June 26, 2009

Social inclusion a must, says Herbert

Instead of bickering over cheaper petrol politicians should be talking about compensation arrangements for those hardest hit by fuel price rises, says UnitingCare executive director the Rev. Harry Herbert.

In the winter edition of UnitingCare's Interchange newsletter, Mr Herbert said, "The rumpus in Federal Parliament about petrol prices is a clear message that neither the Federal Government nor the Opposition is likely to provide much future leadership when it comes to adjusting to climate change and rising energy costs.

"The Government's Fuel Watch scheme will hardly have any impact and the Opposition's five cents per litre reduction is even more badly designed."

Mr Herbert asked, "Why should taxpayers in general be providing cheaper petrol to people who can afford to pay their way? What can be overlooked is the obvious fact that the inevitable rising energy costs that will flow from carbon taxes, depleting resources, and strong competition from China and India, will hit low income and disadvantaged families very severely."

He said, "What we should be talking about are compensation arrangements for those who are hardest hit by these changes.

"This has already been suggested by economist Ross Garnaut, who is advising the Federal Government on climate change regulation.

"He has warned that we need to build in forms of compensation for disadvantaged people. In the current example of petrol costs, if a five cents per litre reduction in petrol prices at the bowser is going to cost the Government $2 billion, wouldn't it be better to direct those funds to the most needy?"

Mr Herbert suggested that there could be a petrol voucher scheme which gives low income people 200 litres of free petrol every year. Or a scheme which compensates some low income people for their travel costs.

"This would be much more socially worthwhile than an across the board reduction in petrol prices," he said.

The rise in the price of petrol was only one of the worrying signs in the economy, Mr Herbert said. "There are also increasing interest costs, rents and food prices, to name but a few.

"When times are economically more challenging, it puts strain on the fairness and equity in our system. These cost increases have the potential to push even more people to the margins of our society."

Mr Herbert welcomed the fact that the Federal Government had established a Social Inclusion Board to help address some of those issues.

"We won't achieve social inclusion by treating everyone the same," he said. "We need to look for carefully targeted ways in which people who are socially excluded get special attention in order to bring them into the mainstream."

Interchange can be downloaded here.