Dole recipients could see an extra $75 a week in their pockets if Labor wins the next federal election.
The party will debate the bold motion proposed by Sydney’s Inner West Council mayor and party delegate Darcy Byrne at Labor’s national conference in Adelaide this weekend.
In an opinion piece written for The Guardian on Tuesday, Cr Byrne believed that Australia’s 705,658 Newstart recipients are among the poorest in the developed world and need to be treated with more dignity and respect.
A proposal to increase the Newstart allowance by $75 a week will be debated by Labor
Newstart currently has a base rate of $275 a week for singles, which works out to be $40 a day.
That would increase to $350.10 a week or an extra $10 a day under under Cr Byrne’s proposal.
‘Giving the lowest-income Australians a decent standard of living is a moral issue and quite obviously should be an immediate priority, not a second-order concern, for an incoming Labor government,’ Cr Byrne wrote.
Cr Byrne acknowledged raising the payment to a ‘respectable level’ will not be cheap, with the initiative estimated to cost more than $3billion a year.
‘But far more detrimental than this budgetary impact would be the human cost of a new Labor government failing to act,’ he wrote.
‘These citizens cannot afford to wait three or more years for an improvement to their living standards.’
Giving the lowest-income Australians a decent standard of living should be a moral issue, according to Inner West Council mayor Darcy Byrne (pictured)
He argued that even former Liberal prime minister John Howard has acknowledged recipients don’t get enough support.
‘When a former Liberal prime minister, who was no friend of the unemployed, is saying the dole is too low then you know it is time for Labor to act,’ Cr Byrne wrote.
Cr Byrne has received a mixed response on his Facebook page from Inner West Council constituents.
‘Proud to see Labor values promoted to help the vulnerable,’ one constituent posted.
But another added: ‘I think there are ways that money can be moved into other areas that hinder unemployed people.’
Party delegates will find out this weekend whether Labor Opposition Leader Bill Shorten (pictured) supports the proposal
Cr Byrne’ s proposal has support from Labor’s left faction and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association.
‘Not a single soul in the Labor Party or the trade union movement thinks the rate of Newstart is fair or adequate,’ he told The Courier Mail.
‘After years of derogatory rhetoric towards Australians who are out of work, Labor has an opportunity this weekend to recast the national debate.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cr Byrne for further comment.
Labor Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has previously stated a review would lead to an payment increase but hasn’t committed to an amount.
‘These citizens cannot afford to wait three or more years for an improvement to their living standards,’ Cr Darcy Byrne (pictured) wrote in an opinion piece
It comes after both major parties in South Australia agreed Newstart is ‘far too low’ and called on the Federal Government to make an urgent increase in the interim report of a Parliamentary Inquiry into poverty.
‘The Committee agrees with the overwhelming majority of submissions to the inquiry that the Newstart Allowance is far too low and falls well short of the state-based poverty line,’ the first recommendation of the report, endorsed by Liberal, Labor, Greens and SA Best MPs states.
Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Dr Cassandra Goldie believes the major parties at federal level are out of touch.
‘We’re calling on the both of the major parties to commit to raising the rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance, which is the single most effective thing they can do to tackle the persistent poverty we have in Australia, despite having the highest median wealth in the world,’ she said.
The payment increase is estimated to cost more than $3billion a year (stock image)