Jim Chalmers’ attempt to bury the recommendations of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee.
Jim Chalmers’ attempt to bury the recommendations of a $34bn economic inclusion wishlist is akin to a scene from Yes, Minister.
The findings of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee of 13 experts, hand-picked by the Treasurer and advised by Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy, say the base rates of JobSeeker and other welfare payments should be increased to 90 per cent of the Age Pension.
That equates to a single JobSeeker recipient receiving just under $1000 a fortnight – reflecting an almost 40 per cent hike in their welfare payment.
The committee, led by left-wing Labor warrior Jenny Macklin and stacked with advocates for higher JobSeeker rates, was always going to deliver these recommendations, recommendations that a fiscally responsible government trying to rein in spending could never deliver.
Channelling the best of political satire, Chalmers released the 97-page interim economic inclusion advisory committee report at 5.11pm hoping it would be buried by media outlets.
Making it more clumsy was the fact that independent ACT senator David Pocock – whose vote the government needed to pass last year’s multi-employer bargaining industrial relations shake-up – wasn’t briefed by Chalmers.
The committee, set up to annually review the adequacy, effectiveness and sustainability of income support payments ahead of every budget, was the carrot offered by the government for Pocock’s support on IR reforms yet he received no briefing on the contents on the report and no heads up the findings were being dumped out.
Pocock is disappointed with the government’s handling of the report and his support for Anthony Albanese’s legislative agenda is not guaranteed.
Chalmers’ response to the report on Tuesday, that “we will always look to provide support where we can to those most in need”, mirrored comments on November 28 last year when he established the committee: “We will always work to support the most vulnerable in our society.”
The government’s lukewarm response to the top recommendation that JobSeeker be increased at a cost of $24bn was not well-received by Pocock.
“It appears that this Labor government can find extra money for just about anything – from inland rail cost blowouts to submarines – but it won’t do more to protect the most vulnerable,” he said.
The Macklin-led review, one of more than 50 reviews commissioned by the Albanese government including the Reserve Bank, Defence Strategic and Electric Vehicle Strategy reviews which are due in the coming week, comes amid budget pressures fuelled by consecutive indexation rises to welfare and pension payments and the ballooning costs of major social spending programs, including the ever-expanding NDIS.
The report recommends greater support for single parents and a substantial increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance. Everyone wants the disadvantaged to receive the support they need but questions must be raised over whether a committee is required for the government to get on with the job.
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