Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Families and Social Services, Minister Ruston. There are a quarter of a million people on Newstart who have been stuck on the payment for a year and are looking for a job. I've heard from some of them. They're the ones going to job interviews on foot because they can't afford the bus ticket. They turn up to every interview in the same shirt because they can't afford a new one. They're doing the right thing. They're having a go. They're trying to find work, and Newstart's payment rate is making it harder, not easier. How is that fair? Is that deliberate? Will the government consider raising the rate of Newstart to help people get off welfare and into a job?