Tasmania has historically had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. It also has one of the highest levels of youth unemployment in Australia – and accordingly, one of the highest levels of dependency on welfare.
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A third of all Tasmanian households receive government pensions and allowances.
For the vast majority, maintaining even a spartan lifestyle wouldn’t be possible without some level of financial assistance from the federal government.
For some, it’s all the money they receive.
So the suggestion at the weekend by recently returned Queensland National MP George Christensen to cut the dole payments of recipients after six months is nothing short of ignorant.
Over the years, there have been a number of recommendations thrown around with the aim of reducing the country’s ‘dependency’ on welfare payments – which now accounts for about a third of our federal budget at just under $150 billion a year.
There’s no doubt our welfare commitment is high. But what are the alternatives?
Mr Christensen’s plan would severely impact our most vulnerable Australians, particularly those doing it tough in Tasmania.
“Maybe if they know their dole will run out in six months they’ll go and get a job,” Mr Christensen told a Queensland newspaper over the weekend.
To infer that the long-term unemployed can simply “go and get a job” is naive and shortsighted.
There are thousands of Tasmanians desperate to work, but simply cannot find a job.
Tasmania has the highest rate of youth unemployment in the country, with one-in-six (17.4 per cent) people aged between 15 and 24 out of work.
Compare that to the national average of just 12 per cent.
It’s a fact that there will always be more people looking for work than there are jobs available.
Forcing our already lowest paid members of society into a situation where they may receive no money altogether is likely to force more people onto the streets, or potentially into a life of petty crime.
By all means, do what’s necessary to crack down on people who rort our welfare system.
But careful consideration must be given to all those affected before making any drastic, sweeping changes.