mindset.

Credit: Charlie Perkins BA (1936-2000)

Summary:

Charlie Perkins was a human rights activist, and the first Indigenous man in Australia to graduate from University. Perkins was quoted as saying (and I paraphrase):

You’ve gotta do things in the space of one year which it takes normal bureaucratic mechanisms to do in five to ten years… Do things in the shortest possible time in the best possible way for the greatest number of people. If you are not doing it that way you’re too slow… So what are you doing about?

Real world application:

Hundreds of thousands of Australians supported by government payments, particularly youth allowance and unemployment benefits are living in income poverty. It is time to raise the government benefits to a minimum of $80 per day and index the payments to the rise in wages rather than CPI. And let’s do it pronto.

Concept detail:

The following is a concrete example of how it can be done when there is political will. From 27 April 2020 to 24 September 2020, in direct response to tens of thousands of Australians losing employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Government introduced a $550 per fortnight Coronavirus Supplement. This supplement was paid on top of other government support payments, such as JobSeeker (at that time $574.50 per fortnight) and Youth Allowance (at that time $309.20 per fortnight). The decisive measure effectively doubled the income of those receiving government benefits from approximately $40 per day to $80 per day. It was a rapid response targeted primarily at those workers laid off from their usual employment due to government mandated COVID restrictions.  It was welcomed almost universally by the long term unemployed, and provided a small test window through which to see the positive impact of raising the JobSeeker rate on the reduction of the number of Australians living in poverty. In practical terms, workers displaced from their jobs were provided a financial safety net at their time of time. The higher rate reflected the bare minimum that displaced workers required to maintain aspects of their previous standard of living. Logic holds that if displaced workers in 2020 require $80 per day to survive, then people who find themselves in need of government support after 2020 should also receive a minimum of $80 per day in benefits.

The budgetary impact of such an increase will be addressed in other posts related to government priorities, financial mismanagement and waste.