And Fails Anti-Poverty Week Challenge
www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today described as ‘inexplicable’ the Bartlett’s government’s move to block a proposal to broaden water and electricity subsidies to assist Tasmanians who are struggling to keep up with spiralling costs of living.
Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that the Our Island Our Voices campaign had issued an Anti-Poverty Week challenge to the three parties to endorse fairer electricity and water and sewerage concession structures, but sadly the Bartlett government has clearly failed that challenge.
“You would think that a kind and connected Premier would have leapt at the opportunity to address the serious financial hardship that more and more Tasmanians are experiencing,” Mr McKim said.
“This is a heartless move by Labor, to block a proposal to introduce a fairer concessions system for basic and essential services such as electricity and water and sewerage.”
“This is on top of David Bartlett’s refusal to extend the ‘rent holiday’ for Tasmanian pensioners in public housing in line with the Federal government’s request, and urged by the Greens.”
“The Greens do commit to addressing the electricity and water and sewerage concessions structure as called for by the Our Island Our Voices campaign, and we are proud to have tried to take action immediately that would have made a real-time difference to real people.”
“Looking after the Tasmanians who are doing it tough should have been a highlight of Anti-Poverty week, but instead we have just seen once again how badly out of touch this government has become.”
Text of Motion that was defeated by Labor:
That this House:
1. Notes that this week is Anti-Poverty Week;
2. Notes that according to TasCOSS, up to 28% of Tasmanians are living on or below the poverty line, and 34% of Tasmanian households are reliant on government pensions and allowances as their primary source of income;
3. Notes recent cost of living increases in Tasmania including a rise of over 25% in electricity prices in the last 18 months, new water and sewerage bills, increases in MAIB premiums, looming increases in Metro bus fares, and massive increases in land tax bills, which flow through into increased costs for basics like food;
4. Acknowledges the real difficulty facing many Tasmanians who are struggling to survive financially from day to day under spiralling cost of living increases; and
5. Calls on the government to prioritise supporting Tasmanians who are struggling to meet these spiralling cost of living increases, including by broadening water subsidies to include low income earners who are not on mains water, and by changing the structure of subsidies for electricity to include a variable portion based on usage.
Nick McKim MP Greens Leader
