Share

Originally published in On Line Opinion on May 3, 2013

In 1987 Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised that by 1990 no child would live in poverty. While those words have haunted him ever since, a new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals that his government did more to tackle poverty than all subsequent governments. Under the Hawke government, poverty rates dropped when welfare benefits rose above the poverty line. Yet, in Australia today, one in eight people and one in six children live in poverty

Related documents

Attachment

Between the Lines Newsletter

The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.

You might also like

Jobseeker payments are too low

No-one in Australia should have to live on $56 a day. The current Jobseeker payment is inadequate by every metric, and the majority of families that rely on it live below the poverty line.