It is a campaign supported by many Goulburn Valley people working with Newstart recipients at a grassroots level.
Goulburn Valley welfare group FamilyCare chief executive David Tennant said the current Newstart rate was bad economic policy and resulted in people being forced to live undignified lives.
“Many of the people our staff are working with live in a state of rolling financial crisis, because of the rate of Newstart. It does not sustain a safe or dignified existence,” Mr Tennant said.
He said the last time Newstart increased in real terms was in 1994 when Paul Keating was prime minister and John Hewson opposition leader.
“It was the same year the Australian Government tried to extradite failed businessman Christopher Skase from Majorca,” Mr Tennant said.
“That's why the single rate of Newstart is now $117 a week below the poverty line,” he said.
Mr Tennant said the low rate of Newstart affected the daily lives of ordinary people across the Goulburn Valley who were struggling to keep afloat financially and often psychologically.
“People on Newstart include parents with primary school-aged children, older people who have been retrenched, or people who have chronic health conditions that limit how or even whether they can work.
“They can be our partners, our friends, our parents, family members, or neighbours,” he said.
Mr Tennant also said the low amount that people received on Newstart placed a chokehold on local economies.
He said the most recent Department of Social Service figures showed there were 2,672 people relying on Newstart in Greater Shepparton.
Mr Tennant said if ACOSS's request for an increase of $95 a week was met, it would pump millions of dollars into the local economy.
“This is not just bad social policy, it makes no sense economically,” he said.
“Think of how much extra benefit would flow to our community if an extra $13.2 million annually was being spent in our town, on essentials.”
