Anti-Poverty Week 2021 - Pink Hi-Vis Recovery

Today Abigail successfully moved a motion recognising this year's theme for Anti-Poverty Week as 'Pink Hi-Vis Recovery'.

Abigail moved that:

(1) That this House notes that:

(a) 17 to 23 October 2021 is National Anti-Poverty Week, a week that focuses on the need for governments to end poverty in Australia;

(b) in 2021, the NSW Council of Social Service [NCOSS] initiated the Pink Hi-Vis Recovery campaign; and

(c) according to the NCOSS's report, published in October 2021, entitled 'Rebuilding for Women's Economic Security—Investing in Social Housing in NSW':

(i) women were experiencing greater housing insecurity than men prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, and women's housing insecurity has worsened since the onset of the pandemic;

(ii) 61 per cent of job losses since May 2021 have been female jobs;

(iii) in New South Wales, women currently earn, on average, 14.5 per cent less than men, a gap that has remained largely unchanged over the last decade;

(iv) women head 63.5 per cent of single-adult households, but represent just 42.8 per cent of sole property owners;

(v) domestic and family violence is a key contributor to women's poverty experience, and women experiencing domestic and family violence typically experience financial stress, disability, unemployment, poor (physical and mental) health and insecure housing;

(vi) compared to 2014 levels, New South Wales has experienced a decline of 8,897 social housing units across the state;

(vii) there are currently up to 4,812 women across New South Wales either living with a violent partner or experiencing homelessness because of inadequate levels of social housing; and

(viii) to address the endemic shortage in social housing, 5,000 new social housing units need to be built now, which would deliver $4.5 billion in economic output and almost 14,000 jobs.

(2) That this House commends the Pink Hi-Vis Recovery campaign initiated by NCOSS, and calls on the Government to commit to sustainable and long-term funding for social housing construction, affordable housing, specialist domestic and family violence services and specialist homelessness services.

The full transcript can be found in Hansard, here.

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

And that’s exactly what the Universal Wellbeing Payment will do.

It’s a regular payment made to each of us to ensure our minimum standard of wellbeing. No means testing, no bureaucracy, no strings attached.

It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

It means you are free to live your life and contribute to society as you see fit, whether you’re a carer, an artist, a student, a parent, an entrepreneur – you can get on with what you need to do, knowing that you will always be supported regardless of your income.

It means that we’re choosing to structure our economy for the benefit of all of us, not using our collective wealth to prop up the interests of big business and the wealthy few.

It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

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Anti-Poverty Week 2021 - Pink Hi-Vis Recovery

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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