Unemployed and under-30 slam dole policy

By Natasha Robinson and Paul Cleary

Young unemployed men in western Sydney have branded as “ridiculous” Tony Abbott’s plan to axe the dole payments of those who refuse to relocate to take up jobs.

Michael Mauceri and Alex Mijalkovic — who both live in Labor-held seats — don’t fall into the category of voters that the Opposition Leader will be looking to woo in this year’s election.

On the contrary, there is little risk for the Liberal Party in alienating young men like Mr Mauceri and Mr Mijalkovic. And Labor’s western Sydney electorates contain some of the highest numbers of dole recipients in the country, excluding predominantly indigenous electorates.

Mr Abbott suggested last week that dole recipients aged under 30, who have been on welfare for longer than six months, should be required to move interstate to take up jobs in areas of skills shortage. Asked yesterday whether they would consider moving to Western Australia to take up jobs in the mining industry, Mr Mauceri and Mr Mijalkovic both dismissed the idea out of hand.

Mr Mijalkovic, who has been receiving the Newstart allowance for the past eight months but has qualifications in community welfare, said Mr Abbott’s proposal was totally unrealistic.

“It’s not going to happen,” said Mr Mijalkovic, whose ailing parents heavily depend on him. “I have studied so long to get where I am and worked really hard, and for Mr Abbott to throw me into WA — it’s not going to happen.”

Even after studying and obtaining university qualifications, finding jobs is very difficult for young people, said 23-year-old Mr Mauceri.

The youth worker from Blacktown is currently employed in a permanent part-time position, working 24 hours a week. But he was forced to go on the dole for six months following university as he was constantly turned down for jobs because of lack of experience.

Despite the difficulties of finding work in the city, Mr Mauceri said he would not consider moving interstate.

“Being disconnected from family and everyone, it would be very depressing,” he said. “Being forced to move across the country to work, it’s just ridiculous.”

Mr Mauceri’s outer western suburbs electorate of Chifley is held by Labor with a margin of 13 per cent.

His home suburb of Blacktown had, at 8 per cent, one of the highest unemployment rates in Sydney last year. Employment agencies say they are going to great lengths and expense to help the unemployed in areas with high unemployment to take advantage of work opportunities around the country.

But experts say it is unrealistic to expect an unemployed person could move straight into a job in the resources sector. Mission Australia’s chief executive Toby Hall says the agency has had some success in helping the unemployed relocate, but it is a hard slog. He says that youths in western Sydney have sometimes been raised in households where no one has ever worked.

Therefore they need to learn about the structure of a workplace, how to communicate with their boss, and basic literacy and numeracy skills, Mr Hall says.

Grants of up to $5000 are available to help the unemployed relocate, but they do not apply to people in jobs.