3 years ago
MINISTER REFUSES TO GUARANTEE JOBSEEKER WON’T RETURN TO OLD NEWSTART RATE
LINDA BURNEY MP
The Minister for Social Services Senator Anne Ruston has refused to guarantee that JobSeeker won’t return to its old Newstart base rate.
The Minister was asked on ABC about the Government’s scheduled JobSeeker snapback at the end of December:
JANE NORMAN: Can you guarantee to them that – the payment right now is $815 a fortnight – can you guarantee that it will never go back to the pre-COVID level of about $550 a fortnight, or about the $40 a day Newstart rate?
ANNE RUSTON: Look, at the moment we are still in the midst of a pandemic. We don't know what the post pandemic Australia is going to look like. And so we’re very focused on making sure that we maintain the levels of support that reflect the market conditions that are before us at the moment. Clearly that decision was made about extending the Coronavirus Supplement to JobSeeker on Friday and as I said, we will be making some decisions once we have got a better understanding of what the market looks like later in the year. And you know, if those supports need to be extended past the end of the year, they will be. So we will continue to look at temporary measures as long as we are in a very uncertain market, which is where we remain today.
NORMAN: Okay, but you can't make the guarantee that the JobSeeker allowance will never go back to the pre-COVID level of about $550 a fortnight?
RUSTON: Well, as I said, we are looking at the moment – we are very focused on the here and now. We remain focused on the here and now because I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know when this pandemic and the impacts of this pandemic on the job market are going to stabilise. I don't know what Australia's economy is going to look like post the end of this year. That's why remain focused on dealing with the here and now. It is a matter for another day when we have some idea what the post-COVID world in Australia will look like.
With 400,000 Australians expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year – and with 13 JobSeekers for every job vacancy – it is going to be a very uncertain and anxious Christmas.
Australians doing it tough don’t know what support will be available to them after Christmas, when they face yet another cut.
The Minister could end this uncertainty by delivering a permanent increase to JobSeeker in the budget.
The Minister was asked on ABC about the Government’s scheduled JobSeeker snapback at the end of December:
JANE NORMAN: Can you guarantee to them that – the payment right now is $815 a fortnight – can you guarantee that it will never go back to the pre-COVID level of about $550 a fortnight, or about the $40 a day Newstart rate?
ANNE RUSTON: Look, at the moment we are still in the midst of a pandemic. We don't know what the post pandemic Australia is going to look like. And so we’re very focused on making sure that we maintain the levels of support that reflect the market conditions that are before us at the moment. Clearly that decision was made about extending the Coronavirus Supplement to JobSeeker on Friday and as I said, we will be making some decisions once we have got a better understanding of what the market looks like later in the year. And you know, if those supports need to be extended past the end of the year, they will be. So we will continue to look at temporary measures as long as we are in a very uncertain market, which is where we remain today.
NORMAN: Okay, but you can't make the guarantee that the JobSeeker allowance will never go back to the pre-COVID level of about $550 a fortnight?
RUSTON: Well, as I said, we are looking at the moment – we are very focused on the here and now. We remain focused on the here and now because I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know when this pandemic and the impacts of this pandemic on the job market are going to stabilise. I don't know what Australia's economy is going to look like post the end of this year. That's why remain focused on dealing with the here and now. It is a matter for another day when we have some idea what the post-COVID world in Australia will look like.
With 400,000 Australians expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year – and with 13 JobSeekers for every job vacancy – it is going to be a very uncertain and anxious Christmas.
Australians doing it tough don’t know what support will be available to them after Christmas, when they face yet another cut.
The Minister could end this uncertainty by delivering a permanent increase to JobSeeker in the budget.