Townsville disability pensioner calls for renter relief in federal budget

Imagine looking for a house and a job, but you can only afford petrol or phone credit, not both. That’s what this cost of living crisis has done to one Townsville woman.

Townsville woman Jodi Balmer is living day-to-day amid a cost of living crisis. Picture: Blair Jackson.

While facing the daunting task of hunting for a job and a house, Jodi Balmer has the choice of filling her car up with fuel or buying credit for her phone. Unfortunately she can’t afford both.

That is the grim reality for the 49-year-old Townsville disability pensioner in this cost-of-living crisis.

The federal government is set to release its first full-year budget on Tuesday. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has already signalled a $4bn increase to mental health, disability, domestic violence and homelessness services.

Ms Balmer hopes there’s a rent assistance bump in the budget, for people in a similar situation to herself.

“Something needs to be done because it’s getting difficult out there. There’s a whole world of pain,” she said of the current cost of living.

Ms Balmer is a single parent and requires a casual job because her 16-year-old daughter has health issues.

“It’s not that I don’t want to work. I’ve got a daughter that’s got a lot of disabilities. So I’ve got to be able to say to work ‘well, I’ve got to go pick up my daughter. She’s had an incident at school and I need to be there’.”

The median rental price for a three-bedroom house in Townsville is $495 a week, RealEstate.com.au data shows.

Both Ms Balmer and her daughter have ADHD, and medication for that induced her daughter’s Tourette's syndrome, Ms Balmer said.

“If the school can’t settle her tick down, I’ve got to come in and settle it down. And it’s really difficult. It’s not easy living on the pension. I don’t want to, it’s just sometimes it’s a lot easier for me to deal with,” she said.

They live day-to-day, shop shrewdly and just scrape by.

Ms Balmer’s husband died after a surgery complication a few years ago, and they left Bowen last month to be closer to her partner.

They got a spot at a small private Townsville school for the teenager, which of course meant new uniforms and books.

Townsville woman Jodi Balmer has a disability and struggles with the current cost of living. Picture: Blair Jackson.

The mother and daughter each have their own room in a sharehouse. Ms Balmer is paying $380 a week for the two rooms.

“The price of rent is just ridiculous. Even for a small house, up to $400 (a week). Where’s the value in that?”

Finding a rental in Townsville that permitted pets would have been difficult, so they gave up their dog Emily.

“My husband passed away three years ago (and) that was his dog. That was our last link to him. So that was difficult and hard for us to give up.”

Her partner lived with his parents, so moving into that full house was not an option, Ms Balmer said.

She was also frustrated that dozens of Townsville homes owned by Defence Housing Australia sat vacant.

In Tuesday’s federal budget, she hopes there is a rental assistance increase.

On Monday Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the age limit for single parent payments (which used to decrease when the child turned eight) would be pushed out to 14-years-old.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the $14.6bn centrepiece of the budget would lower inflation and drive down cost-of-living pressures.

Originally published as Townsville disability pensioner calls for renter relief in federal budget