The Tasmanian Council of Social Service says the Federal Budget handed down last night will deepen the social, economic and health divide between those in paid work and those who aren’t.

“The Treasurer says this Budget asks everyone to ‘contribute a little bit’ but the bulk of the contributions are being made by people with nothing to give,” TasCOSS chief executive Tony Reidy said today.

“Joe Hockey says the Federal Budget maintains a strong social safety net but in fact it will rip huge holes in income support for pensioners and people without paid work,” Mr Reidy said today.

Mr Reidy said Tasmania would suffer disproportionately from the attack on access to the Newstart allowance, given the state’s 17% youth unemployment and 7.5% general unemployment rate.

“The new rules will deny income support to young people up to 29 years for the first six months of joblessness, unless exempted,” Mr Reidy said.

“And people under 24 who can’t find work will have to depend on the Youth Allowance, rather than Newstart – a loss of $48 a week.

“The Budget measures will also move people under 35 deemed capable of some work from the Disability Support Pension to Newstart or Youth Allowance – a cut of at least $166 per week,” Mr Reidy said.

“This is especially harsh in Tasmania, which has Australia’s highest unemployment rate: there simply aren’t the jobs out there,” Mr Reidy said.
The Budget also cuts funding to Job Seeker Australia employment services and abolishes the Youth Connections program, which is run in Tasmania by Colony 47 and National Joblink.

“At the same time as this Federal Budget is pushing more people into the job-seeker category to save money, it is also reducing spending on programs that support people into work,” Mr Reidy said.

The Budget will also remove Family Tax Benefit B from families once the youngest child turns six – a loss of approximately $58 a week. This will hit sole parents particularly hard.

In another blow, given Tasmania’s ageing population, pensions will no longer be indexed to increases in wages from 2017 but only to the Consumer Price Index – an approach which has seen Centrelink allowances such as Newstart frozen in real terms for more than 20 years.

“Reducing the relative value of pensions will entrench the sort of poverty for pensioners that we currently see experienced by people forced to live on the Newstart Allowance,” Mr Reidy said.

“This level of poverty excludes people from participating in society both socially and economically. It makes it extremely difficult to meet housing costs and brings about the frequent situation of people having to choose between eating and keeping their homes heated, or driving unregistered vehicles,” Mr Reidy said.

TasCOSS is also dismayed that the introduction of a $7 co-payment for visits to the doctor will create a new barrier to good health outcomes in this state.
“This fundamental blow to Australia’s universal healthcare system will set up a new barrier to Tasmanians seeking primary, preventative healthcare,” Mr Reidy said.

“It is a very short-sighted fiscal policy which will end up costing more when those people who should have seen their GP end up needing acute care in a hospital, as well as the cost in suffering to the patient,” Mr Reidy said.

In the period 2009-2011, an estimated 13,000 Tasmanians in the lowest income range ended up having to be treated in hospital for conditions that could have been addressed at the primary care level, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Tasmania has more deaths from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer than other state, and 45% of Tasmanians have one or more long-term chronic conditions.

The plan of the Federal Government to cut $80 billion in education and hospital funding from the states over 10 years is also of great concern, and has the potential to significantly reduce frontline services.
TasCOSS chief executive Tony Reidy