Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Extension of Coronavirus Support) Bill 2020

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion "that the bill be read a second time" - parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill.

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add: ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that the measures in this Bill will cut the coronavirus supplement from $250 a fortnight to $150 a fortnight, and throw an additional 330,000 people into poverty, which means the Government will have forced a total of 1.16 million Australians below the poverty line since September 2020; and

(b) calls on the Government to immediately announce a permanent and ongoing increase to the Jobseeker Payment and Youth Allowance so that unemployed and underemployed Australians can live above the poverty line".