Australian Bishops welcome change of heart on welfare cuts

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has welcomed the Federal parliament’s decision to change its plans to cut the energy supplement to welfare recipients, describing the original plans as wrong "morally and economically."

President of the ACBC, Archbishop Denis Hart, said the Bishops are concerned about growing income inequality in Australia and its impacts on poor and disadvantaged communities.

“Cutting payments to the most vulnerable families and individuals in our community, when their payments are already inadequate to meet their living costs, was a very concerning initiative,” Archbishop Hart said in a statement.

“Budget repair should be achieved without unfairly placing the burden on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society. Putting further financial strain on people already suffering from income stress will only cause harm to them, their children, and the communities they are in.

“While we welcome today’s decision to work collaboratively with the other parties to drop the planned cuts, the Catholic Bishops of Australia will continue to work to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor," Archbishop Hart said.