Stereotypes and political rhetoric about poverty ignore the fact that welfare payments in Australia are obscenely low
But the message was deadly serious, and it’s a deeply harmful one we’ve heard ad nauseam from both major parties. It repeats the same old tropes: secure jobs, housing and retirement, but only for those who “work hard”. These, apparently, are not rights owed to those of us who deliver the government’s desired 4–5% unemployment rate. Never mind that people on welfare paymentsNot that the brutal social security system got a mention in the article ostensibly about poverty.
Poverty means you can’t feed yourself or your kids. It means feeling hungry and being able to do nothing about it. So to the politicians who parcel out meagre sums to so-called poverty alleviation and mental health programs, I have one message: yes, poverty is simply being low income. No amount of charity, psychological bandaids or “All poverty is ultimately income poverty. And its number one cause in this country is abhorrently low welfare payments.
Both major parties have constantly sought to make budget savings off the backs of the poorest people.