Subsidy cut to pull $8m from economy

THERE will be $8m less going into the Tasmanian economy every week from the end of next month once government welfare payments begin to reduce, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

On Friday, the public accounts inquiry into the state government’s financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The committee heard from the chief executive officer of TasCoss, Adrienne Picone, who said the social service organisation had been speaking to those on JobSeeker about the impact the payment was making on their lives.

“What we’ve been hearing is that for the first time, people aren’t having to make those insidious decisions about whether they feed their children or feed themselves, for the first time they can afford fresh food and to go to the doctor,” she said.

“When those [government] supplements are reduced at the end of September, there will be $8m less going into the Tasmanian economy every week.

“This is an opportunity to reshape the economy in a way that it is resilient to shocks in the future and also to focus on wellbeing and put people front and centre of everything we do.”

TasCoss policy manager Charlie Burton said the pandemic had “pointed to the cracks in the system where people don’t have a plan B”.

“I think that points to the need for, just as we do with natural disasters like bushfires, have immediate plans in place for communities and governments to work together so no one needs to go without food, even for a day, or their medicine,” Dr Burton said.