Poverty is a political choice made by decision-makers

Today Abigail passed a motion in Parliament recognising Anti-Poverty Week and rising economic inequality caused by deliberate government decisions.

Abigail said:

I move:

(1) That this House notes that:

Anti-Poverty Week was marked from Monday 13 October to Sunday 19 October 2025, centred around the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Friday 17 October 2025;
Anti-Poverty Week has been demanding government action to end poverty in Australia for over 20 years, recognising that poverty is a political choice made by decision-makers;
the number of people living in poverty in Australia has increased to one in seven or 14.2 per cent of the population, according to the Australian Council of Social Service [ACOSS] in its Poverty In Australia 2025: Overview report published on Monday 13 October 2025;
the recent ACOSS report found that the number of people living in poverty decreased in 2020 due to the temporary effective doubling of JobSeeker through the COVID supplement, but has since sharply risen to be now above pre‑pandemic levels with the removal of the COVID payments and dramatic rising housing costs;
the NSW Council of Social Service estimates that over one million people in New South Wales, including almost one in six children, are living in poverty, while the number of people sleeping rough has doubled since 2020; and
people living in poverty face insecure work, unsafe housing, food insecurity, poor access to health care and systemic barriers to justice, while corporations and the wealthiest Australians continue to accumulate record profits.

(2) That this House calls on the Government to commit to taking bold action to reduce and eliminate poverty and inequality in New South Wales by lifting investment in frontline services and public and genuinely affordable housing, advocating to the Australian Government to increase income support payments and adopting achievable targets for poverty reduction.

Motion agreed to.

Read the transcript in Hansard here.

11 November 2025

PUBLIC ENERGY FOR PUBLIC GOOD - SIGN THE PETITION!

Electricity is an essential service. But Labor and Liberal governments have sold off NSW’s energy assets and infrastructure, leaving us at the mercy of the private sector for our energy needs. The result has been soaring energy bills, with more and more people being forced into energy poverty.

A privatised energy system will never deliver a cheap and clean energy network - It’s time to take the power back.

As we transition to 100% renewable energy, we must learn from the mistakes of privatisation, ensure our energy assets are kept in public hands, and rein in the actions of private operators.

Communities across NSW have for too long been at the mercy of privatised power network operators who continue to put profit above people, acting recklessly and cutting corners without regard for community expectations.

Recent catastrophic power outages in regional NSW have made headlines for just this - in Broken Hill, the state’s only 100% privatised transmission network operator has failed to deliver a safe and secure energy network, leaving communities in the dark because of mismanagement and neglect in the pursuit of profit.

To build our case for bringing electricity back into public ownership, the Greens are calling for a public parliamentary inquiry into all NSW power network operators, their operation and corporate decision-making practices.

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Poverty is a political choice made by decision-makers

PUBLIC ENERGY FOR PUBLIC GOOD - SIGN THE PETITION!

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