Pushing people into poverty doesn’t create jobs
On Tuesday Josh Frydenberg announced that the government would be cutting Jobseeker in September. This morning, we took to Parliament House to protest these cuts and demand a different approach to recovering from this crisis.
With the youth unemployment rate now up at 16.4%, young people on Youth Allowance and Jobseeker are wondering why they are being punished for not having work, when there simply aren’t jobs out there.
Pushing people into poverty doesn’t create jobs, it just makes it harder for hundreds of thousands of people to survive. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg could deliver life changing reforms that improve the lives of millions of people, but they are choosing not to.
Young people were already experiencing an unemployment crisis before the pandemic, as well as unaffordable housing and the climate crisis. We refuse to go back to a society that doesn’t work for all of us.
Bella Himmelreich, a volunteer with Tomorrow Movement and organiser of the protest said young people are looking for bold reform and not more tinkering around the edges of a broken system.
“Young people all over the country are being left behind. We need an approach to recovering from this crisis that puts people first and creates good jobs and a society that works for all of us.
“Pushing people into poverty doesn’t create jobs, it just makes it harder for hundreds of thousands of people to survive. The government must keep the rate of all social security payments above the poverty line.”
The young people from Tomorrow Movement are planning to keep up the pressure ahead of the final budget announcement in October.
The national day of action will be called No Turning Back, and young people will be demanding that the government make people, not business, the focus of their recovery plans.
No Turning Back will be a nationwide statement of support for a different kind of recovery. We will show that young people are tired of being told that a better world isn’t possible. We know that we can solve the climate crisis and improve the lives of millions of people while we do it. But we know we’re going to need to fight for it.
“Young people were already suffering before the coronavirus crisis. High unemployment, unaffordable housing and a climate crisis. We refuse to go back to a world that didn’t work for all of us. That’s why we’ll keep fighting for a recovery that puts people first.”
“Young people deserve access to good, secure jobs which is why we want the government to investigate a Job & Income Guarantee as the best way to rebuild from this crisis.”
We can win a society that works for all of us.
