In a media release today Labor Candidate for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, said it’s disappointing but not surprising that Ann Sudmalis can’t acknowledge rising inequality, even in her own electorate. "Professor David Peetz, Professor of Employment Relations at Griffith University, who Ms Sudmalis referred to in her own media release, responded on ABC South East Radio, 7 August 2018: Journalist: So is there a simple answer to this question of whether the rich are indeed getting richer while the poor get poorer? Peetz: “Well, I guess the simple answer is yes, the rich are getting richer”. Ms Phllips continues "A recently released report from UNSW researchers and the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS), The Inequality Report in Australia 2018, shows an unacceptably large gap between those with the highest and lowest incomes in Australia. "The Report shows that wealth is even more unequally distributed. “I know what people are telling me every day in Gilmore – they are finding it harder to make ends meet”, Fiona said. “On the same day Ann Sudmalis got a $7,000 pay increase, many workers in Gilmore got a pay cut – of up to $77 a week, because of cuts to penalty rates - that Ann Sudmalis voted eight times for”. “Ann Sudmalis and Malcom Turnbull are axing the Pensioner Energy Supplement. For new pensioners this means a cut of $14 a fortnight – that pensioners could have used towards power bills”. “What sort of government gives a tax handout of $80 billion to the big banks and multinationals but can’t find $14 a fortnight for pensioners for the Pensioner Energy Supplement?” “What sort of government votes to cut penalty rates – and reduces the take home pay of workers in Gilmore?” “Whose side is Ann Sudmalis on? – certainly not workers, families and pensioners in Gilmore”, Fiona concluded.
