The preferred option is rumoured to include streamlining the income support payment system into a single ­increased payment for the unemployed. This would involve abolishing up to a dozen other supplements or subsidies.

While the devil will obviously be in the detail, this is heartening news.

My preference would be to peg the base JobSeeker rate (currently $40 a day) to the Aged Pension Level (currently $61.50 a day):

This would lift the unemployed above the poverty line and would simplify the welfare system. There is also no logical reason why unemployed Australians receive less income support than pensioners, given many pensioners own their home and are asset rich.

Realistically, however, I do not expect the Morrison Government to be so generous. We will likely only see a modest lift in JobSeeker – an amount that is just high enough to nullify it as a political issue.

Still, any increase is better than no increase. Be grateful for small mercies.

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Unconventional Economist

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.

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