The Greens say that unemployed workers and people living in poverty have been very clear that they want to see their representatives in Parliament supporting and campaigning for them, doing everything they can to increase the rate of JobSeeker above the poverty line. 

“People living in poverty in this cruel punitive income support system feel isolated, they feel abandoned and want people to be vocal in their condemnation of this joke of an increase in the rate of Jobseeker”, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

The Community Affairs Legislation Committee has tabled its report into the Government's pitiful Bill to increase the JobSeeker payment by $3.57 a day. The Greens have tabled a dissenting report.

The Australian Greens are deeply disappointed in the lack of time provided to consider and scrutinise this change to Australia’s social security system. 

The Greens have said that Mr Morrison’s continued attacks on people on income support is cruel and demonising of people in our community who are doing it the toughest.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said that his electorate of Melbourne was one of the hardest hit by every reduction to JobSeeker, and that Scott Morrison's actions demonstrated he didn't care about the genuine causes of unemployment.

Lines from Leader of the Australian Greens and Member for Melbourne Adam Bandt MP:

The Greens say that halted shipments of Astra Zeneca vaccines from Europe show the risks of relying on international supply chains to inoculate Australians, extending their call for the government to establish a publicly-owned vaccine production centre.

News of a quarter of a million doses due for Australia being blocked has exposed the risks caused by the privatisation and winding down of Australia’s domestic vaccine production capabilities over decades.

The Greens say that the Aged Care system is fundamentally broken and there needs to be a sense of urgency in fixing it.
 
"The Royal Commissioners set out a five year process and the work needs to start today", Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
"This reform needs to be underpinned by a new aged care act based on a human rights approach. 
 
"For too long, aged care has been put in the too hard basket. The Royal Commission Report clearly shows that years of tinkering around the edges has fundamentally failed older Australians. 
 

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt together with Greens Aged Care spokesperson Rachel Siewert have responded to the Prime Minister’s press conference about the long-awaited Royal Commission into Aged Care.
 
“What’s clear is that privatisation has failed older Australians. The 1997 Howard reforms have led to decades of disaster for aged care,” Bandt said.
 

"Yesterday the Senate supported my motion calling on the Government to immediately revise its JobSeeker announcement and urgently increase the Jobseeker Payment to be above the poverty line", Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
“In supporting my motion the Senate has agreed that the Government's proposed $3.57 a day increase to JobSeeker is not enough. 
 
“I strongly urge Senators to support amendments to the bill in the Senate to increase the rate.
 

The Greens say that the Government’s reporting line dubbed the ‘DobSeeker’ is an abuse of power that will hurt the most vulnerable in our community. 

“This is all part of the sick obsession this Government has with blaming and demonising people for not having a job in the midst of a recession and a pandemic. 

“The Job Provider system (Jobactive) is already rife with bullying, harassment, of people being ignored or treated very poorly by their job providers and now the Government is empowering employers with the means to intimidate and bully Jobseekers.

Today is an extremely distressing day for the 1.5 million people on the JobSeeker and Youth Allowance payments who have now had confirmation that the Morrison Government has made the cruel decision to condemn them to poverty. 
 
$44 a day is not enough to live on. This will mean people going without meals, without medication, without the funds to pay for heating or cooling.
 
This should not be happening in a country as wealthy as Australia.
 
This is an appalling slap in the face for all those people trying to survive on Jobseeker.
 

The Government’s long overdue Evaluation of the CDC in Ceduna, East Kimberley and the Goldfields Region: Consolidated Report has been publicly released over a year and a half after it was due.