Treasurer defends 'very substantial' $3.57 a day JobSeeker boost
News
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been forced to defend a modest increase to the dole after welfare groups and economists slammed the miserly boost.
The permanent base rate of JobSeeker payments is being lifted by $50 a fortnight, or just $3.57 a day.
Unemployed Australians and their allies have described the offering as a heartless betrayal.
Frydenberg insisted the increase was “very substantial” and shut down the prospect of negotiating a more meaningful ongoing boost to the unemployment benefit.
Get InDaily in your inbox. Daily. The best local news every workday at lunch time.
Thanks for signing up to the InDaily newsletter.
“The government is providing the safety net with JobSeeker, it’s not expected to be a payment that somebody is on indefinitely,” he told Nine on Wednesday.
“The vast majority of people are receiving other supplementary payments.”
The government argues the dole must be affordable and not provide a disincentive to taking low-paid work.
It has tied the increase to much stronger mutual obligations on JobSeeker recipients.
Employers are being given a new hotline to dob in job seekers who turn down work. Individuals may have their payments docked if they cannot produce a valid reason.
Welfare recipients will have to attend face-to-face meetings with employment agencies and apply for at least 15 jobs a month.
People on JobSeeker for more than six months will have to work for the dole or engage in an “intensive training” program of short courses.
-AAP
Local News Matters
Media diversity is under threat in Australia – nowhere more so than in South Australia. The state needs more than one voice to guide it forward and you can help with a donation of any size to InDaily. Your contribution goes directly to helping our journalists uncover the facts. Please click below to help InDaily continue to uncover the facts.
