Thread by @SenatorSiewert

Yet another week has gone by with Governments of all levels pretending that people on income support don’t exist.

Last week @ACOSS found almost 90% of people on the lowest incomes in lockdown are missing out on disaster payments.

#PayPeopleToStayHome

The mental strain people are going through because of lockdown is significant, & for those without the means to get by, it's life threatening.

It’s heartbreaking thinking of the hundreds of thousands of people who are locked down with no additional help, treated as though they are invisible.

Last year, people accessing the social safety net were considered worthy of extra Gov support & for a brief time we saw what happens when people have access to income support above the poverty line.

This year people with the least have been abandoned by the Morrison Government.

It's outrageous that the Government thinks it's acceptable for people to survive on $44 a day.

Especially during a pandemic when job opportunities are severely limited and people need extra cash to get the basics.

The Government has handed over billions to big corporations who don’t need it through the JobKeeper program and they can’t even make sure those on the lowest incomes can survive through what is now, months and months of lockdowns.

I’m so worried about people in lockdown on income support. And I’m also furious.

The Government can fix this, they have the means. They just choose over and over again to punish and abandon people living in poverty.