Old tweets from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers demanding an increase to the JobSeeker rate have emerged amid reports that their government will reject a rise to the crucial welfare payment.
An Interim Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee report found the “seriously inadequate” payment be increased by 40 per cent, which would be just below $1,000 a fortnight.
The committee stressed welfare payments had to be a first priority for the government to address in the upcoming budget.
But Mr Chalmers has indicated the government will not increase the rate to what is recommended in the report.
The current base is $693.10 a fortnight for a single person with no children. That figure translates to $49.50 a day, a number many argue is not sufficient enough to live on.
In July 2020, Mr Albanese - then the opposition leader - posted a graphic with a title arguing it is “time to permanently increase JobSeeker”.
“The Government has been forced to admit that $40 a day isn't enough to live on,” he tweeted, alongside the image.
“In the aftermath of the pandemic, we can't have people sliding back into poverty.
“Because when Australians fall on hard times, we should help them get back on their feet.”
Additionally, in a tweet from October 2020, Mr Chalmers - then the shadow treasurer - blasted the former government about its lack of plan to lift the rate from $40 a day.
“There is no plan to lift the permanent rate of JobSeeker from $40 per day, tackle insecure work, create opportunities for women or to improve access to child care,” he wrote.
Labor MP Julian Hill in December 2020 also wrote of the need to lift the rate, claiming nobody can live on the $40 figure without ending up in poverty.
The series of old tweets come after NDIS Minister Bill Shorten admitted he could not live on the current rate.
"I couldn’t live on it," Mr Shorten told to Sky News Australia on Wednesday.
"I have to put it in the context this is not the only issue out there. There’s a whole lot of people doing it tough in a whole range of areas.
"The reality is this comes from within how Australia is going.
“We’ve inherited a system where we’ve got skills shortages, our energy market is not strong."
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2023-04-19 09:19:40Z
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