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,