Greens ‘won’t stand in the way’ of Labor’s welfare boost

Welfare recipients are likely to get their payments boosted after the Greens said they were unlikely to blow up a government bill this week. 

As Parliament returns, the government is seeking to increase JobSeeker payments by $40 a fortnight as part of its strengthening the safety net bill — as the opposition announced plans to introduce an amendment that would increase the income-free threshold instead.

As usual in this Parliament, it is likely to come down to the Greens, who hold the balance of power in the Senate. Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi told ABC’s Radio National on Monday morning that although the proposed increase was “woefully inadequate”, the party didn’t plan to stand in its way. 

“We will definitely not stand in the way of these efforts, but we know that it’s not enough,” she said. “The government must increase JobSeeker to above the poverty line again, in this cost-of-living crisis … so we will be pushing for amendments.”

Crikey understands the party is prepared to support the increase even if it fails to get its amendments through. 

The Coalition’s proposal would allow welfare recipients to earn $300 a fortnight without losing access to JobSeeker, The Australian reported.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the Coalition’s idea “a shocker”.

“The problem with their thought bubble is that increasing the income-free area will have a number of unintended consequences. It does nothing at all for the almost four in five jobseekers who don’t access the income-free area at all,” he told FIVEaa radio.

“The conservative estimates are, with a doubling of the income-free area, another 50,000 would become eligible for JobSeeker overnight because the thresholds in which they’re cut off increase.”