Handouts for the wealthy while the unemployed continue to be squeezed

Friday, 12 March 2021 - 10:00am to 10:30am

With the COVID supplement to JobSeeker set to finish at the end of March, the federal government announced it would increase the ongoing weekly payment by a measly $25 per week, leaving people to live on about $307 per week.

Meanwhile more than 60 publicly listed businesses became wealthier during COVID while receiving JobKeeper and other government handouts.

These handouts to the higher end of town contrast with the punitive approach taken to unemployed people struggling on below poverty-line payments.

Jennifer interviews an unemployed man, Cliff, who was a full time truck driver til having a heart attack ten years ago.
Cliff talks about what it is like living on JobSeeker and the challenges of making ends meet and finding work. (NB: While he works 12 hours per week cleaning, he is only $70 per week better off).

 

 

 

Friday 10:00am to 10:30am
Think Again offers weekly conversations and reflections about current events, trends and public pronouncements on contemporary and emerging issues. The show moves beyond what we read and hear via the public and ‘social’ media, to invite alternative possibilities to guide our thinking, living and organising.

Presenter

Jennifer Borrell & Jacques Boulet

Topic