MOUNT Gambier City Council is rallying behind the city’s unemployed population by backing a financial boost for struggling job seekers as part of a state campaign.
Organised in conjunction with Anti-Poverty Week – which took place from October 16 to 22 – Anti-Poverty Network SA started a campaign to have the Newstart Allowance increased.
A Centrelink payment received by many people across the country, Newstart Allowance is the main income support received by those unemployed and looking for work.
Seeing the number of locals faced with unemployment in the Blue Lake city, Cr Sonya Mezinec put forward a motion at the October council meeting to support the campaign, which has already been backed by several other councils in South Australia.
“According to figures from the Department of Employment, as of March 2017, there were 772 unemployed people in Mount Gambier – the vast majority of them Newstart recipients – with an unemployment rate of 5.5pc,” she said.
“The current allowance of $267 per week is well below the poverty line and hasn’t been raised in real terms since 1994, which is a significant period of time.
“I move that the City of Mount Gambier write to relevant government ministers advocating for an increase in this allowance.”
Quick to second the motion, Cr Mark Lovett said there were a lot more unemployed people in Mount Gambier than recognised.
“The 772 unemployed people is not a true reflection, if you work I believe an extra one hour a week you are not classified as unemployed,” he said.
“There are a lot more people unemployed than it shows in those statistics.”
Cr Penny Richardson also supported Cr Mezinec’s motion stating she had seen many reports from agencies with an increase in the number of people using their services.
“I also attended a visit to Foodbank recently and they were talking about the number of working poor who are accessing their service,” she said.
“If you are on a Newstart Allowance it is $267 a week, but you still have to keep yourself up to scratch to go look for a job, including getting a haircut, having decent clothes as well as having a good demeanor.”
Cr Mezinec’s motion was carried and a letter will be written to government ministers to support Anti-Poverty Network SA’s campaign.
