Wednesday, 26 May 2021, 10:34 am
A group of anti-poverty campaigners has called on the
Government to implement its Budget benefit plans on 1 July,
rather than staggering increases across 1 July 2021 and 1
April 2022, as announced last week.
The Government
announced, as part of Budget 2021, that core benefit levels
would increase by $20 per week on 1 July, with additional
increases to bring it up to $55 in total on 1 April
2022.
But the Government has given no reason why these
increases have been staggered.
"People are suffering
unnecessarily. We are just one of many groups who have been
calling for significant and urgent increases to benefit
levels for years now," said Caitlin Neuwelt-Kearns,