Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence) | Hansard source

I start my contribution to the debate on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Safety Net) Bill 2023 with a quote:

Employment advances the wellbeing of individuals and their families, grows community capability, and enables employers and the economy to be more productive.

This statement from the 2023-24 report to government by the Interim Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, a committee comprising social security and economics experts and leaders from the community sector, advocacy, organisations, unions, business and philanthropy, illustrates an important point: we need to do all we can to get people into jobs. It is good for the individual, good for the family, good for the community and good for the economy. On this we should all agree: a strong workforce supports economic growth and our nation. This is at the very heart of the coalition's opposition to an increase in JobSeeker and related work-age payments by $40 a fortnight. Why? It's simple: we want people working. We want to use all the incentives we can to assist people into jobs. We want jobseekers, including those who will have several attempts for various reasons before securing sustainable work, to at least have a crack, knowing the safety net of JobSeeker is there but the expectation of work remains constant.

I've shared my logic on why I am supporting most of the bill but not the JobSeeker increase. We all must remember that every single dollar spent by the government is a dollar someone else has earned. As I expressed in my maiden speech and have continued to advocate and repeat, we absolutely need to have greater transparency, accountability and outcomes for every taxpayer dollar spent.

Not only does employment underpin the economic output of our nation and enable people to support themselves, their families and their communities; it is also connected to physical and mental health and is a key factor for overall wellbeing. A simple look at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report confirms that.

In my home state of South Australia, the employment-to-population ratio is sitting at 61.8 per cent. That is 952,000 employed. South Australia's unemployment rate of four per cent sits higher than the national June figure of 3.5 per cent. When compared to the nation's underemployment rate of 6.4 per cent, South Australia again sits higher at 7.1 per cent.

Incentivising people to work is the way to increase opportunities for sustainable work, rather than incentivising them to stay on 'sit-down money', as I often hear it called. That's a devastating term. I hear it often where welfare is the expected destination in contrast to work. As I travel around South Australia and speak to businesses, from small to medium to large, they are all looking to hire more staff. It is like it is on repeat—'We're looking for workers. We're looking for workers. We can't find them.' But, despite looking for workers, they are finding it hard to find them—in hospitality, in health and even in volunteer organisations.

Last week in Adelaide I visited a vibrant family business in Melrose Park. The owner of the business, Alicia, expressed to me her frustration in not being able to find workers. Advertising for a shop assistant to serve her customers, Alicia recently received 70 applications, but only two of those applicants accepted the opportunity for an interview. She expressed her concern that it seemed that none of the applicants were really interested in the job but were more interested in being able to tick a box so they could continue to receive their benefits. Another example is a family owned electrical and mechanical engineering business in Dudley Park which has been searching for extra staff for more than a year. Their advertisements on Seek and other forums get a lot of box tickers—those who want to meet their mutual obligation requirements but really don't have a desire for paid work. The hidden part of this equation is that this process costs those small family businesses money and time. Revenue is not being generated while they are genuinely interviewing people or reading applications from those who really don't want a job.

We know the work is there. Just a one-minute search of Seek jobs website last week found over 9,000 jobs available in Adelaide alone. Looking nationally, there were 432,000 job vacancies in May. Job vacancies remain high—around 89 per cent higher in May 2023 than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Again batting above the statistics, my home state of South Australia recorded the largest growth in job vacancies, up nine per cent for the quarter.

Just as the coalition has repeatedly stated in policy, it is well known that the best form of welfare is a job. More should be done to help those on JobSeeker get the training and confidence needed to enter the workforce. This would benefit all Australians. I can attest to that, having previously worked in tourism and hospitality as the chief people and performance officer for more than 1,000 staff, many of whom were beginning their first jobs either as young people or as long-term unemployed. We knew that for them to succeed we needed to put in place responses that allowed for their development and confidence. We added training and engaged service providers to help with numeracy and literacy or medical care where they needed it and we set up social networks for those who were a long way from home. These were just some of the steps we took. These steps helped staff wellbeing, but, importantly for the business, retention levels rose. That support was only temporary, tailored and not permanent, recognising expectations were the same as every other employee. Low expectations kill expectations and diminish potential. If you can work, you should.

In being opposed to the proposed increased JobSeeker and related working-age payments by $40 a fortnight, the coalition is highlighting the need to provide the right incentive to ensure we are getting people into the workforce. With this particular increase in the indexation changes over the past year, since May 2022, the base rate of the JobSeeker payment will have increased 14 per cent. That's a 14 per cent increase. What other part of the Australian workforce has had a 14 per cent pay increase in the past 12 months?

True to its record, since gaining office the Albanese government has not done an appropriate level of modelling on increasing the income-free threshold from $150 a week. The Albanese government reluctantly implemented a coalition recommendation in 2022 to increase the amount jobseekers could earn before their income support payments are affected, and there is room for further increases in this threshold to encourage people to remain connected to work and to transition to work and off support payments.

With disciplined economic management during its time in government, the coalition was able to deliver the largest permanent increase to the JobSeeker income support payment. In the past three decades no government has done more for Australians doing it tough than the former coalition government. Under the Albanese government life is certainly harder for every Australian with rising costs of living, exorbitant energy costs—South Australia is one of the worst—and spare change in the hip pocket becoming a rarity for most Australians, let alone the growing line of standing behind people at teller machines when there's not enough money in there.

In summary, I join my coalition colleagues in supporting expanding eligibility for assistance for single parents, expanding the higher rate of JobSeeker to those aged 55 and an increase in Commonwealth rent assistance by 15 per cent. But I will not support an increase to JobSeeker and related working-age payments by $40 a fortnight because those who can work should be incentivised to do so. Work readiness is not at the centre of these reforms and leaves a policy gap that will have a disproportionate impact on those already disadvantaged in entering and remaining in the workforce. That's why the JobSeeker and related working-age payment income thresholds must be increased by $150 a fortnight, and the government not be able to proceed with the $40 increase per fortnight. Those on JobSeeker are on that payment because they are supposed to be looking for work and there is an expectation they will work. We need to help them and incentivise them to do that.