“Now is the time to give the poorest of the poor a meaningful rise in their Newstart Allowance, which tracks 40% below the pension for singles and 27% for couples”, said CPSA Policy Manager Paul Versteege.
“There are 185,000 people over 55 on Newstart and the majority will never work again through no fault of their own. They are required to put in a set number of hours of approved volunteer work each fortnight as a condition of receiving Newstart and they do so with gusto.
“Giving the poorest of the poor, all of them and not just people over 55, a rise in their Newstart will provide significant stimulus to the Australian economy, because that money will get spent immediately rather than being saved. Their need is great, they will spend.
“Any plans the Government has to lower deeming rates will not benefit the vast majority of pensioners and none of the seniors on Newstart.
“CPSA call on the Australian to make a significant increase in the Newstart Allowance part of its economic stimulus package”, said Versteege.
