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On a climate rollercoaster: how Australia’s environment fared in the world’s hottest year

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/albert-van-dijk-25318">Albert Van Dijk</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shoshana-rapley-711675">Shoshana Rapley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tayla-lawrie-1517759">Tayla Lawrie</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Global climate <a href="https://wmo.int/media/news/wmo-confirms-2023-smashes-global-temperature-record">records were shattered</a> in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year and numerous weather disasters occurred as climate change reared its head. How did Australia’s environment fare against this onslaught? In short, 2023 was a year of opposites. For the past nine years, we have trawled through huge volumes of data collected by satellites, measurement stations and surveys by individuals and agencies. We include data on global change, oceans, people, weather, water, soils, vegetation, fire and biodiversity. Each year, we analyse those data, summarising them in an <a href="https://bit.ly/ausenv2023">annual report</a> that includes an overall Environmental Condition Score and <a href="https://ausenv.online/aer/scorecards/">regional scorecards</a>. These scores provide a relative measure of conditions for agriculture and ecosystems. Scores declined across the country, except in the Northern Territory, but were still relatively good. However, the updated <a href="https://tsx.org.au/">Threatened Species Index</a> shows the abundance of listed bird, mammal and plant species has continued to decline at a rate of about 3% a year since the turn of the century. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581821/original/file-20240314-22-p8uskx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Environmental condition indicators for 2023, showing the changes from 2000–2022 average values. Such differences can be part of a long-term trend or within normal variability. <a class="source" href="https://www.wenfo.org/aer/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2023_Australias_Environment_Report-1.pdf">Australia's Environment 2023 Report.</a></figcaption></figure> <h2>Riding a climate rollercoaster in 2023</h2> Worldwide, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-2023s-record-heat-worsened-droughts-floods-and-bushfires-around-the-world-220836">77 countries broke temperature records</a>. Australia was not one of them. Our annual average temperature was 0.53°C below the horror year 2019. Temperatures in the seas around us were below the records of 2022. Even so, 2023 was among Australia’s eight warmest years in both cases. All eight came after 2005. However, those numbers are averaged over the year. Dig a bit deeper and it becomes clear 2023 was a climate rollercoaster. The year started as wet as the previous year ended, but dry and unseasonably warm weather set in from May to October. Soils and wetlands across much of the country started drying rapidly. In the eastern states, the fire season started as early as August. Nonetheless, there was generally still enough water to support good vegetation growth throughout the unusually warm and sunny winter months. Fears of a severe fire season were not realised as El Niño’s influence waned in November and rainfall returned, in part due to the warm oceans. Combined with relatively high temperatures, it made for a hot and humid summer. A tropical cyclone and several severe storms caused flooding in Queensland and Victoria in December. As always, there were regional differences. Northern Australia experienced the best rainfall and growth conditions in several years. This contributed to more grass fires than average during the dry season. On the other hand, the rain did not return to Western Australia and Tasmania, which ended the year dry. <h2>So how did scores change?</h2> Every year we calculate an Environmental Condition Score that combines weather, water and vegetation data. The national score was 7.5 (out of 10). That was 1.2 points lower than for 2022, but still the second-highest score since 2011. Scores declined across the country except for the Northern Territory, which chalked up a score of 8.8 thanks to a strong monsoon season. With signs of drought developing in parts of Western Australia, it had the lowest score of 5.5. The Environmental Condition Score reflects environmental conditions, but does not measure the long-term health of natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Firstly, it relates only to the land and not our oceans. Marine heatwaves damaged ecosystems along the eastern coast. Surveys in the first half of 2023 suggested the recovery of the Great Barrier Reef plateaued. However, a cyclone and rising ocean temperatures occurred later in the year. In early 2024, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-barrier-reefs-latest-bout-of-bleaching-is-the-fifth-in-eight-summers-the-corals-now-have-almost-no-reprieve-225348">another mass coral bleaching event</a> developed. Secondly, the score does not capture important processes affecting our many threatened species. Among the greatest dangers are invasive pests and diseases, habitat destruction and damage from severe weather events such as heatwaves and megafires. <h2>Threatened species’ declines continued</h2> The <a href="https://tsx.org.au/">Threatened Species Index</a> captures data from long-term threatened species monitoring. The index is updated annually with a three-year lag, largely due to delays in data processing and sharing. This means the 2023 index includes data up to 2020. The index showed an unrelenting decline of about 3% in the abundance of Australia’s threatened bird, mammal and plant species each year. This amounts to an overall decline of 61% from 2000 to 2020. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581823/original/file-20240314-16-yi6tr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Line graph of Threatened Species Index" /></a><figcaption>Threatened Species Index showing the abundance of different categories of species listed under the EPBC Act relative to 2000. <a class="source" href="https://www.wenfo.org/aer/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2023_Australias_Environment_Report-1.pdf">Australia's Environment 2023 Report</a></figcaption></figure> The index for birds in 2023 revealed declines were most severe for terrestrial birds (62%), followed by migratory shorebirds (47%) and marine birds (24%). A record 130 species were added to Australia’s <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/nominations">threatened species lists</a> in 2023. That’s many more than the annual average of 29 species over previous years. The 2019–2020 <a href="https://theconversation.com/200-experts-dissected-the-black-summer-bushfires-in-unprecedented-detail-here-are-6-lessons-to-heed-198989">Black Summer bushfires</a> had direct impacts on half the newly listed species. <h2>Population boom adds to pressures</h2> Australia’s population passed <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/population-clock-pyramid">27 million</a> in 2023, a stunning increase of 8 million, or 41%, since 2000. Those extra people all needed living space, food, electricity and transport. Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/publications/australias-emissions-projections-2023">have risen by 18% since 2000</a>. Despite small declines in the previous four years, emissions increased again in 2023, mostly due to air travel rebounding after COVID-19. Our emissions per person are the <a href="https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2023">tenth-highest in the world</a> and more than three times those of the average global citizen. The main reasons are our coal-fired power stations, <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-passenger-vehicle-emission-rates-are-50-higher-than-the-rest-of-the-world-and-its-getting-worse-222398">inefficient road vehicles</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/11/how-many-cattle-are-there-in-australia-we-may-be-out-by-10-million">large cattle herd</a>. Nonetheless, there are reasons to be optimistic. Many other countries have dramatically <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-gdp-decoupling">reduced emissions without compromising economic growth</a> or quality of life. All we have to do is to finally follow their lead. Our governments have an obvious role to play, but we can do a lot as individuals. We can even save money, by switching to renewable energy and electric vehicles and by eating less beef. Changing our behaviour will not stop climate change in its tracks, but will slow it down over the next decades and ultimately reverse it. We cannot reverse or even stop all damage to our environment, but we can certainly do much better.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225268/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/albert-van-dijk-25318">Albert Van Dijk</a>, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shoshana-rapley-711675">Shoshana Rapley</a>, Research Assistant, Fenner School of Environment & Society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tayla-lawrie-1517759">Tayla Lawrie</a>, Project Manager, Threatened Species Index, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-a-climate-rollercoaster-how-australias-environment-fared-in-the-worlds-hottest-year-225268">original article</a>. Image: Dean Ingwerson | NSW.gov.au

Domestic Travel

Women who suffer domestic violence fare much worse financially after separating from their partner

We recently published <a href="https://paulramsayfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/TheChoice-violence-or-poverty-web.pdf">two</a> <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2022/5/HILDAResultsMay122022.pdf">reports</a> that highlight the devastating financial consequences borne by women who leave their partners after suffering domestic violence. We found women who experienced domestic violence fared much worse financially after separating from their partner compared to those who didn’t face such violence, for women both with and without children. Before separation, mothers who experienced domestic violence had about the same household income as mothers who didn’t. But after separation, the mothers who experienced domestic violence on average suffered a significantly higher drop in income of 34%, compared with a 20% decrease for mothers who didn’t experience domestic violence. It’s the first time in Australia (to the best of our knowledge) that we have specific data on what happens financially to these women. Our results highlight the terrible option facing those who are experiencing domestic violence: to stay in a violent relationship, or leave and face a major decline in financial wellbeing. <h2>What we studied</h2> The first report, <a href="https://www.violenceorpoverty.com/">The Choice: Violence or Poverty</a> by Anne Summers, presents previously unreported data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2016 Personal Safety Survey. The data reveal that of all women who’d ever been in a partnership, 22% have experienced violence from a current or previous partner. And, of single mothers living with children under 18 years of age, a staggering 60% had experienced physical violence, and 70% emotional abuse, from a partner they had previously cohabited with. The data also show 50% of these now single mothers live in poverty, relying on government benefits such as JobSeeker as their main source of income. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> 'I left with the kids and ended up homeless with them': the nightmare of housing wait lists for people fleeing domestic violence <a href="https://t.co/nSRbGGL6ZW">https://t.co/nSRbGGL6ZW</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationEDU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ConversationEDU</a> — Sunanda Creagh (@sunanda_creagh) <a href="https://twitter.com/sunanda_creagh/status/1555433771951738880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2022</a></blockquote> It’s important to note the ABS figures come from what’s known as a “cross-section”, which means they reflect circumstances at a given point in time (2016). They can’t tell us what happens to women over time, or the immediate effects of domestic violence on their separation and/or income. This is a critical issue for domestic violence policy. Understanding the dynamics of the financial situation of victim-survivors requires what’s known as “panel data”. This issue is addressed in the <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2022/5/HILDAResultsMay122022.pdf">second report</a> by Bruce Chapman and Matthew Taylor, where we analyse the Household Income and Labour Dynamics of Australia (HILDA) survey. HILDA is Australia’s best longitudinal data set, meaning it surveys the same people over time. To date, HILDA has followed around 19,000 people from 2002 to 2021. We analysed HILDA data looking at the financial consequences for women likely to have experienced domestic violence. We covered both mothers and women who don’t have children. HILDA doesn’t ask questions about the origins of violence experienced directly. So we had to devise a method of identifying separation due to domestic violence by linking the date of separation to reporting of an incident of violence: the presumption being that the incident was domestic violence (rather than, say, a street crime). The report uses averages before and after separation of the three income categories, all measured in annual terms: <ul> <li>the partner’s contribution to household income</li> <li>the woman’s wages and salaries</li> <li>and total government financial support received by women.</li> </ul> <h2>What we found</h2> In dollar terms, the drop in household income (which measures the total of all income) for mothers who experienced domestic violence after separation was from $54,648 to $35,921 a year. There was also a fall in the household income for separating mothers not subject to domestic violence. But this fall is about $7,500 less compared to mothers who experienced domestic violence. We also looked at the changes to a particular component of household income, the wages and salaries of the mothers (again, following separation). Similarly, we found those who’d gone through domestic violence fared far worse than those who didn’t. It was expected the wages and salaries of women would increase on average after separation because of their need to compensate for the loss of the former partner’s income. But the extent to which this happened is quite different depending on whether or not the women experienced domestic violence. Specifically, the wage and salary increase for mothers who’d experienced domestic violence was just 19% (from $11,526 to $13,747). But the wage and salary increase for mothers who hadn’t experienced domestic violence was much greater at 45% (from $14,414 to $20,838). This means that these now single mothers who experienced domestic violence are considerably worse off financially than single mothers who didn’t face such violence. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> “It’s not just that women and children are often impoverished by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/familyviolence?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#familyviolence</a>. What’s also clear is that many perpetrators are enriched by it: 75 per cent of single mothers left property and assets behind.” <a href="https://t.co/9S2HVJI7ao">https://t.co/9S2HVJI7ao</a> — SRPassesItOn (@SallyRMelb) <a href="https://twitter.com/SallyRMelb/status/1552919705593483265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2022</a></blockquote> When the pre- and post-separation incomes of women without children are examined, the findings are similar to those for mothers, but with even greater losses for childless women who’d experienced domestic violence compared to childless women who hadn’t. Childless women who experienced domestic violence suffered an extraordinary 45% drop in household incomes, compared with 18% for childless women who didn’t experience domestic violence. The relatively large loss in household income for childless women is the result of significant differences in the post-separation income levels between childless women, depending on their experience of domestic violence. Childless women who hadn’t experienced domestic violence had an average increase of 68% in their wage and salary incomes (to about $38,000) after separation. But childless women who’d experienced domestic violence had an actual decrease in wage and salary incomes of around 20% on average (to about $13,000). A different way of illustrating the issue is the recognition that experiencing domestic violence doubles the likelihood of victim-survivors ending up in the bottom quarter of the income distribution. We found around 50% of the women included in the data who have faced domestic violence and separated from their partners end up in the bottom quarter of the income distribution. The <a href="https://paulramsayfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/TheChoice-violence-or-poverty-web.pdf">ABS data</a> reports a similar outcome, with 48.1% of now single mothers with children being in the lowest fifth of the income distribution. <h2>More research and better data needed</h2> These two reports have dug deeply into available data and unearthed findings of tremendous significance, results that reinforce each other. While these findings have been rigorously tested and found to be statistically significant, the sample sizes for the longitudinal data are small. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Three Charts On: How Emotional and Economic Abuse Go Hand-in-hand <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AbuseComesInManyForms?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AbuseComesInManyForms</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/raiseawareness?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#raiseawareness</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/emotionalabuse?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#emotionalabuse</a>+economicabuse <a href="https://t.co/D2JwRM0sja">https://t.co/D2JwRM0sja</a> — DASACC (@DASACCWCNJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/DASACCWCNJ/status/1028763153579089920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2018</a></blockquote> This is currently the best available longitudinal data capturing incomes. But as both reports have highlighted, data collection in the field of domestic violence needs to be expanded considerably if we’re to have more comprehensive information on longer-term outcomes. We urgently need a national longitudinal study of social behaviour and experience that probes the consequences of domestic violence (with respect to perpetrators as well as victims) and the financial, employment and health outcomes for all concerned, including the children caught up in these violent relationships. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-who-suffer-domestic-violence-fare-much-worse-financially-after-separating-from-their-partner-new-data-190047" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Legal

REX airline set to increase its fares

The soaring petrol prices will now affect our travel plans with one airline increasing its fares to keep up with the operational demand. Regional airline REX will put their fares up by $10 with some lower priced fares being slapped with a higher rate. REX’s general manager of network strategy Warrick Lodge said the price hike will begin from March 25. “With fuel prices shooting up by over 30 per cent in recent weeks and with supply chains being severely disrupted, the existing ticket prices are no longer tenable,” he said. Mr Lodge did assure customers that flights will remain affordable. “Rex’s Business class starts from $299 and is often even cheaper than Qantas’ economy class which can well exceed $500, particularly during periods not competing directly with Rex,” he said. “We will be bringing in additional aircraft shortly and more major cities in Australia will be able to benefit from Rex’s reliable and affordable air travel.” The inflation is the first one in almost three years for the airline. Image: Instagram

Money & Banking

"Complaining has done nothing": Why taxis continue to refuse to take short fares

The NSW Taxi Council wants to take a tougher stance on drivers who refuse to take passengers short distances which result in short fares, but people are saying that the taxi council are part of the problem. Many readers shared their experiences with <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/uber-vs-taxis-taxi-drivers-refuse-to-drive-passengers-short-distances/news-story/5efe0d3c9a80699254f0318127489328" target="_blank">news.com.au</a> with drivers refusing to take passengers short distances. “Few weeks ago, I tried to get a cab at 2 am in the city to Leichhardt (in Sydney’s inner west) and two drivers wouldn’t open doors and then drove off,” Scott Rhodie wrote. “I called the cab company, but they didn’t care.” The NSW Taxi Council wants to help deal with the problem and is aware that it’s an issue that faces the industry. “It is definitely an issue within our industry and it’s something we take quite seriously,” the body’s deputy chief executive Nick Abrahim told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/taxi-industry-accused-of-refusing-to-act-on-drivers-refusing-short-fares/news-story/e71d64b42a4990771bc7bcbef1561454" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>. “We want to tackle it head on and try and deal with it … because it’s not in the interest of good customer service.” Some people say that the Taxi Council is a part of the problem. “The ‘Taxi Council’ is actually a huge part of the problem,” said one reader. “Did absolutely zero for years — them and their partners never disciplined drivers. As an owner I can tell you that there are drivers working for the biggest Sydney taxi company who have multiple complaints.” Another reader said, “The moral is the taxi industry has no shortage of feedback on what needs to change for them to remain competitive, but they refuse to act.” Despite the Taxi Council being aware of the issue, readers are annoyed nothing is being done. “People have been complaining about this for years and been raising it with the taxi industry,” another reader said. “You know what, you didn’t care then so what’s going to be different now? “The only difference now is that there is a better model that you DON’T want to compete with because you're a lazy expecting industry.” Abrahim is trying to let people know that there are procedures in place in order to stamp out the behaviour that leaves passengers stranded on the side of the road. Any driver whose reported for avoiding short fares would be pilled in and given a counselling session if they were a first-time offender whereas repeat offenders could face instant dismissal. Abrahim admitted there were issues that needed to be faced but said that “everyone in the chain needs to do their part”. This is because complainants used to be able to complain directly to the NSW government but now have to complain straight to the taxi company. “The rules of the game have changed with regards to how a customer makes a complaint,” he said. “It’s a tighter and more informal process.” “Everyone in the chain needs to do their part,” he said. “The accountability needs to happen on all levels. The message needs to get through that we want to stamp out this behaviour and, in some cases, we need to get tougher.”

Travel Tips

Newstart Opal card? Push to lower fares for those living on $40 a day

Social services are pushing for the NSW Government to create a Newstart Opal card to benefit those on unemployment benefits. If the scheme gets the green light, those on Newstart allowance who live on $277 a week would have a cap of $2.50 per day for public transport. According to the NSW Council of Social Services, those living on the dole have the same living conditions as pensioners, and they argue that Opal fares should take that into account. “Not having enough money to move around to access employment opportunities is an insurmountable one,” said the peak body to the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/newstart-opal-card-push-to-lower-fares-for-those-living-on-40-a-day-20190815-p52hb7.html" target="_blank">Sydney Morning Herald</a>. “Providing deeper concessions to the costs of transport for people living below the poverty line could make a big difference.” The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal is reviewing Opal fares for the next four years. But Transport Minister Andrew Constance said that there is currently no plan in place to reduce fares for those on Newstart, as taxpayers heavily fund public transport costs. “Newstart, as a program, is designed to act as a transition payment for people to go from being unemployed to a new job,” he said. There are currently 200,000 people on Newstart with one in four aged between 55 and 64, with the Combined Pensioners and Superannuates Association saying public transport costs are at “crisis point”. Opal concession cards are available for those on welfare, but the cap is currently $8 a day or $25 a week.

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