But it is becoming increasingly apparent that poverty is in no way reserved for those in Third World countries.

Of course, even in nations as affluent as Australia, there has always been an impoverished underbelly reduced to begging, borrowing and stealing to get by.

However, it seems that gradually more and more of the so-called “battlers” are slipping into the ranks of the downright destitute.

In many, many instances, the blame for this worrying slide can be laid at the feet of a rapid rise in cost of living expenses.

These cost of living expenses are not the optional extras so many in our society take for granted.

Bendigo’s Yvonne Gouldthrop and her family are not whinging about the price of plane tickets, hotels, restaurant meals or pay TV subscriptions.

No, they are genuinely fearful about where to find the money required to keep the electricity connected and food on the table.

It is a scenario faced by more and more families in our community as unemployment rises and even those with jobs discover their wages are not keeping pace with rising prices.

A long, bitterly cold winter has seen a more than acceptable number of people needing to think twice before turning on their heaters.

As their fingers reach for the switch, too many are doing the mental arithmetic on what they must sacrifice in return for that most basic necessity – warmth.

New Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has spoken on numerous occasions in the past week about how there has never been a more exciting time to be alive. 

But try telling that to the pensioners and parents yearning for the days of the not-too-distance past when scraping by was not so damn hard.

Mr Turnbull has committed to fixing the country’s economy. Whatever form that repair job takes – cutting taxes to stimulate spending; increasing the GST to generate more revenue – the measures must not disadvantage society’s most vulnerable.

- Ross Tyson, deputy editor