Scrolling through the news this week I see articles about Centrelink payments being bumped up to cover inflation. I click the link hoping that the headlines are true and those of us on welfare payments will get some much-needed relief from the cost of living. As I read it I’m disappointed but not surprised. The increase is for pensioners and it’s for about $20 a fortnight. This is of course the regular indexation that pensioners get twice a year. For those on jobseeker where our indexation is adjusted by CPI, we get even less.
Each time there’s a small regular increase I see stories with headlines about “cash splashes” and “those on the dole to get extra cash”. People who see the headlines must think with all these stories that we’re sitting comfortably in our houses with fully stocked pantries and extra cash. Most don’t read the actual stories to find out the increase is always a small amount which won’t cover the cost-of-living expenses that we are all facing.
For many like myself, the small increases won’t bring any relief at all. Groceries that used to cost me $80 a fortnight now cost almost double that amount. I’ve always been very good at budgeting but you simply can’t make money stretch that you don’t have. Petrol alone is fluctuating between $2 and $2.20 a litre which has now made driving impossible for some. I’ve now been priced out of buying red meat. Having to explain to people that it’s now cheaper to take iron tablets and vitamins than to buy the foods you get these nutrients from is something I never thought I’d have to do.
The cost of living has risen fast and will continue to do so, and those hardest hit are those already living under the poverty line. People living in public housing will also face a rent increase which will take a quarter of the raise. Those living in private rentals already face huge costs in rents.
People with higher incomes won’t feel the pinch of some grocery items costing an extra 30 cents but when you apply that cost to multiple groceries, it adds up. For those of us who can’t afford the increases, we simply go without or have to make cuts to other items in the budget such as prescriptions. We’re not out here living the high life; instead we’re facing impossible choices just to survive. Choices that shouldn’t have to be made between eating or taking needed medications, both of which impacts heavily on mental and physical health. Many are being forced to use services like Afterpay just to afford the basics and then the next fortnight are in the same predicament – but now with the added cost of a repayment. It’s a vicious cycle, and a small increase won’t break it. It will just condemn us further into debt.
Last week while shopping online I had to delete butter off my list as I didn’t have enough money to pay for it. I’m only thankful I wasn’t physically in the store where I would have had to feel the shame telling the cashier to put items back. Fancy admitting you can’t afford basic grocery items, but that’s something I’m now used to doing. There’s no dignity in poverty – that’s something else that costs too much and is out of reach for many. I don’t look forward to payday because all it brings is stress as I try to get as much out of the money as I possibly can and I still have to go without necessities. This is the true cost of inflation. It costs more to get less.
So next time you see the headlines about massive increases, don’t be fooled. It’s not the government being generous or helping those in poverty. It’s more of a dog-whistle to those who think we’re choosing to live this way, and the government is supporting a make-believe lavish lifestyle.
People on government payments are going hungry and there’s no one in the current government who seems willing to throw us a bone or a tub of butter.
• Melissa Fisher is an Adelaide artist and anti-poverty activist who currently relies on jobseeker to live
