Mum’s challenge to the Prime Minister on JobSeeker payments

A mum-of-two who lives on just $50 a day has challenged the Prime Minister to walk in her shoes to see how difficult it is to exist on welfare.

A Brisbane mother has issued a challenge to the Prime Minister after the government downplayed hopes they would substantially boost welfare payments in this year’s budget.

The government was told by a task force set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers that income support payments such as the $50-a-day on Jobseeker were “seriously inadequate”.

It urged the government to raise Jobseeker to 90 per cent of the aged pension – about $68 a day, or around $1000 a fortnight – however the government is set to ignore the recommendation.

She told the panel that she often has to knock back shifts as she cannot afford to pay for the petrol to travel to work. Photo: Channel 10

The government’s decision comes as many Australians struggle with the cost of living Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

The government has said that raising the Jobseeker rate would come with a $24bn blow to the budget, which it could not afford.

That decision has been met with anger by those on welfare and advocacy groups, with one mother who lives on JobSeeker said the government was “not being very smart again” in choosing to keep payments at their current level.

“Come sit down with me, I’ll tell you what, how about we swap households for a month, then you tell me you can’t afford it (the increase),” Pauline said on The Project.

The mum-of-two said that living on just $50-a-day leaves her with “no brain capacity to think of anything” besides how she is going to get by and has forced her to go to food banks multiple times a week.

She also has a casual job and said she often has to knock back shifts as she cannot afford to pay for petrol to get her to work.

The mum-of-two supports her family with just $50 a day from Centrelink alongside her casual job. Photo: Channel 10

Pauline said that an extra $20 a day would take off a “slight bit of pressure”.

“For me it would still mean my power bill would still be on a payment plan, I would still have to watch what I spend money on,” she said.

“For me it’d be that little bit more freedom with petrol. That would be my biggest that would be where it would go mainly for me.

“It can mean that if [my daughter] has a friend who wants to catch up on a Monday at a local park, I’ll have the petrol to get her there.”