Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As has already been stated, Labor agrees with the no-show no-pay principle for appointments contained in the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Job Seeker Compliance Framework) Bill 2014. However, we do have some concerns regarding a number of measures contained within the legislation.

Yesterday Melbourne experienced a wild thunder-and-lightning storm. It delayed planes from Melbourne. On-the-ground commuters faced chaos on the roads and the public transport system. Radio talkback was full of people calling in to say it had taken them an hour to travel five kilometres or that it had taken 2½ hours to get to work. There was one story of a four-hour commute. People in Melbourne were sitting in these cars waiting at bus stops and train stations. Some of them were people from Lalor—outer metro workers trying to get to their place of employment.

There would also have been job seekers from Lalor sitting in these cars and waiting on platforms—job seekers who would have been late for their appointments through no fault of their own, job seekers who currently would be able to make an explanation and hopefully be able to reschedule their appointments. I listened with interest to the member for Dobell when she talked about the fact that there would be no penalty as long as prior notice is given, and I wondered how someone sitting at a train station or at a bus stop or even in a car on the highway is going to give prior notice for not meeting an appointment. The legislators in this place always need to bear in mind personal circumstances, circumstances that do not necessarily occur to those of us here in Canberra who do not face the same problems in getting to work that those back in our electorates do.

This legislation means that next year those job seekers might have their payments suspended. A day like yesterday could mean automatic suspension of payments. Hopefully common sense would prevail and these payments would be reinstated, but even a short period with no payment means limited money to catch the train or drive the car to the rescheduled appointment. It is reassuring to hear that the provisions that already exist within the system will be maintained despite this legislation—but we will wait and see how that pans out on the ground.

Labor does believe that job seekers need to be assisted to find work. I believe that most job seekers want that opportunity. They want to work. They value not only the income but the pride in employment. Labor agrees there must be measures in place that require mutual obligation in receiving a support payment while seeking work. In government we drove policy and reforms to do just that.

Being a former teacher and school principal, and someone who spent a lot of years working at the senior end of secondary school, I have heard a lot of reluctance—

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