Cost-of-living showdown as everyday Qld families hit breaking point

Queenslanders are pleading for real action to bring down the cost of groceries, rentals and extend the energy rebate ahead of a showdown between Steven Miles and David Crisafulli.

Everyday Queenslanders are pleading for real action to bring down the cost of groceries, stop bidding wars for sky-high rentals and extend the energy rebate ahead of a showdown between Premier Steven Miles and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli on cost-of-living today.

The appeal for help comes as housing and homelessness peak body Q Shelter has issued a call for the leaders to commit to negotiating a national approach to ease the cost-of-living crisis, warning single measures are not going far enough.

The Courier-Mail spoke to dozens of Queenslanders ahead of Mr Miles and Mr Crisafulli going head-to-head on Monday, which will be the first opportunity ahead of the state election for voters to hear how the two major state leaders plan to ease crippling cost-of-living pressures.

Lili Curtis said her grocery bill had jumped to an almost impossible cost of $850 a fortnight to feed a family of four and wanted the state government to crack down on price gouging.

“That’s just so that my children can have fresh fruit and vegetables … so that they can get the nutrition that they need,” she said.

Rochelle Sneddon with baby Paisley-May and David Stephenson at the Rothwell tent city. Picture, John Gass

“The price gouging with supermarkets is absolutely horrendous, that’s definitely one of the biggest thing that our government needs to be looking at.”

Mr Miles has established a select committee of the parliament into supermarket pricing.

Rosangela Alves moved to the Sunshine Coast from Sao Paulo, Brazil and agreed the cost of groceries was increasing financial stress for her young family as she just spent $115 on two bags’ worth.

“You go buy some things, you just come to spend $200, especially for meat, even rice and beans is very expensive, I think the government needs to help us more, the community, pay less,” she said.

Helen Dangerfield said leaders should also question the major supermarkets over the inconsistent cost of petrol at stations they own.

Premier Steven Miles and Opposition leader David Crisafulli will showdown on cost-of-living.

Paul Mitchell. Picture, John Gass

“Where we’re from, the fuel is brought in on ship and it’s more expensive in Mackay than Sarina where I live, about 40km inland from Mackay, where it’s 10c to 20c cheaper,” she said.

“I think if anything the government’s need to look at the big supermarkets and see why.”

Paul Mitchell lives in McDowell said the government should focus on practical energy issues that would have a meaningful impact on financial stressors.

“They need to be less ideologically driven on energy issues, and more practically driven on understanding that there are other ways in which energy can be provided,” he said.

Many of the young people questioned also spoke of increasing rents – in some cases being asked to pay at least an extra $80 a week – creating financial stress with one young disability pensioner, Megan Smith, forced to move back in with her parents.

“I couldn’t afford my rent, it was too expensive, how much rent assistance they give you is out of date, rents have gone up and rental assistance has not kept up,” she said.

Harrison Price wanted the state government to stamp out rent bidding which he said was locking people out of and inflating the market.

Megan Smith. Picture, John Gass

Yujin Miyakoshi. Picture, John Gass

“There needs to be a crackdown on that because the amount of times my friends have missed out on a place because someone’s completely out bid them,” he said.

His friend, Yujin Miyakoshi, had recently emigrated from Japan and said he was shocked by the cost of rent in Brisbane.

“That was a big shock coming over, I work in the city, but I’ve had to live way out past The Gap for about $200 a week in a big share house with four or five other people and one bathroom,” he said.

Tarik Ko, 27 from West End, urged the government to prioritise addressing the systematic issued behind poverty and homelessness.

“They need a better understanding of homelessness as well as understanding of the social issues around it,” he said.

Executive Director of Q Shelter Fiona Caniglia said as reports into cost-of-living pressures proliferate, single measures don’t go far enough to change the circumstances of a growing number of people.

‘Measures to address housing affordability and homelessness would go much further if they were synergised within a broader plan to address the systemic causes of poverty with a real change agenda,” she said.

‘We are calling on both leaders to commit to negotiating a national approach to poverty reduction, in which the states play an optimal role.”

Ben and Prue Deane. Picture, John Gass

Ms Caniglia pointed to Canada and Ireland where agreed definitions of poverty are the basis for defining critical policies, actions, and investment.

“Integrated measures are delivered across different levels of government. Most importantly, progress is monitored and measured to prove impact,” she said.

‘An integrated approach across levels of government, and involving the private sector, community services sector and broader community at large, will ensure significant impact for people who struggle across more than one area of disadvantage.’

Meanwhile, Mr Miles paid a visit to the residents of a tent city at Rothwell, within his electorate, last Friday after The Courier-Mail on Tuesday revealed a makeshift community had grown in the last 12 months just 8km from his electorate office in Kallangur, north of Brisbane.

While some of the residents have been offered, or were in the process of obtaining more permanent social housing, others were left frustrated by what they described as “Band-Aid fixes.”

Joval Bennet had been living at the tent city after escaping a problematic relationship and last week was given temporary accommodation.

She said the accommodation was not suitable for her family as it is more than 40km away in Oxley, with only one room, no kitchen and without enough beds where her and her three children can only sleep only until Thursday.

Lauren Whiteford. Tarik Ko, Maddy Munro. Picture, John Gass

“I just wish we’d stayed where we were, I’ve been informed they my support services can no longer work with us as we are now outside of their catchment, so I’m not sure what we do as of Thursday, I almost feel like its an out of sight out of mind situation,” she said.

“I assume we will be back in Rothwell, I have a meeting with the housing department on Tuesday but I’m not hopeful, I felt better off in the tent than where we are.”

The tent city’s first resident, Zane McGill said he met the Premier when he visited with fellow Labor MP Chris Whiting and said they had a respectful conversation.

“I was polite to him, I was more talking to the lady from housing … and Chris Whiting because he was here as well and actually paid for some credit for me to make phone calls and all that while I work on getting my cat into a kennel and me into housing,” he said.

Rochelle Sneddon is on maternity leave and living in temporary motel accommodation at Kippa-Ring with her five children while their father, David Stephenson lives at the park with their dogs.

She said navigating government bureaucracy was making getting help with securing a private rental more impossible.

“ I first started getting help from Ali King when I was in Caboolture, now that I’ve been moved I was told to go contact my local members in that area, but I’m technically not living in any area and who knows where we’ll end up and who to speak to,” she said.

“They think the housing crisis isn’t a government issue they believe that it is global and because it’s global they can’t do anything about it, but it’s a government issue, just fix the housing crisis and build or buy more for people.”