Senator the Honourable Penny Wong – Joan Kirner Social Justice Oration 2021

“It took a pandemic for our State and Federal governments to admit that the JobSeeker payments weren’t enough to live off, that homelessness needed to be (and could be) tackled, and that the level of insecure work in this country is hitting crisis point. Despite this, every solution has focused on the short-term, with an expectation that everything will just go back to normal once the pandemic ends. But we don’t want to return to normal, we want change. Now is the time to have our voices heard. Now is the time to force our governments to do what is right."