Inquiry to examine Newstart allowance
Peter Martin
June 27, 2012

GOVERNMENT and opposition senators have sided with the Greens to bring on an inquiry into Australia's $35 a day Newstart unemployment allowance, one of the lowest in the developed world.   

To report by November, the inquiry will examine the adequacy of the allowance as an income support payment and as means of funding job searches.

It will also examine the gap between Newstart and the pension, which has swelled to the point where Newstart is just 70 per cent of the pension and is on track to slide to 50 per cent.   


Newstart is increased twice-yearly in line with the consumer price index whereas the pension is increased in line with average male earnings. Each pension increase is now more than twice each Newstart increase.   

''The review is long overdue,'' said Greens senator Rachel Siewert, who herself attempted to live on $17.15 a day earlier this year, her calculation of the Newstart allowance after rent.   

''We haven't had anything like this since the Henderson poverty review in the 1970s …

''We need to identify the failings of a system that sees around two-thirds of people on Newstart stay on it for more than a year. Central to this is the adequacy of the payment itself.''

The move for an inquiry was carried on the voices, with neither Labor nor Coalition senators prepared to object. In the past Labor has taken a hard line on Newstart, arguing it is a temporary payment with a low rate designed to encourage people to get off it.

The five-month inquiry will also examine allowances tied to Newstart including those for students and carers.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/inquiry-to-examine-newstart-allowance-20120626-210ir.html#ixzz1yvwaVc9m

Yes pansi, one wonders why we need an inquiry.  The new start ( no start ) allowance is far too low, and should be increased by $50 a week.   

No-Start needs to be raised drastically, it's true.

But there are other issues that they need to address as well.....

a/ No-Start needs to be indexed to wages like the pension is, and NOT to the CPI. This is
what's causing, and aggravating, the widening gap between the pension and the dole.

b/ WfD needs to have a valid training component installed. This will help stop WfD being
used as, and seen as, nothing but a punishment.

c/ The WfD 'bonus ($20 per f/n approx) is no-where near adequate, and usually won't even
cover the cost of attending and buying lunch. Those doing WfD OR volunteer work should be
receiving SIGNIFICANTLY more than those who are not. This needs to be done whether the
dole is raised or not.

d/ Income quarantining MUST be rejected, once and for all. People can ALREADY choose to
VOLUNTARILY 'quarantine' important payments such as rent, power etc, and have tham paid
automatically through Centrelink's 'CentrePay' scheme. This should be encouraged, by all
means. But to make it COMPULSORY is simply obscene. The idea of food-stamps and/or
vouchers MUST also be rejected.

e/ There must be more, and easier access to training. And NOT just the entry-level, menial
jobs. While they are fine for the young, they are useless to the mature-aged unemployed.



There's a few issues.

Anyone think of any others?

Wot? No takers?

I'd have thought some of you would have been all over this one........

Sir lastnail wrote on Jun 28^th, 2012 at 1:21am:


What has negative gearing got to do with the dole?

SOB

AFAIK, it's not an official policy YET, but there have been quite a few retards from both
sides of politics, both in and out of govt, who do support this mad scheme.

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Jun 28^th, 2012 at 5:29am:


the review that helps out the battler always gets over looked

Baronvonrort wrote on Jun 28^th, 2012 at 1:44pm:


you know better. You have to. you must be trolling.

SOB