Thousands knocking back jobs to live on welfare: report
There are tens of thousands of Australians choosing to live on the dole in areas of high unemployment rather than work, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Figures provided by the Turnbull government to the newspaper show there are nearly 36,000 people across Australia quitting jobs or knocking back job offers in favour of the good life on welfare.
Human Services Minister Alan Tudge claims there are areas in Australia where there are as many people on welfare as there are earning an income.
"We are fortunate to have a strong social security system for when people are down on their luck, but it must be a safety net, not a destination," Mr Tudge said.
Areas such as Auburn and Regents Park in Sydney's west and Coffs Harbour on the NSW mid-north coast are said to have as many people over the age of 18 on welfare as there are working, News Corp reports.
Some of those on welfare shot down job offers outright or simply failed to show up while more than 22,000 reportedly quit without giving a sufficient explanation.
Around 10,000 of those on the dole were fired for serious misconduct, the figures show, such as theft, assaulting or harassing colleagues or customers.
Some simply stopped showing up to work.
The Turnbull government is said to be looking at intergenerational welfare where entire generations of families live off the government purse from cradle to the grave.
Senator Pauline Hanson is calling for waiting periods to be implemented for those who choose not to work and move to tourist areas instead.
"We have people ripping off the system," Ms Hanson told Sunrise.
"They're going to tourist areas – Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast – purely because they know they won't get a job."
Regional towns are affected more than urban areas, where many entry-level jobs like fruit picking are going unfilled.
Today's top news stories – December 12
