Greens MP Adam Bandt warns young people will turn to crime because of brutal Budget
JOBLESS, hungry ... and turning to crime. One MP has a dire warning about how the Budget will impact on Australia’s young.
GREENS MP Adam Bandt believes the Abbott government’s Budget could turn young Australians into criminals.
“Expect to see a rise in homelessness and expect to see young people doing the kind of things that we would normally find abhorrent,” Mr Bandt warned.
Under a new hard line ‘earn or learn’ plan, Australians aged under 30 will have to wait six months before pocketing the dole.
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They will then face a further work for the dole program.
“Don’t be surprised if you see a rise in crime when young people, who are trying to do the right thing and who are looking for a job and have done their study, now have no income, because it might be the only way that they’re able to feed themselves,” he said.
Citing the concerns of youth groups, Mr Bandt argued the move to force young Australians to live without an income for six months would be a “recipe for homelessness”.
“Your landlord doesn’t care that all of a sudden your dole’s been taken away. They just want the rent to be paid on time,’’ he said.
“How is someone meant to survive?”
Mr Bandt is not the first person to raise concern about how budget cuts may lead to an increase in crime rates. Ex-homicide detective Charlie Bezzina made the same suggestion last week, stating that “as pressure increases on individuals and family types to make ends meet, some might crack under the strain and act completely out of character”.
Mr Bandt claimed some students are already funding their studies through prostitution and allowing universities to set their own course fees, as part of another Budget measure, will only make the burden worse.
“I’ve already heard many stories of people who are putting themselves through university through things like sex work because that is the only way that they can afford to do that,” he said.
“You really just have to join the dots. If the cost of university rises and the cost of study rises and then you take away young people’s income altogether what do you expect them to do.”
The Coalition wants to encourage young Australians into the workforce and make sure they are becoming less reliant on welfare.
When yesterday asked how young people would be able to feed themselves without the dole, Joe Hockey insisted “safety nets” would be in place.
“We will help you get into a job. So we’re going to be active about it,” the Treasurer told the National Press Club.
“The best thing we can do is create an environment … where there is an employer looking for an employee. That’s the best solution. That’s the best hope.”
Mr Hockey said if young people want to study a trade the government will provide taxpayer funded concessional loans of up to $20,000 over a four-year apprenticeship.
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