Everyman and his dog is having a go at ScoMo about the Newstart allowance - when will he give in ?Go figure, PM: The real ‘extras’ with Newstart cost $8.80 a fortnightSamantha Maiden 10:45pm, Jul 31, 2019 Updated: 1h ago
Figures show Scott Morrison wasn't quite telling the truth about the Newstart payments. Photo: Getty
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been accused of peddling porkies after claiming people on the dole secure $130 a fortnight on average in extra payments.The New Daily asked welfare groups, the Department of Social Services and the Australian National University to crunch the numbers.
The Department’s figures show a majority of people on Newstart – 51 per cent – receive on average just $14 a fortnight extra and no rent assistance.
ANU Associate Professor Ben Phillips said the more accurate figure is the median amount people on Newstart receive from a supplement payment.
The median figure is just $8.80 a fortnight.
The base rate of Newstart is $555 a fortnight or less than $40 a day.
The supplements available to the unemployed include carer’s allowance, the energy supplement, rent assistance, and family tax benefits.
The majority do not secure rent assistance either, but the “99 per cent” who secure an extra payment largely consists of an energy supplement worth a piddling 65 cents a day.
Read the starving rest herehttps://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/07/31/newstart-extras-8-80-a-fortn...