Another Labor betrayal today:
Labor won’t commit to increasing Jobseeker payments and has dropped its plan to review the rate of the unemployment benefit.
The policy position, confirmed by shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh in an Australian Council of Social Service forum on Tuesday, has left welfare groups “deeply disappointed.”
Dr Leigh told the forum while he accepted it would be “a challenge” to live on the $46 a day Jobseeker, Labor was examining a broader range of policies to ease cost of living pressures for poorer Australians.
Asked by ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie to clarify Labor’s position on the Jobseeker payment, Dr Leigh said “we haven’t committed to an additional increase.”
And he confirmed the review proposed by then Labor leader Bill Shorten into the then NewStart payment in 2019 had been shelved.
“We don’t have a plan for an independent review at this stage,” Dr Leigh said.
Why do we need a higher JobSeeker rate?
First, it is deflating away as prices rise:
Second, it is cruel:
Third, it is stingy beyond belief:
Fourth, a higher unemployment rate will help put a base under weak real wages.
A Labor that can’t even do these basics for workers is not worth having.
