Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison has taken aim at welfare rorters — including reported cases of polygamy by Muslims to take advantage of spousal benefits — saying cracking down is a priority for the government, seven days ahead of the release of the midyear budget update.
Speaking on Sydney radio this morning, Mr Morrison said while the government is sometimes outmanoeuvred by some welfare cheats, measures that have yet to be approved by parliament could add billions to the budget’s bottom line.
“Sometimes the crooks move quicker than the welfare cops on these things,” he told 2GB Radio.
“We’ve got $6b of welfare savings measures before the parliament right now. Labor are like that guy on the roadside when they’re doing roadwork, but they’ve got the sign on stop when it comes to fixing the economy.”
The practice of polygamy by Muslim men and women to claim multiple Centrelink benefits is “100 per cent wrong”, Mr Morrison said. However, he said it would be more expensive for the government if each wife claimed an independent welfare allowance.
“The law and its implementation cannot condone polygamy. It’s against our values, it’s 100 per cent wrong,” he said.
“But you don’t want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
The government’s proposed four-week waiting period for school leavers to access Youth Allowance was another issue the Treasurer referred to specifically.
“Originally it was at six months, and that was unacceptable to the Senate,” he said. "(It’s) so you can’t go from the school front gate to the Centrelink front door.”
“We put the protections in place, these are young people who can stack shelves, pick fruit, and we say if they knock back those jobs they should not be getting the dole.”