Growing struggles against the cost of living has been the defining theme of Thursday's Q+A, with the financial struggles of many Australians front of mind as the election nears.
Audience member Brigid Anderson told host David Speers the Disability Support Pension left her with barely $10 a week after bills were paid, and feared she would be left living in her vehicle.
Ms Anderson, 61, told the panel that rising cost-of-living pressures meant she and her son were getting their food from charities and rising rent was making it harder to stay in their home.
"With rising food, rent costs, I can see my future — living full time in my tiny [campervan]," she said.
"When my fortnightly Disability Support Pension comes into my account, within 12 hours it's all gone on basic household bills."
Ms Anderson questioned why the federal government had not done more to help people like her.
"When is the government going to talk about people like me and raise the rate of the Disability Support Pension so I can live above the poverty line?" she asked.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan said the government was focused on helping people like Ms Anderson by ensuring Australians were in stable jobs.
"The best thing that we can do is try and get as many people into work as we possibly can and try to get them as many hours as we possibly can," he said.
"We want to make sure that the opportunities are there for her son to be able to get an apprenticeship, to get the skills and training that he will need, and to make sure that there's employment for him when he leaves school.
"That's the best thing that we can do."
However, employment was not the problem, according to OzHarvest founder Ronnie Kahn.
"Sixty-four per cent of people who come to us for support have got jobs," she said.
"They just cannot afford to live on the wages that they are getting."
Ms Kahn said the situation had become worse since JobKeeper payments ended.
"During the time that JobKeeper was paid, people could afford or were managing their budgets a little bit better," she said.
"After March, when JobKeeper stopped, we had more people coming to us, more demand, and the exact situation reverted.
"And it's even worse now because of the cost of living."
Melinda Cilento, chief executive of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, was critical of the federal government for not doing more to help Australians below the poverty line.
"As part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Australia committed to halving the rate of poverty in Australia in 2015 by 2025. We've gone nowhere," she said.
"It's clear that's because things like income support payments are not sufficient."
Tehan concerned by China deal with Solomon islands
Discussing other topics, Mr Tehan said reports that China had signed a deal with the Solomon Islands to build a military base in the Pacific were "concerning".
News of the potential deal broke just hours before Q+A began.
Speers asked Mr Tehan if the government was concerned by the alleged deal.
"What we've always wanted to ensure… is to make sure everything we're doing is enhancing the sovereignty of Pacific nations," Mr Tehan said.
"Our hope is that this is in the best interests of the Solomons, but we obviously need to get across the detail at a deeper level.
"But it does seem very deeply concerning."
Butler slams 'nonsense' remarks about boat arrivals
Audience member Scott Hochgesang asked the panel what the right balance was when it came to immigration — "between pursuing economic growth verse controlling cost of living pressure, for our current citizens".
The question came after the federal government finally agreed to resettle asylum seekers in New Zealand — a proposal first made between the countries in 2013.
Mr Tehan, defending Thursday's announcement, said the government had to ensure the agreement with New Zealand would not encourage people to come to Australia by boat.
"The last thing we want to see is a return to the boats coming, the deaths at sea that we saw 1,200 people dying — none of us want to see that," he said.
"What we've been able to do is to make sure that we've put a stop to the illegal boat arrivals. And we've done that by making sure that whatever we've done — the arrangements we've entered into — have sent a very clear signal that there is no way that the boats should start again."
Labor shadow frontbencher Terri Butler slammed Mr Tehan's comments as 'nonsense', saying the agreement had nothing to do with boat arrivals.
"What's happened is that people have lost years of their lives. Because this government refused to accept a deal that has been on the table from New Zealand for years," she said.
"I'm surprised even after the humiliating back down today, that Dan's still running those lines."
Watch the full episode on iview or via the Q+A Facebook page.
