Old tweets show Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers strongly supported increasing the dole – but now they’re in power it’s not such a good idea
- PM and Treasurer said Jobseeker needed to be raised
- Old tweets show the pair slamming the $40 per day payment
- Now they’re set to reject plans to raise them by 40 per cent
Re-surfaced tweets show Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers were both strong supporters of raising the dole before the last election – but now they’re in power, their tune appears to have changed.
In a chain of posts from 2020, then-opposition leader Anthony Albanese and shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said that the current JobSeeker payments weren’t enough.
A new report has found that parts of the welfare system are ‘seriously inadequate’ and recommended payments for unemployed people be increased by 40 per cent, bringing the fortnightly amount to just under $1,000.
Mr Chalmers has indicated that the government is set to reject this recommendation.
JobSeeker currently pays $693.10 to single people with no kids – or just $49.50 a day.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his treasurer have come under fire for seemingly abandoning the position they took on raising the dole in tweets the pair posted on the election trail in 2020
The then-opposition leader said in July 2020 that JobSeeker payments weren’t enough to live off
While on the campaign trail in July, 2020, then-opposition leader Albanese slammed the current payments.
‘The Government has been forced to admit that $40 a day isn’t enough to live on,’ the ALP leader said at the time.
‘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.’
Another tweet from Mr Chalmers from October, 2020 said the government needed a plan to raise JobSeeker payments.
‘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.
‘While the average worker will receive a $50 per fortnight tax cut, millions on JobKeeper have seen their payment cut by at least $300 per fortnight.’
In December of the same year, Labor MP Julian Hill said that 1.5million Australians would fall into poverty if they were forced to live on $40 a day.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has indicated that he will not follow the recommendation of a new report which says payments for unemployed people should be increased by 40 per cent
In October 2020 the then-Shadow Treasurer tackled the Coalition government for not having a plan to increase JobSeeker payments
An Interim Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee report recommended increasing JobSeeker and urged that welfare payments must be a first priority for the government in their upcoming budget.
The likely rejection of the report’s recommendation to increase JobSeeker comes as NDIS Minister Bill Shorten conceded that he couldn’t live on the $693 fortnightly payments.
‘I couldn’t live on it,’ Mr Shorten said during an interview.
‘I’m not going to say that it’s easy for people, but the decision about raising any rate is going to be one for the government and our economic team,’ Mr Shorten told Sky News.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten was forced to admit on Channel Nine that he couldn’t live on current JobSeeker payments