Centrelink payment rise would be 'equal to cost of one submarine'

ABC News
August 6 2018



A $75-a-week rise in Centrelink unemployment benefits would be roughly equivalent to the annual cost of buying a submarine, a South Australian social services group has said.

South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) has used the comparison to call on South Australian Premier Steven Marshall to join with business leaders, unions, community groups and councils who are lobbying Malcolm Turnbull for an increase in Centrelink's Newstart payments.

Currently, the Newstart unemployment payment for a single person is $273 a week, equivalent to less than $40 a day.   

SACOSS chief executive Ross Womersley said the Newstart payments were "inadequate", with the value of the payments going backwards both in real terms and in comparison to the incomes of other Australians.

"While Newstart is a Federal Government payment, we are calling on Premier Marshall to represent the needs and interests of SA's poorest households and add his government's voice to the chorus of public calls to increase Newstart," Mr Womersley said.

"This chorus includes business leaders, trade unions, community groups, 11 SA local councils and an ex-Liberal Prime Minister — and of course, the voices of the unemployed themselves.

"It should include our State Government."

Mr Marshall has not responded to questions on whether he will support the campaign, however on Thursday he told state parliament it was not an issue he had been following.

"I won't be entering into that debate because that is a federal debate and to be quite honest it's not an issue that I've been following in recent weeks in the media," he said.

"I'm not for one minute suggesting I don't share the member's concerns but I just haven't looked closely enough.

"It's not an issue that the State Government has a role to play and I think that the people of South Australia have elected me to undertake my current role and that's the role I'm very much focussed on."


Cost 'equivalent to a submarine'

The call for Mr Marshall to push for an increase in the amount paid under Newstart comes as SACOSS released its latest Cost of Living Report, which found the value of the unemployment payment had declined in comparison to the general standard of living, with unemployed people receiving 24 per cent of the average wage in South Australia in 1998, to 19 per cent in 2018.
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A $75-a-week increase in the Newstart payment and other allowances would inject $222 million a year into the state's economy, which was equivalent to a little more than the annualised cost of buying a submarine, SACOSS said.

"The submarines are expected to have 20 years of service, so at $4.16 billion per vessel, the annualised expenditure on the purchase of one submarine is $208 million per year (plus maintenance)," SACOSS' report said.

"This is a straight division, not adjusting for inflation or allowing for potential differing costs between submarines, but the proposed increase in Newstart in South Australia represents just bit more than the annualised purchase cost of one submarine."

Mr Womersley said raising the Newstart rate was "the right thing to do for our poorest people".

"It will relieve pressure on State Government anti-poverty services, and it will provide an economic stimulus to low income regions in our state," he said.
'My children eat while I don't'

The SACOSS report includes four case studies, looking at the cost of living and basic expenses of five people aged between 20 and 60.

Their weekly budgets showed all five were scraping by, with little to no money remaining once essential expenses were accounted for.   

The money that remained was quickly used up by unexpected expenses such as car registration and medical bills, SACOSS said.

"I cannot afford to feed myself, or the cost associated with study," Tanya said in the report.

"There's no such thing as entertainment, can't afford to get sick … my children eat while I don't."

whiteknight wrote on Aug 7^th, 2018 at 7:03am:


There needs to be a more extensive investigation into payment structures of individuals, not simply what seems to have become a blanket handout. In other words ensure that this "raise the rate" is going to benefit the correct people. 

whiteknight wrote on Aug 7^th, 2018 at 7:03am:

Well waddayaknow, many of us have been calling for this and arguing the point for decades.

Newstart is too low has been "forever" many pollies believe that's the point it needs to be too low to encourage people to seek work.  Unfortunately for most of the Unemployed there is no work to seek.  BTW cost of living varies state to state.  The whole system needs reform.

Its time wrote on Aug 7^th, 2018 at 9:57am:

Thanks for that wanker TROLL...

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Aug 7^th, 2018 at 9:22am:


Circumstances for everyone are different. The correct people are those who continually seek work, who may be caring for individuals, are pensioners or the like.

Forgo 2 submarines and give our pensioners a rise as well.

No wonder people on the dole get mixed up in other professions: