ACOSS – More than 80,000 people hurt by Welfare ‘Reform’ Bill

On the day after Newstart Allowance increased by just 50 cents, the Senate passed legislation that will make life even tougher for people living below the poverty line.



The poorly named Welfare ‘Reform’ Bill went through the senate this morning with few amendments, and is anticipated to go through the House next week.

In August 2017, community leaders from across the country joined forces to call on the government to stop the cuts and attacks on people already living below the poverty line and withdraw this Bill.

Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of ACOSS says “we a deeply disappointed that this bill will pass parliament because it will worsen the lives of people experiencing disadvantage.

• “This Bill will increase already shockingly high homelessness numbers.  More than 80,000 people stand to be cut off from payments after just 12 months of this new legislation.
• “We congratulate the Greens, Labor and independent senator Tim Storer for opposing this Bill.
• “We call on this parliament to focus on giving our communities hope and dignity, including those of us with the lowest incomes. We call on our political leaders to raise the rate of the lowest payments, and give people a decent chance of finding paid work.”

NSWTF – Public Outrage at Bus Privatisation

April 03, 2018

The privatisation of public services is an issue close to the hearts of public school teachers.

The privatisation of public bus services in Newcastle serves as a lesson as to why Federation remains resolute and antagonistic towards the concept.

The network is now in the hands of private operator Keolis Downer and the changes to bus routes have left many people literally stranded. Despite assertions from the private provider that patronage is up, an independent study suggests otherwise.

The privatisation of bus services has been, in a word, disastrous. For public schools, it has meant issues for students travelling to and from school and there have been prevalent stories in the local press of students with disabilities, in particular, no longer being able to travel to school.

The primary reason is that service routes have been radically revamped but not to the advantage of commuters, and more aimed at increasing profit margins for the new private providers.

A large protest, one of many recent actions, was held on 18 March, in front of the local bus depot. Speakers included a number of local state Labor MPs and a representative from the union representing bus drivers, the Rail Tram and Bus Union.

State Opposition MP Jodi McKay said Transport Minister Andrew Constance does not listen to the public’s concerns. Mr Constance has made some references to changing the bus routes but apparently not in the short term.

A debate in State Parliament is scheduled for 12 April after more than 10,000 community members signed a petition. A rally will be held in Macquarie Street, Sydney at 4pm to coincide with the debate.

CFMEU – ABCC “CUP OF TEA” CASE FINALLY THROWN OUT

28 MAR 2018

Secretary Dave Noonan

The Turnbull Government’s partisan watchdog, the Australian Building and Construction Commission, has been left with egg on its face over its petty and costly pursuit of construction workers and their representatives for having an informal catch up at work.

Last year, Nigel Hadgkiss, former ABCC boss, brought a case against two union officials for dropping in on workmates and having a cup of tea at a construction site in Melbourne in 2014.

The case was finally dismissed yesterday by Federal Court Judge, Anthony North, who was previously highly critical of the ABCC for bringing such a trivial matter before the Court. “It defies belief that the ABCC would pursue a case like this for four years,” CFMEU National Secretary Dave Noonan said

• “After the dressing down Nigel Hadgkiss received last year from the judge, you would have thought that his successor, Stephen McBurney, would have dropped this case.
• “Clearly, McBurney intends to continue in the same vein as Hadgkiss, using over the top anti-worker laws to pursue trivial matters while employers literally get away with murder.
• “The whole sorry saga has been a pointless, costly and embarrassing waste of time and taxpayers’ money.
• “The rules are broken when the Government’s regulator spends four years going after workers and their representatives for having a cuppa and a yak, while companies that contribute to construction workers’ deaths get a slap on the wrist.”

ACTU – Greedy big business pays for ads instead of pay rises

28 March 2018

The Australian Council of Trade Unions has urged big business to pay their fair share of tax, and give working people a fair pay rise and more secure work, rather than lobbying government for special treatment and cash handouts.

The BCA’s adverts, and the government’s unsuccessful attempt to give corporate Australia a $65 billion handout, confirm that big business in Australia has too much power.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary Sally McManus:

• “Big business in Australia is simply greedy. While profits are booming, wages have flat-lined, and 40 percent of Australian workers are in insecure jobs.
• “Big business wants a cash handout from taxpayers, they refuse to increase people’s wages, and many are engaged in a race to the bottom on job security.
• “The Turnbull government has done everything it can for big business, fuelling more insecure work, and cutting penalty rates for many low-paid Australian workers.
• “These ads feature companies like Qantas, which has not paid a cent of corporate tax in almost a decade.
• “In the last year, CEO Alan Joyce’s pay has doubled.
• “In 2016 Joyce got a package worth $12.96M, and in 2017, he got $24.58M. Total executive remuneration almost doubled, in 2016, it was $29.2M and in 2017, it was $53M.
• “Between 2000 and 2013-14, the company was consistently profitable. After one bad year, the company sacked staff and cut pay, despite labour productivity increasing by 22 percent over the period.
• “They locked out their workers in 2011 over a pay dispute. They sacked 5000 people in 2014. Fifteen thousand employees have undergone pay freezes. The company has outsourced work to Aerocare, who mistreated workers, and Qantas has denied any responsibility.
• “The ads attempt to whitewash these facts. The message from the Australian people is pretty simple. Pay your tax. Pay workers properly. Stop pushing people into insecure work. Work with us to change the rules to bring back fairness.
• “The reason people are sick and tired of the behaviour of big business, is because right now, there’s one rule for them, and one rule for everyone else. No ad will change that.”

'New dose of cruelty': up to 7,000 asylum seekers to lose income support

The federal government has outlined its plan to cut income support from up to 7,000 asylum seekers living in Australia from June, in a move lawyers and refugee support groups say could leave people destitute, hungry and at increased risk of self-harm.

Some of the asylum seekers likely to be affected have been in the country more than five years waiting for the government to make a decision on their application for protection. The Department of Home Affairs has also specifically said asylum seekers studying full-time will have their support cut.

The Guardian is aware of several asylum seekers who came to Australia as children, who have since graduated from high school and won scholarships to Australian universities. Some have said they will be forced to abandon their studies.

The status resolution support services (SRSS) payment is provided to asylum seekers living in the Australian community while the government decides upon their claim for protection. It provides a living allowance – usually 89% of Newstart allowance, or $247 per week – casework support, assistance in finding housing, and access to torture and trauma counselling.

A process for asylum seekers to “transition out” – in departmental nomenclature –from SRSS will begin in April.

The government’s rationale for withdrawing support is that work rights have been restored to almost all bridging visas (on which asylum seekers live in the community) and those who are “job-ready” should be obliged to work.

A spokesperson for the department told Guardian Australia SRSS was “not a social welfare program” and was designed for short-term, tailored support.

“Individuals on a bridging visa with work rights and who have the capacity to work are expected to support themselves prior to being granted a substantive visa or departing Australia,” the spokesperson said. “Those who have the capacity to work are expected to support themselves.”

They are going to punish these people – and some will be driven over the edge
Joyce Chia, Refugee Council of Australia

Settlement services organisations have been told to assess asylum seekers for “vulnerability” against four criteria: physical health barriers, mental health barriers, families with preschool-aged children and a major crisis, such as family violence or house fire.

A document from the department says families and individuals experiencing “financial hardship” will still have access to SRSS.

“If an adult chooses to study full-time, when they are able to work, they are not eligible for SRSS income support,” the same document says. Studying basic English on a part-time basis would not automatically preclude an individual’s access to the service, the department said.

Refugee advocacy organisations say they are already seeing more instances of asylum seekers self-harming, losing housing or being forced to withdraw from education programs.

The department has rolled out its timeline for withdrawing SRSS. From 9 April, a list of single male and female asylum seekers will be sent to settlement services organisations for assessment of their job-readiness.

Settlement services providers will be expected to respond by 7 May as to who is job-ready and from 4 June single asylum seekers will begin to have their support withdrawn. For families, the process will run between late May and 18 July.

It’s understood there are about 12,500 people on SRSS. The government has insisted it has no explicit target, but there is an expectation that fewer than 5,000 people will remain on the program at the completion of the government’s cutback.

Jana Favero, from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said the government’s withdrawal of support for asylum seekers was counter-productive.

• “The impact of the government cuts to income support is very real. People won’t be able to afford rent or to feed themselves and we are seeing this at our doors more and more each week,” she said.
• “People studying English will be forced to stop. Parents training to get a job to support their family will be forced to stop.”

Favero said education providers were coming to the centre asking what they could do to keep enrolled students who were leaving courses.

“It’s chaotic and confusing. The government is actively stopping people from contributing,” she said.

Let’s not forget how many times the goal posts have moved for them since they arrived in Australia five years ago

Joyce Chia, from the Refugee Council of Australia, said the consequences for asylum seekers caught up in the cuts were “completely terrifying”.

“We are already hearing of people self-harming, we’re hearing of people losing housing, of huge levels of depression and anxiety,” she said. “This is a crisis in the making and of the government’s own making. They are going to punish these people – and some will be driven over the edge.”

Many asylum seekers on SRSS find working difficult because of significant mental and physical health issues or because they are carers of young children, recognised by the department’s guidelines.

But other asylum seekers who want to work find it difficult to find jobs because of a lack of Australian experience, references or networks, or because of language barriers and uncertainty over their bridging visa making them less appealing to employers.