Helen Masterman-Smith, Adelaide
A large crowd gathered at the Adelaide Town Hall on September 2 to hear speakers on the impact on women of the Howard government's planned welfare and workplace changes.
Elspeth McInnes of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children explained that from July 1 next year, new recipients of parenting payments will be forced on to the Newstart Allowance on the sixth birthday of their youngest child. This will mean a $44 drop in fortnightly income and an immediate requirement to seek 15 hours' or more work per week. Parents doing full-time study will be moved to Austudy and suffer a larger drop in income.
Some parents already receiving the Parenting Payment Single allowance (PPS) will also be affected. If they go off the pension there is a risk they will be unable to reclaim it, and will instead be forced onto the lower Newstart or Austudy payments.
Parents on PPS, with children over six years old, will not have the choice of being full-time mothers. They will not have the choice of refusing work that is incompatible with their parenting duties or that has substandard conditions. They will not have the choice of quitting intolerable workplaces. Parents who dare to defy the new regime will be forced by Centrelink to survive on zero income for two months.
Many sole parents, who already live in poverty, will be worse off financially under the new system. The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling found that a sole parent of three children, who earns $200 per week, will lose $99 per week. The more children they have, the worse the parent will be affected by the changes.
This draconian regime is about forcing working-class women into the worst jobs in the labour market. It comes at a time when the government and industry are in a lather about the shrinking labour supply, potential increases in workers' bargaining power, and risks to corporate profits.
The meeting was also addressed by federal Labor MPs Jennie George and Penny Wong.
Janet Giles, SA Unions secretary, announced the event was the first in series of meetings to defend workers' and women's rights. For more information phone the Your Rights at Work InfoLine on 1300 362 223 or visit <http://www.rightsatwork.com.au>.
From Green Left Weekly, September 14, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.