18th Mar 2021, 2:54 PM – Senate Social Services Legislation Amendment (Strengthening Income Support) Bill 2021 - Second Reading - Unemployment pay

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which means it shall remain unchanged. The usual motion is "that the bill be read a second time," which is parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill.

Amendment text

At the end of the motion, add: ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) the effect of this Bill will be to cut unemployment payments by $100 per fortnight at the end of March, at the same time as JobKeeper is ending, and

(ii) over 1.3 million people are relying on unemployment payments – almost twice as many as before the pandemic; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) abandon its counterproductive and punitive plans for a dob-in-a-jobseeker hotline that will only make life harder for job seekers and employers by further increasing mutual obligation requirements at a time when unemployment and underemployment is high,

(ii) consider allowing people to keep more of their earnings from part-time, casual or seasonal work, to help people move into employment, and

(iii) do more to support Australians facing poverty and hardship – through adequate payments to those who need them, housing, addressing child poverty, and better health and education services".