This Woman’s Devastating Newstart Question On ‘Q&A’ Highlights The Failure Of Our Welfare System
"It's the worst time of my life. The lost of dignity. The loss of friends."
Just days after Scott Morrison shut down growing calls to increase the Newstart allowance, a question from an audience member on Q&A has used the Prime Minister’s slogans against him to describe precisely why such an increase is so desperately needed.
In the first and most devastating question of the night, questioner Ricci Bartels spoke about being forced onto Newstart at the age of 62, leading to what she called “the worst time of my life”.
“I have paid taxes for 46 years,” Bartels said. “I’ve put in 20 years in the private sector and 26 years in the public sector for a not-for-profit community service. I was forced on to Newstart at the age of 62, through change of management and subsequent retrenchment. I’ve experienced Newstart for over three years. Jobactive left me to my own devices. I could not find a job, no matter how hard I tried.”
It was here that Bartels busted out one of Morrison’s favourite catchphrases.
“My question to you wonderful panellists is this: what would you or how would you suggest people like me ‘have a go, to get a go’?”
Liberal MP Jason Falinski had the first response, saying he “didn’t know enough” about Bartels’ circumstances to comment on her case, but that the Government has done “a number of things” to make Australia’s welfare system “as bespoke as possible in response to the needs of individuals”.
He also offered to speak to her after the show, but Q&A host Tony Jones was having none of that.
“We’re going to talk a little bit on the show, that’s one of the great things about having questioners here in front of you,” he said, before asking Bartels to describe her time on Newstart in more detail.
“Well, to put it in a nutshell, it’s the worst time of my life,” she said. “The loss of dignity. The loss of friends because you can’t go out, you can’t socialise. Not eating proper food, even though I suffer various ailments. Looking for a job, applying for a job, not getting the job.”
She also spoke about the “mental strains” of being on Newstart.
“Your confidence goes zip,” she said. “I wanted to work until I was 70. I loved the work that I did. And I took jobs … I was quite prepared that I may have to make adjustments. In other words, I believe not only have I had a go for 46 years, I believe I had a go on Newstart, and I do not like hearing things like ‘have a go, to get a go’. I do not like hearing things like ‘this government will only hand up, not hand out’, only recently said by our Prime Minister.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Am I a handout now?”
I went on Newstart in my 60s. How can older Australians on Newstart “have a go to get a go?” #QandA pic.twitter.com/Dw3V3BSeJV
— ABC Q&A (@QandA) August 5, 2019