To the Honourable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives assembled in Parliament.

The petition of certain citizens of Australia draws to the attention of the House:

That the Australian community recognises that the right to an adequate standard of living is a basic human right of all people that Governments have a duty to promote, protect, respect and fulfil and not remove this right from anyone as a punitive measure. The right to an adequate standard of living includes food, clothing, housing, health care and education.

The community notes that it has been over 256 years since the Henderson Commission of Inquiry into Poverty. The citizens of Australia are still waiting for the Government to act upon some of the recommendations of that inquiry, including the establishment of an official Poverty Line measurement.

Your petitioners therefore ask the House to:

1. As an immediate step all pensions and benefits be brought up to at least 25 per cent of male total average weekly earnings as is the case for the single pension.

2. Establish a Royal Commission into poverty in Australia with the aim of developing measures to determine an adequate standard of living for all people and to make recommendations as to how poverty in Australia can be eradicated.