Friday 7 October 2022 03:10 AM 'Historic' moment mum breastfeeds while asking question on ABC TV show trends now 'Historic' moment mum openly breastfeeds on live TV as she asks a question about Australia's rental crisis: 'Love that it's now normal' Breastfeeding mother Kat Watkins accidentally exposed nipple on ABC's Q&A Host Stan Grant asked her about cost of living pressures in Wagga Wagga Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth declined call to impose rental cap By Stephen Johnson, Economics Reporter For Daily Mail Australia Published: 02:52 BST, 7 October 2022 | Updated: 03:08 BST, 7 October 2022 Viewcomments A young mum on Q&A has breastfed while speaking about the escalating cost of living pressures and unaffordable rent. Kat Watkins moved with her spouse to Wagga Wagga, in southern NSW, from Newcastle in 2018 for a new life with good jobs and a more affordable house. Q&A host Stan Grant asked her about cost of living pressures only during a Skype cross from her living room. 'So gradually, the rent has increased,' she said, as he baby gripped her blouse. Tenants in regional areas have really been squeezed with the Riverina area having an ultra-tight rental vacancy rate of just 0.5 per cent, SQM Research data showed. The mother then grabbed her breast to help her baby as she talked about weekly rents increasing sharply with every annual lease renewal. 'That was originally maybe $10, $20 a year with every new lease but the most recent lease went up $50 and that coincided with maternity leave and me working less,' she said. 'Then with all the interest rate hikes, and cost of living, yeah.' Ms Watkins asked the panel, including Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, if the federal government intended to introduce new laws protecting tenants by placing caps on rent increases 'so that people like us aren't priced out of their communities that are so important to them' - exposing her nipple for the third time. Ms Rishworth said rents were a matter for state governments, even though former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison in March 2020 announced a six-month moratorium on evictions at the start of the pandemic. 'Well, look, I mean tenant rules and laws are matters for state government,' she said. Q&A host Stan Grant asked her about cost of living pressures only for Ms Watkins to accidentally expose her left nipple during the Thursday night Skype cross from her living room 'But what the federal government has recognised is there are terrible challenges with housing in this country.' Q&A's social media feed liked Ms Watkins with Celeste Rowe tweeting: 'Loving the new mum and bub, very refreshing to hear from her.' Another Twitter user Sara Musgrave said: 'Yeah. Breastfeeding crusader!' What the banks are now expecting WESTPAC: 3.6 per cent cash rate by March 2023 (up from 3.35 per cent in February) COMMONWEALTH BANK: 2.85 per cent cash rate by November (up from 2.6 per cent) ANZ: 3.6 per cent by May (up from 3.35 per cent cash rate by December) NAB: 2.85 per cent cash rate by November Advertisement Labor went to the May 2022 election with a $10billion Housing Australia Future Fund promise to build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties in its first five years. 'We've made a commitment where we're going forward as setting up a Future Australia where we're actually going to build public housing, community housing,' Ms Rishworth said. The cabinet minister promised to work with local councils to build public housing but declined to commit to putting a cap on rental increases, citing the constitution when Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi challenged her. Senator Faruqi called for the federal government to freeze rents for two years and called for a million new homes over the next 20 years. 'Rents are sky high,' she said. 'The situation is so bad in Australia that people are living in cars, they're living in tents, they're living in caravans. 'They're moving from motel to motel.' Landlord investors who rent out homes are also being squeezed with the Reserve Bank of Australia in October raising the cash rate for a sixth straight month to a nine-year high of 2.6 per cent. The latest increase means a borrower with an average $600,000 mortgage will see their repayments climb by another $89 a month to $3,055, with the major banks all passing on the RBA's 0.25 percentage point increase. Grant noted Kat's son was resting comfortably following the live TV discussion 'after enjoying his meal'. What a 0.25 percentage point rate rise in October will mean for you $500,000: Up $74 to $2,546 from $2,472 $600,000: Up $89 to $3,055 from $2,966 $700,000: Up $104 to $3,564 from $3,460 $800,000: Up $118 to $4,073 from $3,955 $900,000: Up $133 to $4,582 from $4,449 $1,000,000: Up $148 to $5,091 from $4,943 Advertisement Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility