John Howard agrees: It’s time to lift the dole

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By Leith van Onselen

The chorus calling for a lift in Australia’s pathetically low Newstart Allowance for unemployed workers (the ‘dole’) is getting too loud to ignore.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed Deloitte Access Economics senior partner Chris Richardson, the Business Council of Australia, and independent senators Tim Storer and Derryn Hinch all call for Newstart to be lifted, which comes on top of long standing calls from the social sector and The Greens.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.