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May 6th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The federal government has been urged to increase welfare allowances rather than cut payments to help tackle poverty in Australia.
Among the announcements expected in Tuesday’s budget is the transfer of single parents to the Newstart allowance once their youngest child turns eight, saving about $700 million.
The Australian Council of Social Service says the expected change is “deeply disturbing” and would put an extra 100,000 of the most vulnerable families onto the lower Newstart allowance, losing them nearly $60 a week.
ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie has written to Prime Minister Julia Gillard to urge her to instead increase the Newstart and other allowances in Tuesday’s federal budget to help people break the poverty cycle.
“By failing to increase these allowances, we are forcing into poverty young people trying to get a break; parents trying to get paid work whilst looking after their children; older workers struggling to get back into the workforce and people with disability aspiring to be employed,” she said in the letter.
“I hope that we can welcome a commitment from the Australian government to address the inadequacy of the allowances on budget night in 2012, rather than condemning that a further 100,000 families and their children will be expected to survive on it.”
Ms Goldie said the last government to increase the allowances was the Keating Labor government in 1994.
She said ACOSS supported the government’s aim to return the budget to surplus, but not at the expense of the poorest.
Last Friday, Ms Gillard said families could be assured the budget would be fair.
“What I can say generally about Tuesday night’s budget is it will be a Labor budget, driven by Labor values and that means we will be protecting frontline services and looking after those Australians who need our support the most,” she told reporters in Melbourne.
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