Recently-elected Bass Liberal MHR Bridget Archer spoke with Adam Holmes from The Examiner about poverty, disadvantage and Newstart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Part 2 of this interview will be published tomorrow, focusing on government responses to disadvantage, Robodebt, worker exploitation, housing and the Tasmanian health system.
AH: You spent much of your childhood growing up in Ravenswood, a traditionally working class community. Was it a difficult upbringing at times in terms of your family's means?
It was a fairly typical working class family. Both of my parents went to work, Mum sometimes worked a second job, she'd go and do a bit of cleaning of the night from time to time for a few extra dollars.
AH: Your maiden speech touched on some deeply personal matters. How will you apply your personal experiences in approaching policies to help disadvantaged people?
As I raised in my speech, issues that are significantly important to me personally, and I know they are issues that are widespread within the community. I talked about mental health for example and suicide prevention, which are two issues that are very deeply personal for me.
I think we know it's just a scourge in Australia and in our own local area at the moment. I'm very committed to doing what I can to support this government in progressing some solutions and some progress on addressing that issue.
AH: Have you identified any projects or programs that could aid in that regard?
Yesterday I asked the (Health) Minister (Greg Hunt) a question in relation to what the government is doing around mental health and suicide prevention.
Some of the commitments that came out during the election campaign are part of that commitment to try to address these challenges. The mental health walk-in centre, and the Rotary/Flying Doctor mental health buses, that are also an election commitment, are some of those projects that I'm keen to see role out as soon as possible.
AH: You mentioned you were on Newstart at one stage?
Probably more than once. There were times when I mostly worked in casual employment for a lot of my life, either retail or hospitality, and from time to time have been Newstart.
At one point I was a sole parent and studying at that time.
Certainly I have been dependent on welfare payments myself, so I completely appreciate how difficult that is to make ends meet.
AH: How did you find that experience, having to live paycheck to paycheck as a casual employee, and on Newstart as well if the level is quite low?
Like most people that are in that situation, of course it's difficult and it's often a juggle and you have to be very conscious about what you're doing and what you're spending, and an unexpected bill and things like that can make that more difficult.
What I tried to say when we talk about Newstart, for example, is all the range of challenges that sit around that. It's not about saying that it's comfortable living, but that there are a range of other things that make it more challenging.
I also spoke in Parliament about a group of jobseekers that came in to see me with the SEE program in Launceston. Their trainer brought them in to meet with me, and they raised a whole list of issues. When I say that people don't directly raise Newstart with me, people don't come in and say 'if I just had a few more dollars Newstart a week, that all of these issues would be resolved'. They raised issues for example which I raised in Parliament, transport affordability and accessibility was an issue that was directly raised by all those participants All the people that were in the room for that meeting had a challenge relating to accessibility and affordability of housing. I think only two of them had a licence. I'm not sure if either of them had access to a vehicle. They raised the costs of getting a licence, and the difficulties in getting a licence as a young person, the cost of buying and maintaining a car if you do manage to get a licence. Public transport access and also affordability of public transport.
I think this is one of the issues that is not easily addressed, for example, by just lifting Newstart. I think you would have seen some of the comments on The Examiner site, for example, how very different individual circumstances are. Somebody raised this issue about transport and they lived in a regional area, so out of Launceston. For them to travel to Launceston on public transport to meet their jobseeking obligations, for example, had a really quite high cost compared to say somebody who lived in Launceston that caught transport to meet the same obligation.
AH: If they had $75 more a week, wouldn't it make it easier for them to get their licence or afford these transport costs?
The issue is around equity as well.
If we were to give everybody $75 more per week extra, the person that lives further away is still going to have more of a challenge, and still going to have higher costs to get to where they need to go. My feeling is, and what I raised in Parliament, and what I'll continue to raise in the appropriate way in Parliament, with ministers and in the party room, is that there are some systemic and structural challenges that sit around this issue that have to be addressed.
I don't think it's enough to say 'the best form of welfare is a job'. We have to go further than that and look at what the barriers are, what the challenges are that people are facing. That's the issue I raised in Parliament this week and will continue to raise.
Another one, as well as transport, for example was access to telecommunications. All of the jobseekers that came in to talk to me had raised how they're required to have a mobile phone and internet access to fulfill their reporting obligations or their job seeker obligations. That was quite a prohibitive cost in some ways. Whilst there is a subsidy towards that, which is one of those additional payments with Newstart, whether or not that is actually sufficient, it's whether or not some of those payments have kept pace, if you like, with technological changes or these requirements to report in different ways.
AH: Do you think Jobactive is too punitive on job seekers, setting unrealistic goals with one-size-fits-all goals whether they live in rural areas of regional centres? Should those services be improved or reviewed?
Those are some of the issues that I think need to be addressed and raised.
When I say it's not just 'raise the rate' by x amount of dollars, that's exactly what I'm talking about, because there are all these other things that sit around it.
There are clearly issues with job network providers that need to be explored in my view.
Something that's raised with me time and time again is around the job network providers and whether or not they are actually achieving what they are intended to achieve in terms of assisting people to find work.
The people that came in and spoke to me from the group, there were different job network providers, they talked about issues like not necessarily being able to apply for a job that was held by another job network provider, but only the one they were registered with, for example. But they go and attend this program with other people that have got other job network providers, and they hear about opportunities that they are prevented from exploring.
There are issues like that that are a barrier to people. Those are structural and systemic issues that I think are going to need to be explored.
You just perpetuate disadvantage if you just look at one part of the story in isolation, and don't look at the wider issue.
There are also quite punitive practices around the jobseekers and fulfilling their reporting obligations. The people I met, and I spoke about this in Parliament, is that these are really hard-working people of varying stages that are really doing everything that they can to try to get work, to improve their situation. One girl was doing significant amounts of volunteer work as well. These people are actually doing their very best, and the system is letting them down in a range of ways. That was what they were raising with me, rather than 'all will be fine if we just had a bit more of a handout'.
I just listened to (Member for Cowper, NSW) Pat Conaghan's maiden speech, and it was an issue very much echoed by him in his electorate where people were saying, 'nobody says to me that they want a handout'. People want meaningful assistance to change their life, to change their circumstances.