Call to raise payments for some Australians quickly hosed down

Independent senator David Pocock has flagged another push to axe the stage 3 tax cuts to increase the JobSeeker allowance.

More than one million Australians are likely to be left disappointed after the government hosed down expectations of a boost to welfare payments in the upcoming budget.

A task force set up to provide advice to the Treasurer Jim Chalmers on income support payments, such as Jobseeker, found the $50-a-day rate was “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 – up from $50 a day.

But the government is set to ignore the recommendation, which would come at a $24bn cost to the budget over the four-year forward estimates period.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said while “couldn’t live” on the Jobseeker payment, a balance needed to be found.

Mr Shorten said he couldn’t live on the Jobseeker amount. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I’m not going to say that it’s easy for people, but the decision about raising any rate is going to be one for the government and our economic team,” he told Sky News.

“It's not the only issue out there. There’s a lot of people doing it tough in a whole range of areas.”

The first report of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, chaired by former Labor minister Jenny Macklin, made 37 recommendations to increase welfare payments, including Jobseeker and rent assistance.

Combined, the committee’s recommendations would cost as much as $34bn to implement. It’s understood the government is likely to adopt some of the other proposals from the EIAC report.

Independent senator David Pocock, who was crucial in setting up the task force as part of a deal to support workplace relations reforms, was critical of the government’s response.

He said if the government was putting aside money for the AUKUS submarine deal or the stage three tax cuts, it could figure out how to fund the committee’s recommendations.

It comes as many Australians struggle with the cost of living

“There’s pressure on budgets across the country. If you want to hear about tight budgets, talk to people who are deciding between medicine and food. That’s a tight budget,” he told the ABC.

The former rugby star said voters would hold Labor to account if they did not act and flagged that he would continue to campaign against the stage 3 tax cuts scheduled to be enacted in July next year.

“When the budget is tight, we should be prioritising people,” he told ABC TV’s 7.30 program.

“There’s options on the table. There’s $250bn of Stage 3 tax cuts which, as we learn more and more about them, really don’t make sense in the current economic climate.”

Senator David Pocock is disappointed in the government’s rejection of an increase in the JobSeeker rate. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

A separate task force on women’s economic equality also handed down its own set of recommendations ahead of the budget.

Chief among them was to reinstate a single parent payment for those with children over the age of eight, reversing a change made in 2013 by then-prime minister Julia Gillard.

Under the current scheme, single parents receive around $961 a fortnight but once their youngest turns eight, they are then moved to the Jobseeker payment