commitments they make as a candidates for Council,” said Abigail Boyd.

North Ward candidate Bryce Ham said:

“I’ve heard from many Lake Macquarie residents over the last three months and it’s clear they expect Council to deliver safer walking and shared pathway options, particularly around schools. Whether people wish to travel on foot, with strollers, mobility scooters, bicycles, or wheelchairs, residents need safe level areas separated from vehicle traffic, and Council has not done enough in this area to make Lake Macquarie walkable for people of all ages.”

“Residents I’ve heard from are also worried about the threat from encroaching development to the green spaces, beaches and the Lake itself that would ruin what makes Lake Macquarie one of the most desirable places to live in NSW. Council’s current approach to development places at risk the intact habitats, native vegetation, wildlife corridors, walking trails and waterways that make Lake Macquarie attractive to residents in the first place. Without those natural assets, what would we be left with?”

“My approach to infrastructure development is that Lake Macquarie City Council must put residents first. That means sufficient walking, cycling and mobility options in increasingly crowded Charlestown, Cardiff, and Edgeworth to reduce traffic congestion, and connecting Charlestown to the coast via the Dudley trail that I’ve campaigned on for over 5 years now.”

“We will also make announcements for protecting children at all Council playgrounds with UV shadecloth, and better bus shelters to encourage public transport use across the hundreds of bus stops around Lake Macquarie.”

“But today I am most excited to announce that as Greens candidate for Lake Macquarie City Council, I will move to scrap entry fees to Council pools if elected to North Ward in September.”

“The whole community will benefit from the Greens plan to scrap entry fees at all six Council operated pools in Charlestown, Morisset, Swansea, Speers Point, Toronto and West Wallsend,” said Bryce.

“Even in our coastal region blessed with natural ocean and lakeside beaches, public pools are essential to many residents for safety, recreation, exercise, mobility, and social health. But entry fees are locking out too many Lake Macquarie residents. Entry fees are an unnecessary barrier to access, denying residents the health and social benefits of swimming in a safe, supervised environment.”

“Instead of the unnecessary administration costs and unproductive workload that comes from collection and monitoring of entry fees, Council could divert those resources to additional swim programs and maintenance of all six pools around Lake Macquarie. Pool-goers would also find themselves with extra money in their pocket to treat the family at the kiosk instead.”

“For many Lake Macquarie families, the pool is their best option for children to learn to swim, to cool off after a challenging day’s work, or just to spend time together. For older residents the pool can be a great way to reinvigorate their health and social life in a safe swimming environment. Why should residents and ratepayers who already fund these pools miss out on these benefits due to an unnecessary barrier like entry fees?”

“Other areas of NSW that have trialed free entry programs found that their community, their pool, and Council bottom line all benefited as a result. Increased patronage at the pool led to more support for associated programs, pool shops and canteens, with extended hours and seasons leading to more local employment. The health, social, and financial benefits add up to much more than the fees foregone by Council. “

“Summer heatwaves, made more severe by global warming, remind us all that public places to cool off are essential for people of all ages and health needs; what better place than a safe, supervised Council pool?”

“Free, safe and supervised swimming pools bring people together, and Council should encourage more of this in Lake Macquarie by scrapping the entry fees. If elected in September, I will pursue this as a policy for Council,” said Bryce.

East Ward candidate Jane Oakley said:

“Being able to walk safely in our community, whether for transport, leisure or exercise, is critically important.”

“Improving walkability has a range of health, environmental and economic benefits. It’s really a win-win for council and for people in our communities.”

“I’ve spoken with residents who have been lobbying the council for years to improve footpaths around the local shops and schools. They’re fed up with the lack of action and I’m taking up their call as a candidate for East Ward.”

Bryce Ham is the Greens candidate for North Ward Lake Macquarie City Council Contact 0475 263 310

Jane Oakley is the Greens candidate for East Ward Lake Macquarie City Council Contact 0401 867 080

Dear rich people – hurry up and buy EVs so when they make my Corolla illegal I can afford your hand-me-downs

Let’s talk overdue but good policies. Australia desperately need better fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. SO, it’s great that Labor are introducing some. I don’t buy it as a cost of living measure though. It is however one of the trickle down things that I need the rich (people able to justify buying a new car) to get on. They need to be buying those efficient cars now, so that in 5 years I may be able to upgrade to their old car, circumstances willing. I mean it’s unlikely, I’m likely to be driving this Corolla til it is horribly killed or legislated off the road, in which case I need y’all to get onto EVs so that when Australia does ban petrol cars  in 10-20 years there will be some available to us.

 

I was fortunate to be able to get this more fuel efficient (ie smaller) care last year before the move as we had some inheritance money to play with which meant buying a car before selling the old one. The little beast is not gonna break any records, but it gets us around. What does a new car go for these days? Whatever it is, I have to drive it a lot for the supposed $1k savings at the petrol pump, and like many in my twitter comments say, that’s not gonna happen, and the only way they’ve been saving at the pump is keeping their cars off the road because they can’t afford to fill let alone maintain and keep registered, their ageing source of independence.

Unfortunately, the joy of selling the AU to a chap down the road who bought it because his mate had just bought one too (are those your skid marks down Cooranbong way mate?) is short lived since that means we not have to fix up the rust and the transmission and other things in the Concorde. So while it’s off the road til at least the transmission is done later this month, Bruce has the Corolla for work and I’m saving money but not getting as much done as I’d like by being home more and taking the train when I do head out. Friday was a long morning, catching the train and bus into group and not being able to do the usual foodbank and Ozharvest run for myself and my sister. This girl likes her routine and being able to help out.

 

So, again, I may seem like I poo-poo on everything that gets suggested as a reform, but I’m just pointing out how it affects my little demographic, whatever that is. And that while it’s great to make progress, you can’t sell it to us who can’t afford to partake in it with the promise that the new car you get to buy will save you $1000 a year.

Speaking of progress, there was a rally on the weekend in Newcastle in support of the offshore wind projects, and I was glad to see my local independent there along with Greens and Labor representatives. I live in sight of the largest coal power station in the country, and everyone has some connection to coal jobs. But we need to move forward. Both for our long term ability to slow the global heating and irregular weather systems but also, like the promise of the fuel efficient and EV cars being cleaner for the street they run on, for the health of our lungs.

Today's Air Quality-Dora Creek, New South Wales 53 Moderate Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Primary Pollutant: PM2.5 (Particulate matter less than 2.5 microns) All Pollutants 53 PM2.5 (Particulate matter less than 2.5 microns) Moderate 14.32 µg/m3 1 CO (Carbon Monoxide) Good 160 µg/m3 2 NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide) Good 4.34 µg/m3 12 O3 (Ozone) Good 32.02 µg/m3 17 PM10 (Particulate matter less than 10 microns) Good 20.47 µg/m3 1 SO2 (Sulphur Dioxide) Good

The Singleton Argus on Twitter regularly reports on how many days they have PM10 above healthy levels to to the coal, and also the 2.5 with bushfires. We’ve woken up today here with sore throats from bushfire smoke from Karuah even though the house was closed up all night. Powering EVs with renewables would be an amazing way to live, and I love that we’re taking steps towards that, but the trickle down effect won’t be seen for some time. Til then I acknowledge my priveledge in even being able to keep a car on the road.