Tuesday, 29 August 2023

Cost of living

Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (19:10): (317) My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer, and the action I seek is for the Treasurer to take bold action to help people who are struggling with the skyrocketing cost of living. It is clear from the many responses to our cost-of-living survey that so many people are struggling to pay the bills, struggling to pay the rent, cannot afford food, cannot afford to access health care like mental health support or to see a dentist, and it is clear that this is affecting people in profound ways, negatively impacting people’s mental health. The constant worry, stress and anxiety about being able to afford food and pay the rent is significantly reducing people’s quality of life. People cannot afford to visit their family, even when they are sick. They cannot afford to spend time with their friends or even have a social life. It means that people are experiencing severe hardship, particularly those on income support. Putting off accessing health care because they cannot afford it, choosing between paying their rent and affording food, going without food, going without heating in their home – these are examples of what people have told us. Caitlin from Bayswater said:

I’m constantly going between coles, Woolies and Aldi to find the cheapest food items, and even then, I can only really afford 2 meals a day.

Tamara from Mildura said:

The rising cost of living has made it hard to eat properly, I’ve got 3 children and it’s difficult to give them a proper diet because healthy food is so expensive,

I’ve come off almost all my mental health medications because they simply cost too much …

Ian from St Kilda said:

I don’t purchase the food or quality of food I used to. As a result I’m not eating as well as I used. I’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes and the diet I now need to follow is expensive.

Alexandra from Armstrong Creek said:

The stress of not knowing if I’ll be able to feed my kids at the end of a pay cycle means I end up neglecting all my personal needs …

As a society we just should not be in a situation where so many people cannot afford to pay for food, the bills, the health care or rent, and it is happening at a time when profiteering corporations like the supermarkets and the big banks are posting record profits off the back of the skyrocketing cost of living. Governments have the power to step in and stop these profiteering corporations from ripping people off. People have told us loudly and clearly that they want to see the wealthy and profiteering corporations pay their fair share of tax to help fund cost-of-living relief and create the society that we really want to live in, and it is clear they want to see direct government action to stop these corporations putting up energy prices, to stop them putting up rent and to stop them putting up the cost of food. I urge the government to take bold action.