As a jobseeker recipient, I felt a glimmer of hope when Labor won the 2022 federal election, that for me and thousands of others living in poverty, things might get a little better after nearly a decade of the conservative rule.
Then the first federal budget appeared and there was nothing in it for those on jobseeker. We were told that due to the debt and the economy it couldn’t be done. That they would look at raising it in the next May budget. At the time I remember thinking to myself “I’ve been in poverty my entire life, I’m sure I can wait for one more year.”
After all, things couldn’t get much worse, right? That’s where I was very wrong. The cost of living continued to go up. The consumer price index-related increase to the jobseeker payment was eaten up on rent and electricity. Where I was treading water, I was now drowning.
I again hoped for a lifejacket to be thrown in this coming May budget, so last night, after hearing that it wouldn’t be, it stung that little bit more.
I figured that if Labor could choose to keep tax cuts for the wealthy (themselves included) and pay that amount of money for submarines, then they really couldn’t say no to helping the most vulnerable. I was very wrong, because that’s exactly what they’ve done.
As little as the Coalition had done during their term for those on jobseeker, it stands to be genuinely better than what Labor has done so far. In fact, the last meaningful increase that came from a Labor government was when Paul Keating was leading the party in the early 1990s.
I wonder how different things would be if politicians were made to live on jobseeker for three months with no savings and having to find and pay for housing, food, water, electricity and medical expenses as poverty begins to make them sick. I predict that we would have an increase within the first week as they come to the realisation that it’s impossible to live with. That they needed more to just buy the very basics. After all we can’t make politicians suffer and feel our pain, can we?
Everyday, normal things now leave me with feelings of panic and dread. From grocery shopping to seeing a doctor to visiting a pharmacy. It means spending money and very carefully choosing what things I can’t afford – it’s making choices between bread and milk or a prescription.
One of my prescriptions is worth $50 and is not covered on the government’s subsidised prescription medication scheme, PBS. I use it for infections I get from my skin condition. It keeps me out of the hospital and yet that’s $50 I can use on food so I don’t go hungry. I guess at least in the hospital I can eat three meals a day.
Labor’s own interim economic inclusion committee has acknowledged that poverty and the rate of jobseeker is now a barrier to finding work and a substantial increase is needed. Yet we’re still punished for not being employed by being kept in poverty. I’m frustrated and angry but mostly I’m terrified of the next 12 months and the damage poverty will continue to do, not only to me but thousands of others Australians.
As the government demonstrates no signs of care towards those in need, the truth is those of us on welfare are not at all asking for a lavish lifestyle. We’re not even expecting holidays or big-screen TVs or brand-name clothes. We’re simply asking for the very basic needs of life: food, medical care, shelter, just a little bit of dignity and hope. We’re asking for a government that genuinely cares for the people.
• Melissa Fisher is an Adelaide artist and anti-poverty activist who relies on jobseeker
