From The Campaign Trail

We are told by the Howard Government that Australian families have never had it so good. That is not the experience of thousands - now struggling to pay mortgages. It is not the experience of those who simply cannot afford a house. It is certainly not the experience of the almost 20% of Australians who live in poverty. A recent report from the Australian Council of Social Services demonstrates that poverty has risen from 17.1% of the population in 1994 to 19.8% - 3.8 million Australians living in poverty in 2004. This is a damning statistic given the hype about a decade of economic growth. See the report at http://www.acoss.org.au