❓ Hon Lynn MacLaren questions the Minister for Community Services regarding poverty rates in WA, referencing an ACOSS report. The Minister's response disputes the premise of the question and highlights government support programs.
AnsweredQoN 1159Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
POVERTY
1159. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the minister representing the
Minister for Community Services:
I refer to the recent report by the Australian Council of
Social Service, ''Poverty in Australia 2014''.
(1) Why is the
risk of poverty greater inside capital cities in Western Australia, as
identified by this report?
(2) What is
the Department of Community Services doing to reduce the incidence of people
living in capital cities in Western Australia being at greater risk of poverty
than those living outside capital cities?
(3) Does the
minister acknowledge that unreasonably high housing costs need to be addressed
in this state to reduce the number of people in capital cities who are living
below the poverty line?
1159. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the minister representing the
Minister for Community Services:
I refer to the recent report by the Australian Council of
Social Service, ''Poverty in Australia 2014''.
(1) Why is the
risk of poverty greater inside capital cities in Western Australia, as
identified by this report?
(2) What is
the Department of Community Services doing to reduce the incidence of people
living in capital cities in Western Australia being at greater risk of poverty
than those living outside capital cities?
(3) Does the
minister acknowledge that unreasonably high housing costs need to be addressed
in this state to reduce the number of people in capital cities who are living
below the poverty line?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice
of this question.
(1) Page 29 of
the report records that Perth has the second lowest risk of poverty of all
state capitals, the lowest risk for the balance of the state, and the third
lowest rate of the states and territories overall. The report clearly shows
that the risk of poverty in Western Australia is the same 12.4 per cent for the
capital city, the balance of the state and overall. It is likely that the
pattern in Western Australia is due to conditions in country Western Australia
lowering the risk of poverty—the lowest in the nation—rather
than conditions in the capital elevating poverty.
(2) The
Liberal-National government has an extensive program of support available to
help people in need in both Perth and the regions.
(3) This is a question for the
Minister for Housing.
Mr President, can I make the comment
that in the previous question that the member asked, which combined both my
portfolio and that of the Minister for Housing, through the Minister for
Agriculture and Food, the member looked concerned that somehow or other that
question had not been directed from one part of one agency to another—in
the short time frame that we have when members put a question on notice. If
members put that sort of question on notice, that sort of thing will happen,
but when members ask a question without notice, and ministers have to get to
two agencies, two ministerial offices and two ministers in that same short time
frame, it is very unlikely to happen.
of this question.
(1) Page 29 of
the report records that Perth has the second lowest risk of poverty of all
state capitals, the lowest risk for the balance of the state, and the third
lowest rate of the states and territories overall. The report clearly shows
that the risk of poverty in Western Australia is the same 12.4 per cent for the
capital city, the balance of the state and overall. It is likely that the
pattern in Western Australia is due to conditions in country Western Australia
lowering the risk of poverty—the lowest in the nation—rather
than conditions in the capital elevating poverty.
(2) The
Liberal-National government has an extensive program of support available to
help people in need in both Perth and the regions.
(3) This is a question for the
Minister for Housing.
Mr President, can I make the comment
that in the previous question that the member asked, which combined both my
portfolio and that of the Minister for Housing, through the Minister for
Agriculture and Food, the member looked concerned that somehow or other that
question had not been directed from one part of one agency to another—in
the short time frame that we have when members put a question on notice. If
members put that sort of question on notice, that sort of thing will happen,
but when members ask a question without notice, and ministers have to get to
two agencies, two ministerial offices and two ministers in that same short time
frame, it is very unlikely to happen.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.