The government said the savings measures, which include a freeze on the indexation of family tax benefits for two years, are needed to pay for its childcare package.
But in a dramatic late-night Senate sitting, Ms Lambie shared her experiences raising two children as a single mother on welfare for seven years and said the government cuts were ‘shameful’.
“For you to take more money off those people, you have no idea how bloody tough it is, every little cent counts to those people,” she said.
Watch: Jacqui Lambie's address to the Senate
Ms Lambie said that at the time when she was on welfare she had cried at the thought of being unable to feed her children, and she had driven without an license in an unregistered car because she couldn’t afford to pay the registration.
“I want you to know that’s what it’s like to be at the bottom crap pile for no fault of our own for many of us,” she said, holding back tears.
“What you are doing is shameful and if you really realise the damage that you are continually doing to that part of society you would stop doing it.”
The savings bill was originally part of the government’s broader $4 billion omnibus savings bill, but was separated from the rest of the package in order to secure cross-bench support. After a heated debate the revised savings package passed the Upper House.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said no family would receive less as a result of the changes.
“They will receive the same level of payment. Many of them will receive higher payments because of relevant low income eligibility thresholds will continue to be indexed,” he said.
Ms Lambie accused Pauline Hanson’s One Nation of doing a “dirty deal” with the Liberal Party by supporting the measures.
She said One Nation continued making deals with the Liberals they would suffer the same fate as the as the non-defunct Palmer United Party, of which she was a former member.
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