Out-of-work Australians will not receive any substantial boost to their unemployment benefit, regardless of who wins the federal election, with Labor dumping plans to review the rate of JobSeeker.
Labor went to the 2019 election promising to set up an independent review of the allowance but has quietly ditched the policy position to focus on broader cost-of-living pressures.
JobSeeker was increased by $50 a fortnight last year — the first permanent increase in decades — and with indexation, is now worth $642.70 per fortnight, or about $46 a day.
That is marginally higher than the old Newstart rate of $40 a day.
Labor had long argued for a permanent increase, together with the Greens and a broad coalition of welfare and business groups, but it appears there is now little appetite within the party for any further changes.
Shadow Health Minister Mark Butler defended the party's position to lock in behind the existing rate, saying it reflected its "much more focused, more modest agenda".
"I think the pressure that Labor put on the government was a very big part of the reason why the government didn't cut the job seeker rate back to $40 a day and instead locked in a $50 a fortnight increase, very significant," he said.
"This is a this is a difficult rate for people to live on, which is why we argued so strongly for an increase."
By dropping plans for a review, Labor is hoping to avoid a clash with the Coalition over income support at a time when the unemployment rate on track to hit a 50-year low, and the participation rate reaching record highs.
There was also a view that the party should avoid making expensive welfare commitments given JobSeeker already costs the budget more than $15 billion a year.
Labor Leader Anthony Albanese said he was conscious of the massive debt and deficit Labor would be inheriting, if it won the election, and indicated the dole might be reviewed further down the track.
"We don't have a plan to increase the JobSeeker allowance in our first budget," he said.
"But every time governments do a budget, they should look at what is responsible and do what they can to help people in need."
Labor criticised by welfare groups
It was left to Shadow Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh to confirm Labor's new position at a social services conference on Tuesday where he talked up the party's broader plans to address the rising cost of living.
"We don't have a plan for an independent review at this stage," he told the conference.
"The focus has been principally around our social housing commitment, which would see 30,000 additional social and affordable homes put into the market."
In a sign of the backlash Labor can expect from the welfare sector, Cassandra Goldie from the Australian Council of Social Service immediately rebuked Mr Leigh.
"There is such broad consensus across the community about the need to fix the adequacy of JobSeeker as a key cause of the level of poverty that's being experienced by single parents, older women, people with a disability," Ms Goldie said.
Before the payment was increased last year, Mr Albanese admitted he could not live on the old rate Newstart rate of $40 a day, and Shadow Social Services Minister Linda Burney labelled it "untenable".
