It’s arguably easier to get and to keep than in some other OECD countries (certainly the US) and partly it’s due to higher wages too. But beyond that, Australia is a country that has been infested with anti-welfare propaganda by the Murdoch family and other conservative papers, for many, many decades.
And Liberal governments since the 1990s have actively gone out of the way to prevent increases and to make welfare harder to get. It was only the Senate that prevented some truly draconian anti-welfare measures being put in place by the Abbott government in 2014, for example. Labor too haven’t been particularly helpful (and at times harmful) and even if there is some sympathy from those within the party, they appear to be scared of conservative backlash.
It’s arguably easier to get and to keep than in some other OECD countries (certainly the US) and partly it’s due to higher wages too. But beyond that, Australia is a country that has been infested with anti-welfare propaganda by the Murdoch family and other conservative papers, for many, many decades.
And Liberal governments since the 1990s have actively gone out of the way to prevent increases and to make welfare harder to get. It was only the Senate that prevented some truly draconian anti-welfare measures being put in place by the Abbott government in 2014, for example. Labor too haven’t been particularly helpful (and at times harmful) and even if there is some sympathy from those within the party, they appear to be scared of conservative backlash.