The $550-per-fortnight coronavirus supplement should have started to appear in the accounts of people on JobSeeker - formerly Newstart - and Youth Allowance last week.
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This measure will prove to be effective for two main reasons: first, it will allow those on these widely recognised low rates of payment to afford essentials, particularly at a time when the cost of living is going up quickly for the poorest, thus easing the strain on our social services. And second, this money will almost certainly go straight back into local economies, acting as a stimulus at a time when spending power is reduced.
It's basic Keynesian economics.
Where the problem will almost certainly arise for the government is in September when it plans to roll back these additional payments. The low rate of Newstart has, for over two decades, acted as a barrier for those wanting to lift themselves out of poverty. It made it difficult to afford transport, communications and other essentials for obtaining employment, it encouraged the poorest to fall prey to payday lending and rent-to-own schemes - thus loading them up with more debt - and increased the desperation that can result in criminal offending for survival. It perpetuated the inter-generational poverty that is so evident in Tasmania. In the coming months, the government will see that Australia's demonisation of the unemployed was based on generalisations. The majority want to improve the lives of themselves and their families, not wile away their time with "free money".
JobSeeker is to assist people while they seek to regain employment, not live on permanently. However, the need for a rise to the pre-pandemic level of the benefit is evident. By how much is open for debate.
And with senator Jacqui Lambie unlikely to vote to remove the supplement, it presents an opportunity for Labor to join her in pushing the government to come up with a fairer welfare system.
The Senate inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart heard passionate evidence from individuals and social service organisations who have breathlessly advocated for raising the rate. It recommends even more reviews, but the facts are already clear to see.
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