Scare tactic on ‘dole bludgers’

THE Morrison Government has been accused of trying to resurrect the “dole bludger” stereotype as it pushes back against a growing chorus of calls to increase the Newstart unemployment benefit.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has released figures showing a majority of payments had been suspended because the recipients missed appointments. Nearly four-infive of 744,884 Jobactive participants had payments suspended at least once in the 12 months to the end of June.

One-in-12 jobseekers racked up 10 or more suspensions in the year, and one person had payments suspended 52 times.

Senator Cash (pictured) said the figures showed the penalty and demerit system was working, pointing out people re-engaged after copping the punishment.

“When participants have their payments suspended up to 52 times in less than a year, they are not living up to what the taxpayer, who are giving their hard-earned money to the Government, expects,” she said yesterday.

The Australian Council of Social Services labelled the figures alarming but said it had predicted similar results.

“I hope the minister understands that when you have the kind of findings that she’s released today, it is the system that’s the problem, and the automation has become brutal for people,” chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.

Labor frontbencher Jason Clare said while people on Newstart should follow the rules, the Government was depicting recipients are “dole bludgers”, “surfies up the coast” or “pot-smoking hippies”.

“The truth is very different,” he said. “The biggest group of people on Newstart are older people.”