In the lead-up to a Liberal Budget set to increase inequality and with Labor opting to be a small target by waving regressive economic measures through Parliament, the Greens are positioning themselves as the only social democratic alternative this election, with Leader Adam Bandt MP and Community Services spokesperson Senator Janet Rice today launching the Greens' fully-costed plan to introduce
a Liveable Income Guarantee.
The Liveable Income Guarantee would see all government income support payments raised above the poverty line, mutual obligations abolished, and unfair restrictions on who can access the payment removed, to ensure that everyone has the means to cover their basic essential needs. With cost of living a pressing issue and wages growth stagnant, the Greens also argue the policy for a universally available payment will help lift wages from the bottom up, while also boosting the economy by ensuring more money is spent on essentials in local businesses.
Today, the Greens will outline their bold plan to increase income support payments to $88 per day from July 2023, the current poverty line, and benchmark them against the Henderson Poverty Line biannually from then on.
The payments impacted are:
- JobSeeker Payment
- Parenting Payment
- Age Pension
- Carer's Payment
- Disability Support Pension
- Farmhouse Allowance
- ABSTUDY
- AUSTUDY
- Youth Allowance
- Crisis Payments
This is also the first Greens election policy aiming to increase the Age Pension, and the Greens are vowing to press the issue in balance of power in the next Parliament, saying the Liberals had abandoned fairness and that Labor was in danger of doing the same. The Greens are campaigning hard in seats like Richmond, which has a high proportion of Age Pension recipients. Labor has previously opposed setting JobSeeker above the poverty line on the basis that it would then be above the Age Pension, but this Greens policy addresses that objection by lifting both.
