Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Reynolds for her question. On this side of the chamber we are very proud to say that one of our fundamental beliefs is that the best form of welfare is a job. That is why, yet again, in the budget that was delivered last night we are putting in place extensive measures to assist Australians who are currently on welfare move from that position into work.

In terms of the programs that we are investing in, we are extending the successful ParentsNext program. This is all about helping parents of young children move back into the workforce when their youngest child goes to school. Our new PaTH program is getting our youth who are staring down the barrel of long-term unemployment off welfare and giving them the chance to get a job. And, of course, more and more older Australians will be looking for work. We will be supporting them with our new career-transition training.

It is a fact that the majority of jobseekers do the right thing. However, there are a minority of welfare recipients who are capable of working but, unfortunately, they deliberately shirk their mutual obligations. What we will put in place is a new targeted compliance framework to address this deliberate shirking of obligations. Under the government's changes, jobseekers who repeatedly fail to comply with their agreed job plan with no reasonable excuse will now face effective penalties. Our welfare system is there to provide a strong safety net for those who need it, but it should also be one that encourages and motivates those who can find work to find work. It should not be abused by those who deliberately do not want to comply with their obligations.