“The National Union of Students vows to fight the Liberals’ latest attacks on students and young people. Buried within the welfare savings bill introduced to parliament today are sweeping cuts to Newstart and Youth Allowance that will target the most vulnerable of young people” said Education Officer Anneke Demanuele “We won’t allow the Liberals to attack welfare. We will resist these unnecessary and coldblooded attacks”.
People under 25 would be unable to access Newstart Allowance and instead be forced onto the lesser Youth Allowance, reducing their payments by $91 to just $437.50 a fortnight. Students already struggle to study on these poverty payments of barely $30 a day. Now young jobseekers are also cruelly being forced onto these reduced payments.
Also buried in the bill is the return of one of the most hated policies of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott: a four week waiting period for people under 25 looking to get any welfare support.
“This cruel policy subjects the most vulnerable of youth to a month of total poverty for the crime of being a student or being out of work,” said Ms Demanuele.
As well as making it harder for young people to access Newstart, the government is making it harder for young people to work when they are receiving youth allowance. By freezing the indexation on the student income bank, students will be able to earn less before their payments are reduced.
“These cuts make it difficult to cover the basics of shelter and being able to feed yourself, let alone be able to study,” said Anneke Demanuele. “Along with exorbitant student fees, something the Liberals are also focussed on increasing, they push university further out of the reach of poor students.”
These attacks also come in the middle of Centrelink’s failed automated debt recovery. “They are further proof of the Liberal Government’s contempt for those on welfare,” added Anneke Demanuele.
“Already Centrelink is unfair to those who deserve to access it” said Welfare Officer Jill Molloy “At present students already balance study, their payments and working on top of that in order to live, there is no possible way Youth Allowance and Newstudy can be cut any more. With a failing robo debt system, delays are already going to increase and yet this government is happy to exacerbate that”
Measures like these have, however, been defeated before. “Under Tony Abbott the Liberal government failed to push through similar attacks after meeting widespread resistance from students”, said Anneke Demanuele. “These latest attacks will be resisted each step of the way.”
The National Union of Students has called for national student protests on March 22 in major cities across the country to stand against the Government’s attacks on our education system and social services.
RALLY DETAILS –
Victoria – 2pm, State Library, March 22nd
Sydney – 2pm, University of Sydney, March 22nd
Brisbane – 2pm, location TBA, March 22nd.
Adelaide – 3:30pm, Parliament House, March 22nd.
Canberra – 1pm, Australian National University, March 22nd.
Wollongong – 1pm, Wollongong University, March 23rd.
Newcastle – 2pm, Newcastle University, March 28th.
Perth – 2pm, Murray Street Mall, March 29th.
Campaign Page – www.facebook.com/makeeducationfreeagain
www.facebook.com/YourRightsAtWorkUniHome/
Sophie Johnston National President | National Union of Students