Early on the morning of 23 February news about JobSeeker started to trickle out through the webs, first with a story on the Sydney Morning Herald website, then one on the Guardian’s website. The SMH said JobSeeker would go up by $80 and fortnight and the Guardian said it would go up by $50 a fortnight.
Either way, it was disappointing. Though to get any movement on the unemployment benefit was a good thing. It just wasn’t far enough to make a real difference to the way people are affected by unemployment. As I’ve pointed out before, Covid-19 has changed the debate about government support. We now know that the cost to the collective from doing things for others is not insurmountable. The old right-wing consensus has been badly eroded and people understand, now, that doing things together is better, sometimes, than always making people function as atomised individuals. Shared destiny is a witness to hope.
Every cent spent on JobSeeker will go back into the economy, as people use the money the government gives them to buy food, clothes, pay rent, and travel to appointments that to miss would be disastrous. That’s why the rate has to be raised, and by at least $150 per fortnight. That’s only $10 a day extra. It might not sound like a lot, but if you have to choose between eating a sandwich and getting on the train, things are more critical.
It’s critical that we do the right thing.
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