The Australian Council of Social Service is calling on the Senate to do what it's calling the "right thing", and ditch a welfare crackdown that would see new migrants waiting four years before receiving welfare payments.
New migrants in Australia will not be allowed to access Newstart welfare payments when they first arrive, under a Morrison government reform that will now go before the Senate.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on Thursday after a deal was reached with Labor.
Labor said it compromised with the Coalition to prevent a deal with One Nation, but SBS News has confirmed the other crossbenchers would have had the numbers to block it if Labor had voted ‘no’.
The country's leading ethnic community group, FECCA, sensationally reversed its earlier "congratulations" of Labor and its strong endorsement of the deal after a lunchtime Senate debate on Thursday confirmed the whole bill would be doomed to fail without Labor's votes.
An ACOSS spokesperson said: "there is no justification for cutting off support for people, including children, who are in financial need".
It also called the government's plan to impose a four-year wait "cruel" and "void of good policy".
The National Social Security Rights Network (NSSRN) echoed those calls, urging the Labor Opposition, the Australian Greens and crossbench Senators to oppose the bill.
"The extension of waiting periods will further disadvantage migrants, increasing the inequality between them and the rest of the community," NSSRN executive officer Leanne Ho said.
“Any savings resulting from the introduction of these measures will be lost in the cost to charitable and community organisations or other government-funded services of dealing with the increased poverty and social problems though provision of emergency relief including food, housing, and healthcare."
