New social services minister stands by Scott Morrison's wait-for-dole plan

Extract from The Guardian

Christian Porter believes legislation to force jobseekers under 25 to wait an extra month for welfare payments is ‘hand on heart, fair-minded’

Liberal MP Christian Porter in Parliament in 2013: ‘I think they’re completely fair changes.’ Photograph: Daniel Munoz/AAP

Shalailah Medhora

Monday 21 September 2015 17.56 AEST

The newly sworn-in minister for social services, Christian Porter, has vowed to press on with legislation that would require young jobseekers to wait for an additional four weeks for unemployment benefits, despite the Senate crossbench remaining cool on the idea.

Porter was one of the biggest winners from Malcolm Turnbull’s ascension to prime minister, after the Western Australian MP was promoted from parliamentary secretary to cabinet minister in the key social services portfolio. He was sworn in on Monday morning, taking the role from Scott Morrison, who became treasurer.

When asked on ABC Radio if he would pursue legislation which would make jobseekers under 25 wait for an extra month on top of the current one week waiting period for dole payments, Porter said: “I think so.

“I think they’re completely fair changes. The way in which minister Morrison when he was in the position structured all the exemption from those wait times, I think they’re incredibly fair. And I think the fairness of those can be sold to the crossbenchers.”

The Senate shot down the legislation less than a fortnight ago after it failed to receive the support of Labor, the Greens and most crossbench senators. The government’s first iteration of the changes were introduced in the 2014 budget, and would have seen jobseekers under 30 wait for six months before accessing unemployment payments. It was one of the most controversial measures of that year’s budget, and was dropped after failing to convince the public and the Senate.

Porter is optimistic the legislation forcing a four-week waiting period will pass the Senate.

“I understand that those negotiations have been ongoing for some time, but they are approaching something that you might think would be a resolution. I’ll step into those negotiations,” he said. “But absolutely you have to pursue those types of savings, particularly if they’re fair minded, and I hand on heart absolutely think that they are.”

But most Senate crossbench still are not convinced.

Because Labor and the Greens are opposed, Porter needs the support of six of the eight Senate crossbenchers. Only two – David Leyonhjelm and Bob Day – supported it when it was shot down in September.

Independent senator John Madigan is firmly opposed to the legislation, but abstained during the vote. The remaining five senators – Nick Xenophon, Glenn Lazarus, Jacqui Lambie, Dio Wang and Ricky Muir – voted against the legislation.

None of the crossbench senators who previously opposed the bill have shifted their position.

“I’d be surprised if it passed,” a spokesman for Madigan told Guardian Australia. “It seems like really bad policy from the start.”

Madigan would consider passing the legislation only if the government introduced “dramatically different” amendments.

Xenophon praised Porter’s “optimism politics”, but said he too would consider voting for the legislation only if it was substantially altered.

“Glenn is very concerned about the impact of this legislation on young people in Queensland,” a spokeswoman for Lazarus said. “The economy is so bad that there are no jobs, particularly in Queensland.”

Labor’s spokeswoman on families and payments, Jenny Macklin, said Porter’s commitment to the legislation was “deeply concerning”.

“If Malcolm Turnbull wants to show new leadership he would listen to Labor, listen to the Senate, listen to young people and drop these cuts forever,” she said.