My name is , and I lost my job in late-Feburary 2020. I, like so many others in

my position, am living proof that Scott Morrison's catchphrase 'the best form of welfare is a job'

is nothing but meaningless spin for the media - I HAD a job, and then I lost it, and now I'm

facing homelessness and starvation. I have several medical conditions that make it extremely

difficult to sustain full time employment, so I have bounced from low paid job to low paid job,

with long periods of unemployment in between while I try to heal myself and prepare to go

through the process again - all while living in extreme poverty. I have not been able to qualify for

the DSP, so I have to continue to struggle and fail due to my disabilities, with no hope for the

future.

there was no way they could be so cruel as to condemn thousands of people to that level of

poverty again. I now realise that was naïve - the people in power don't see me, or the thousands

of people like me, as human beings worthy of dignity. We're nothing but a column on a

spreadsheet to them. We're a punching bag they take swings at when they need to score some

points with the media, to distract from whatever egregious scandal they've embroiled

themselves in this week due to their malfeasance.

Each time the rate of the Covid supplement has dropped, I find myself making plans - plans to

rehome my beloved cat, plans to write the letters that will need to be written, plans to sell my

few posessions that have any monetary value to contribute to funeral costs for my family, plans

to go somewhere remote and end my life. Those few months of lockdown with the full Covid

rather than a grievous insult to the people he is supposed to represent, and a terrible blight of

shame on this country and particularly on both Labour and the Liberal party, filled me with

disgust.

$3.57 a day does nothing to improve anyone's circumstances. It will not make it easier to find a

job in a market that is already flooded with thousands of people all applying for the same jobs. It

will not help me to secure housing when I am evicted from my current rental because I can no

longer afford the rent. It will not make it easier to pay off my overdue bills, and keep my

electricity and gas on. It will not make it easier to afford the specialist appointments I need to

function.

When the eviction moritorium ends in March, I will be homeless. I no longer feel any hope that I

am made homeless, I will no longer be able to study, and my dreams of a sustainable career will

humiliation and suffering. The people in Government don't care about us, and can't empathise

with our struggles, they are only interested in how much money they can leech out of us to line

their pockets. This is no lucky country, and it is now evident to me that you can 'have a go' till

your last breath is spent, but you'd be a fool to hope to 'get a go' in return. The value of a human

tolerate from people who can be smug in the knowledge that they'll never have to rely on our

cruel and punitive welfare system.

I am not hopeful that my submission will make a difference. I'm not even confident I'll be alive

when the insultingly low rate of Jobseeker takes effect. For now my most achievable goal is to

at least experience the first couple of weeks of my university course before I am evicted onto

the streets. Australia's welfare system kills people, and their blood is on the hands of our

Government.