Gap between Australia’s poor and rich to grow unless new PM works some magic

HE has a net worth of $180 million and lives in a waterfront mansion, but can our new PM do anything to bridge the gap between Australia’s rich and poor?

BESTPIX Liberal Party Votes On Leadership As Tony Abbott Responds To Challenge From Malcolm Turnbull

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull will have his work cut out for him when it comes to combating inequality of living standards as new modelling shows the nation’s poorest people are expected to become poorer while the richest get richer.

In a major coup, Mr Turnbull — who’s net worth is reportedly upwards of $180 million and lives in a Sydney waterfront mansion at one of the country’s most exclusive addresses — won the country’s top job after defeating ousted leader Tony Abbott in a leadership ballot on Monday.

Anglicare Australia boss Kasy Chambers said a living standards analysis by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling suggests ousted Prime Minister Tony Abbott failed to live up to a 2013 election promise that his government would “not leave anyone behind”.

The analysis revealed a combination of economic change and government policies over the past 10 years had left the poorest households further behind.

Since 2004, households in the top 20 per cent of income earners have enjoyed 28.4 per cent growth in living standards, while for the bottom 20 per cent the growth was only 15.1 per cent.

According to some community advocacy groups and the living standards report commissioned by Anglicare, the future for Australia’s low income earners and most disadvantaged people remains bleak while those on average and above incomes can continue to look forward to brighter days ahead.

For the next 10 years, living standards in the top group are expected to grow by a further 5.9 per cent, while for the poorest group — including single parents and low income families — they will decline by 4.5 per cent.

Ms Chambers believes Australia has reached a watershed.

“We can continue to walk away from many of the most vulnerable and the most disadvantaged among us ... or we can commit now to ensuring our economy and our society gives everyone a fair go,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.

Homelessness Australia chief executive Glenda Stevens told news.com.au it was a “frightening thought” to consider the country’s disadvantaged people “even worse off in another 10 years”.

“It’s just frightening to think how that will affect the people experiencing the problem of homelessness and how that will impact on all of us,” Ms Stevens said.

“There’s currently 105,000 people experiencing homelessness in the country, that’s one in 200 and that number keeps rising.

“Poverty, inequality and homelessness affects all of us in a negative way, not just the person experiencing it first hand.”

Ms Stevens said resources for disadvantaged Australians were already stretched beyond their limits following recent budget cuts for women’s refuges and crisis care.

“For the people at the poorer end of the scale, to stay poor and get even poorer would be devastating,” she said.

“Their life opportunities and the richness of their lives would be severely compromised and it’s really just not necessary that a country like ours condemns people to such a life.

“Malcolm Turnbull comes from very ordinary beginnings and should look at the issues surrounding (poverty) as a way of contributing to the benefit of the whole of Australia.

“We all know prevention is better than cure.”