Greens address Western Sydney cost of living pressures

“Households doing it tough in Western Sydney face the triple whammy of unaffordable housing, rising living and transport costs and a “WorkChoices” approach to welfare”, said Ms Rhiannon

“Despite splashing around cash for local projects, neither Labor nor the Coalition have put forward a policy that addresses the rising costs of living for those on a fixed income.

“The Greens are pushing for a fairer deal for low income families in Western Sydney, including reduced costs in banking fees, childcare and dental health.

“The income quarantining plans of Labor and the Coalition will leave low-income families with little or no control of their day-to-day finances. Budgets would be micromanaged by Centrelink and recipients have to queue separately to other people at the supermarket.

“The Basix card is ritualized humiliation that treats people doing it tough as second-class citizens. It costs an extra $4500 a year in administration and it doesn’t work,” said Ms Rhiannon.

Greens candidate for Lindsay, Suzie Wright said: “The official national average unemployment rate is 5.3 per cent but in North-Western Sydney, which covers Penrith and Richmond the unemployment rate is running at 7.7 per cent.”

“The Coalition and Labor are planning on hitting the 10 million Australians doing it tough who depend on Centrelink payments by also cutting income support for people under 30.

“The Greens are backing the Welfare Rights Centre's call to offer practical support to unemployed people, who are expected to live on $33 a day, by increasing Newstart Allowance by $45 a week, as recommended by the Henry Tax review.

“Jobless Australians missed out on last year’s $32 per week increase in pensions. The Greens support an increase in Newstart to $486 a fortnight, up from $460 per week.

“The Australian Greens fought for and were successful in getting the aged pension increased in 2009. We will continue to advocate for those doing it tough outside of the election cycles,” Ms Rhiannon said.

Contact: Lee Rhiannon   0432 332 104,  Suzie Wright – 0468 832 356

Hardest hit of the ABS statistical regions is Fairfield-Liverpool, where the unemployment rate rose more than two percentage points over the year to the September quarter to reach 9.5 per cent.

Other disadvantaged areas are outer south-western Sydney, covering areas such as Campbelltown and Camden, where unemployment is 8.7 percent; central western Sydney, which includes the suburbs centred on Parramatta from Auburn to Greystanes (8.3 per cent); the Canterbury-Bankstown area (7.3 per cent); and north-western Sydney, which covers Penrith and Richmond (7.7 per cent).

It is widely recognised that the number of people looking for work would be much higher as these figures are based on the official definition of employment as anyone working one hour or more each week.

• Spending taxes on public services will ease the financial pressures on families and lower income people and will improve our quality of life.
• Banking fees - reduce bank fees and ban $2 ATM transaction fees.
• Increased childcare support, 2 years of universal free pre-school and community childcare places.
• Better funded public schools.
• Denticare: $4.3 billion Denticare program to provide free basic dental care.
• Increased Newstart payments for low income earners to $486 a fortnight.
• Build public transport to improve living standards, lower household transport budget and cost of running the second car.
• Discounts for energy efficiency in low income households, helping households not big polluters. Greens have called on the Federal government to cover up-front costs of energy efficiency upgrades for home owners. This would reduce electricity expenses and create thousands of new jobs in building and construction. Energy efficiency measures such as insulation, solar hot water systems and upgrades to appliances can save 30 to 70 per cent of a home’s electricity needs.
• Rental housing: ‘Convert to Rent’ scheme to provide financial assistance to property owners to convert vacant or unused space into rental units for low income households.
• Public housing: increase financial assistance for those without housing, reduce the cost burden for low-income earners.
• Fair Price Mortgages: All banks would be required to provide a mortgage that fixes the gap between what banks pay for their money and the interest rate they charge mortgage holders. Already offered by UK banks, this type of mortgage would end price gouging by banks.