On jobseeker I’m not treading water but drowning. Where’s my lifejacket?

‘I wonder how different things would be if politicians were made to live on jobseeker for three months with no savings and having to find and pay for housing, food, water, electricity and medical expenses.’ Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

As a jobseeker recipient, I felt a glimmer of hope when Labor won the 2022 federal election, that for me and thousands of others living in poverty, things might get a little better after nearly a decade of the conservative rule.

Then the first federal budget appeared and there was nothing in it for those on jobseeker. We were told that due to the debt and the economy it couldn’t be done. That they would look at raising it in the next May budget. At the time I remember thinking to myself “I’ve been in poverty my entire life, I’m sure I can wait for one more year.”