QCOSS Queensland Council of Social Service
Urgent call to action to prevent cuts to Newstart
Parliament
resumes in two weeks, on Tuesday 30th August. One of the first bills it
is likely to consider is the Government’s proposal to remove the energy
supplement for new recipients of pensions, allowances, family and other
payments. If passed, this measure will affect 2.2 million people and
will remove the only real increase to Newstart in over 20 years.
At this critical time, it is very important that we stand together as a sector to oppose this proposed cut to the Newstart Allowance and to other payments to people on low incomes.
Timing is critical, with the ALP likely to make a decision in the coming days.
We urge members to phone or write to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and other MPs and Senators with whom you have relationships to make your concerns known. We have included below a short brief on the energy supplement to assist you in doing so, and you can read the full Energy Supplement Policy Briefing Note here (link is external).
You may also want to sign and share the Australia Institute’s online petition (link is external) opposing the removal of the energy supplement.
Of course, the removal of the energy supplement is just one of many proposed budget cuts to social security payments. We have summarised the others in this table: h (link is external)ttp://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/payment-cuts.jpg (link is external).
If you want to discuss the proposed changes with a member of the ACOSS policy team, please contact Charmaine Crowe, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer, on (02) 9310 3206.
Energy Supplement
The ES was originally introduced in 2012 as part of the Clean Energy Household Package in order to offset the introduction of the carbon price. The removal of the ES is being justified on the grounds that there is no longer a carbon price being paid. However, there is no corresponding removal of the tax cuts compensating for the carbon price, which still see someone with an income of $60,000 paying $9.65 a week less in tax. The Government’s proposed approach is therefore inconsistent and will have a regressive impact.
What effects will this have on Newstart?
The ES represents the first real increase to Newstart since 1994. Removal of the ES will not only abolish this increase, analysis by David Plunkett shows that it will leave the payment for new recipients lower than it would have been had the ES never been introduced. This is because Newstart indexation - linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) - was adjusted to account for the expected carbon-price related increase in CPI. The table below shows the effects of this on the Newstart rate:
Table from David Plunkett: http://ravebydave.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/malice-or-misunderstanding.html (link is external)
At this critical time, it is very important that we stand together as a sector to oppose this proposed cut to the Newstart Allowance and to other payments to people on low incomes.
Timing is critical, with the ALP likely to make a decision in the coming days.
We urge members to phone or write to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and other MPs and Senators with whom you have relationships to make your concerns known. We have included below a short brief on the energy supplement to assist you in doing so, and you can read the full Energy Supplement Policy Briefing Note here (link is external).
You may also want to sign and share the Australia Institute’s online petition (link is external) opposing the removal of the energy supplement.
Of course, the removal of the energy supplement is just one of many proposed budget cuts to social security payments. We have summarised the others in this table: h (link is external)ttp://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/payment-cuts.jpg (link is external).
If you want to discuss the proposed changes with a member of the ACOSS policy team, please contact Charmaine Crowe, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer, on (02) 9310 3206.
Energy Supplement
Main facts
- The Energy Supplement (ES) is intended to be abolished for new payment recipients including Newstart Allowance, Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, family payments and Youth Allowance, on 20 September 2016.
- The ES is paid at 100 different rates depending on the base payment; these rates range from approximately $8 to $14 a fortnight.
- For a single Newstart recipient with no children, the ES is $4.40 a week or $228.80 a year.
- Removing the ES is expected to save $1.3bn through to 2019/20.
The ES was originally introduced in 2012 as part of the Clean Energy Household Package in order to offset the introduction of the carbon price. The removal of the ES is being justified on the grounds that there is no longer a carbon price being paid. However, there is no corresponding removal of the tax cuts compensating for the carbon price, which still see someone with an income of $60,000 paying $9.65 a week less in tax. The Government’s proposed approach is therefore inconsistent and will have a regressive impact.
What effects will this have on Newstart?
The ES represents the first real increase to Newstart since 1994. Removal of the ES will not only abolish this increase, analysis by David Plunkett shows that it will leave the payment for new recipients lower than it would have been had the ES never been introduced. This is because Newstart indexation - linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) - was adjusted to account for the expected carbon-price related increase in CPI. The table below shows the effects of this on the Newstart rate:
Table from David Plunkett: http://ravebydave.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/malice-or-misunderstanding.html (link is external)
No comments:
Post a Comment