Sally Sara then asks one of the crucial missing questions this campaign – why has there been nothing on raising welfare and addressing poverty and growing inequality?

Katy Gallagher says:

Well, we’ve made it clear that every budget, we look at the pensions and payments to see what can be done there. (And then they decide it is not a priority. Because there is always money for priorities) And of course, we’ve seen significant increases including in the unemployment payment through our time in government. We’ve seen increases to the single parenting payment. We’ve seen increases to rent assistance. But you also have to look at other ways to help people. And that’s why our programs in housing that the Opposition announced yesterday they would cut, all of those other investments in Medicare and cheaper medicines, in Urgent Care Clinics. All of those are about helping people, particularly those on fixed and low incomes.
 

Q: But even your own advisory committee prior to the election as it’s required to do, advised and recommended that there should be increases in those income support payments. Why ignore those please?
 
Gallagher:

Well, we don’t ignore them. We look at those reports seriously, and we look at payments every and each budget and budget update. And I think if you go back and have a look at what we’ve done in three years compared to what the former government did in ten years, you’ll see that we have, where we’ve been able to afford it, been able to invest in those payments and pensions. But more importantly, we are also building in and investing in all of those other services that people on fixed and low incomes rely on, including in housing, including in health, which are very, very important to people on those payments.

Except Labor DOES ignore them. It has not lifted people out of poverty. And doing better than the terrible guys only makes you slightly less terrible. And that doesn’t make you good.