Answering the call to cut the welfare state, Prime Minister Joe Hockey announced the government would make the public sector job market more flexible by eliminating the $16,000 cap on income thresholds for income support.
In a speech on Monday, Mr Hockey said it was important for the government to “take the right approach” and remove the $15,000 income threshold for welfare.
“It’s a fair and fair-minded thing to do,” he said.
The new thresholds will allow families earning between $45,000 and $64,000 a year to qualify for the maximum of $12,000 in welfare payments.
The government’s new welfare reforms, which are designed to reduce poverty in the public service and reduce unemployment, include removing the $10,000 poverty threshold for income and employment support, replacing it with a $10.50 income threshold, and reducing the maximum income threshold to $36,000.
Mr Hockey said the government was now “looking at other ways to work with families and businesses” to make welfare more flexible.
Earlier this month, the Government cut the $7,000 threshold for employment support payments, which will also be phased out for low-income families.
Ahead of Mr Hockey’s announcement, Labor called for the minimum income to be reduced by $5,000, arguing it was unfair that some families would still be receiving payments if they had not earned enough to qualify.
Topics:government-and-politics,education,australiaFirst posted July 19, 2018 06:51:38Contact Peter Smith