Politics

People Are Furious At The Government For Cutting JobSeeker Today

"How do you find $150 a week of savings in an already minuscule budget?"

by Rachael Conaghan  25 September 2020

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Today’s the day folks — from today people on JobSeeker will now get $150 less per week, despite economists saying it’s a terrible idea that’s going to fuck the economy.

JobKeeper is also falling from $1500 to $1200 a fortnight (or down to $750 a fortnight if you work fewer than 20 hours a week).

Research earlier this month found the increased JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments had saved 2.2 million Aussies from falling into poverty when the economic crisis hit.

But the government in all its infinite wisdom decided to ignore that, despite pleas from economists, welfare groups, other politicians and those people who have quite enjoyed being able to pay for both rent and food during a recession.

There are currently around 1.6 million people on JobSeeker. The coronavirus supplement effectively doubled this payment when it was introduced, making it the first time the unemployment payment has seen an increase, in real terms, for 20 years.

Despite the increase finally giving people some much-needed breathing room, the government has been determined to wind it back again — today’s cuts will see payments drop from about $1,100 a fortnight to a little over $800 a fortnight.

Government Gives Vulnerable People Another Kick In The Teeth, Because Why Not

Coinciding with the cuts to welfare is the announcement that the government will wind back banking regulations which which were designed to stop people taking out high-risk loans they can’t afford.

Translation: they don’t want to provide a liveable wage for vulnerable people, but they’re happy for those vulnerable people to go into huge debt to keep the economy ticking.

The responsible lending rules they’re so keen to scrap were bought in after the Global Financial Crisis (famously caused by banks’ irresponsible lending) to protect consumers from signing up for unaffordable loans or unsuitable credit products. The Treasurer says this will get rid of “red tape” and keep money flowing into business — which, you know, would keep happening if they just kept the JobSeeker rate the same.

Consumer groups have pointed out that piling more debt onto people who can’t afford has never solved an economic crisis. But why help poor people when you could force them into debt instead!

The JobKeeper wage subsidy is due to end in March, while the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement is due to end in December.