Cost of living impacts on local families was front and centre for Federal Member for Monash Mary Aldred when she recently met with financial counsellors from across Gippsland.
Joining representatives from Anglicare Victoria, Rural Financial Counsellors and the chief executive officer of Financial Counselling Victoria at a regular meeting in Warragul, Ms Aldred heard how the cost of living is hurting people in Monash.
"Every day, people in Monash are raising with me the impact of cost of living on household budgets," Ms Aldred said. "I'm hearing more instances of people falling behind on their mortgage repayments, having their cars repossessed or not keeping up with their rent. Farmers are being forced to sell off stock early.
"More and more people in our region are experiencing homelessness for the first time. While our food banks do an incredible job, they are also stretched to capacity with demand for their services"
Referencing data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Ms Aldred emphasised the cost of living pressures on people.
"We know that over the last three years, the cost of rent has gone up by 32 per cent, electricity has gone up by 30 per cent and rent has gone up 20 per cent," she said. "The economy grew just 0.2 per cent last quarter. Annual growth is running at half the long-term average."
In the last sitting of parliament, Ms Aldred put forward a question on energy prices and the cost of living directly to the Prime Minister.
"This is a major issue for the Monash electorate, and I will continue to raise the impact on local families and the need to address cost of living as a major national priority," she said.