Calls for permanent dole increase amid talk of $75-a-week rise

Labor adds pressure amid speculation the unemployed will receive a $75-a-week increase.

Opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek has called on Scott Morrison to permanently increase the rate of Newstart as the country emerges from the pandemic amid speculation the unemployed will receive a $75-a-week lift in benefits at July’s mini-budget.

Speaking on Sky News, Ms Plibersek said Newtstart was an “inadequate payment” and did not allow people to “live with dignity”. She argued that people in every community across the country would have more money to spend in their local economies if the government was more generous.

To navigate the pandemic, the Morrison government lifted the payment from $565.70 to $1115.70 on a temporary basis but is facing calls from within its own ranks and the business community to make a permanent change to the rate.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is due to deliver a mini-budget in July at which he will also provide the government’s response to the review of the $60bn JobKeeper payment which is due to wind-up in late September.

Ms Plibersek, the former Labor deputy leader, said the report into the JobKeeper payment – introduced to help businesses keep on workers during the downturn — should be released before next weekend’s Eden-Monaro by-election so the government could be “upfront with Australians.”

The raids on the home and office of NSW state Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane as part of an ASIO investigation were also strongly backed by Ms Plibersek who said it was “heartbreaking and demoralising” when people did the wrong thing in politics.

“I think it drives good people away from politics,” she said. “I think we need to have the highest standards of integrity. And we need the institutions that support those high standards of integrity.”

Tanya Plibersek said the report into the JobKeeper payment should be released before next weekend’s Eden-Monaro by-election.

“I have been a supporter of a federal integrity commission for many years and I am disappointed that we haven’t yet got legislation for that.”

“We need to have integrity in our political parties and in our public life. And we need the institutions that support that because our democracy is really too previous to allow it to be the plaything of anyone.”

Ms Plibersek played down suggestions that Labor should undertake its own inquiry into foreign influence within its ranks, saying it was best for an independent investigation to proceed.

“I think actually relying on external investigations at a time like this is actually more proper. I think people will have more confidence in an independent investigation by external authorities.

“It’s not just the Labor Party that has been subject to these questions of people seeking to influence politics through donations and so on. We took action much earlier than the Liberal Party for example in banning foreign donations.

“Everyone in politics has been warned by our security agencies that there are greater attempts at foreign interference today than there have been for many, many decades. It’s important that we are all vigilant.”

Ms Plibersek said that the “arms race” for political spending for election campaigns should be brought to heel through the consideration of spending caps.

On the government’s university funding shake-up, in which student fees for humanities and law courses would be increased, Ms Plibersek argued that Mr Morrison was “making it harder to get a place in university and more expensive if you do.”

“They’ve said they want more people to study, maths, science, technology, engineering and so on,” she said. “The universities themselves say the way the funding has been redesigned makes it less likely that those courses will be taught at Australian universities.”

“It’s just a dog’s breakfast and the universities are beside themselves.”