Newstart

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Rachel Siewert (WA), which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate:

(a) acknowledges the release of the Australian Council of Social Service and UNSW Sydney report, Inequality in Australia 2018;

(b) recognises that the report found that wealth inequality is increasing and, with regards to income inequality, someone in the top 1 per cent of the income scale earns more in a fortnight than someone in the lowest 5 per cent earns in a year;

(c) acknowledges that our social safety net currently fails to protect those seeking work from falling into poverty;

(d) notes that the Australian Council of Social Service calls for an increase of $75 a week to allowance payments for single people from 1 January 2019; and

(e) urges the Federal Government to increase the single rate of Newstart and related allowances by $75 a week.