Aussies forced to choose between buying groceries or paying power bills
Power bills are rising fasting than people can cope with, as many Australians now look to cut back on basics like fresh fruit and veggies to cover electricity costs.
The National Debt Helpline highlighted how many Aussies are struggling to keep the lights on with September figures showing it had received 14,000 calls. This is a record for this month, and a whopping 14 per cent increase on the same time last year.
Borrowers primarily called from metropolitan Sydney, Melbourne and regional Queensland, where rising electricity costs are a constant source of stress for residents.
Patricia Young, a 34-year-old from Merrylands in Sydney’s West, who earns $19 an hour as a barista for the Salvation Army, explained her plight to the ABC.
"When those bills have to come out, obviously we have to buy less fresh fruit and veggies and just make do," Ms Young said.
“It's something they really, really need to look at."
Fiona Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the organisation, warned that this would only get worse, particularly for people on low fixed incomes, if nothing was done about the soaring electricity costs.
"It doesn't matter how good you are at budgeting — there's a point where you just can't keep going,” Ms Guthrie told ABC.
“We're just adding more ways for people to try and make ends meet by using credit, and there is a point where that doesn't work anymore.”
What are your thoughts? Do you think there’s enough being done about the energy crisis? And if not, what do you think the solution is.