Government DENIES rumours out-of-work Aussies will get an extra $75 per week as part of sweeping dole changes
- Federal government was rumoured to increase the unemployment benefit
- Changes were expected to be announced next month and lifted by $75 a week
- Morrison government denied reports the Centrelink payment was to be lifted
- A spokesperson said there were ‘no such proposals’ under consideration
The Morrison government has denied reports the JobSeeker dole payment will be lifted by $75 per week.
The government was rumoured to permanently lift the dole payment when Treasurer Josh Frydenberg makes a long-awaited economic statement next month.
News Corp newspapers, citing senior ministers, reported the JobSeeker payment would rise to $75 per day from $40 when the present enhanced version of the unemployment payment ends in September.
‘There are no such proposals before the government or under consideration for the economic statement next month,’ a spokesperson for Social Services Minister Anne Ruston told AAP.
The Morrison government has denied reports the JobSeeker dole payment will be lifted by $75 per week (pictured, a queue outside a Sydney Centrelink office)
‘The government is focused on the next phase of short-term measures designed to address the COVID-19 crisis.’
The JobSeeker payment, formerly known as Newstart, was doubled to around $1100 a fortnight as a support measure during the pandemic.
Treasury has been reviewing both JobSeeker and the JobKeeper wage subsidy.
Senior Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said people who had been forced on to the dole because of the coronavirus pandemic were in for a shock if the JobSeeker payment returned to its pre-crisis rate of $40 per a day.
‘It is an inadequate payment, it doesn’t allow people to live with dignity,’ she told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program
‘We now have hundreds of thousands of extra people joining the dole queue, people who have been working full time until very recently that would very much struggle if what’s now called JobSeeker went back to the old Newstart rate.’
The coalition government has long argued against raising the unemployment payment, which hasn’t been increased for 25 years apart from indexation increases.
There is widespread support for an increase from Labor, the Greens, welfare groups, business organisations like the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Industry Group, economists and the Reserve Bank.
The government was rumoured to permanently lift the dole payment when Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (pictured on June 18 in Canberra) makes a long-awaited economic statement next month
NewsCorp reported that the federal government was going to announce the permanent Centrelink increase during the mini-budget next month, giving an extra $3,900 a year for Newstart recipients.
Thousands are currently receiving $550 extra every fortnight on top of the existing Newstart payment of $559 every two weeks.
With the changes, the new fortnightly payment for singles with no dependents was reported to be around $634, or $682.70 for singles with children.
The previous JobSeeker or Newstart payment was $559 per fortnight for singles with no children, and $604.70 per fortnight for those with children.
An ‘anonymous minister’ told News Corp it was the only solution considering the state of unemployment across Australia.
‘There is no way it can go back to what it was. We have people on welfare that have never been out of work and now they are lining up outside Centrelink,’ the minister said.
Scott Morrison warns Australia is ‘addicted’ to handouts and rules out extending the $20BILLION-per-month JobKeeper scheme
The coronavirus JobKeeper scheme will come to an end within months, as Scott Morrison warned against the country becoming ‘addicted’ to state handouts.
In a heated exchange with Labor leader Anthony Albanese in parliament, the prime minister said the emergency measures could not stay in place forever.
The $130billion wage subsidy scheme is costing taxpayers $20billion every month, providing $1,500-a-fortnight to workers who might otherwise be laid off.
Mr Morrison ruled out extending JobKeeper passed the current September 27 end date, saying he looked forward to a day when the scheme could be shut down.
‘We don’t want an Australian economy that’s propped up by subsidies,’ he said in a press conference when asked about a possible extension.
Expanding on the issue later in parliament, he said: ‘We cannot have an economy addicted to the measures we have in place.
‘They will break them eventually and that is a day we look forward to.’
Senior politicians have admitted there was ‘no way’ Australia can afford to extend the scheme
People are seen queuing outside a Centrelink office on April 20 in Melbourne (pictured) during the COVID-19 crisis