The vice-president of the Unemployed Workers’ Union has launched an angry rant against the government, claiming the budget will put benefit claimants ‘below the poverty line’.
Catherine Caine started her five-minute video on Tuesday with a ‘f*** you’ to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party.
The post was made amid growing calls for the government to increase Jobseeker’s Allowance in the budget, which ultimately fell on deaf ears.
Catherine Caine (pictured) called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a ‘spineless bastard’ in response to a lack of change in welfare benefits
“On 95 percent of the issues you articulated so beautifully before the election,” an irate Ms. Caine began.
“All these big things about First Nations, justice, environmental action and the completely inadequate income support.
‘What did you do about it? Nothing.’
She went on to describe Mr Albanese as a “spineless bastard” who is leaving Australians “floating in shit and desperately trying to keep their heads above water”.
Ms Caine, who relies on a disability pension due to chronic fatigue, defended her tirade on Thursday.
“Labor in opposition gained a lot of political capital by saying that social benefits were inadequate,” she said The Daily Telegraph.
“Now that they have the power to do something about it, their political will seems to have disappeared.”
Ms Caine believes the Government should increase the benefit from the current rate of $381 per week to ‘at least $650 per week’ to keep benefit recipients ‘above the poverty line’.
Ms Caine was also asked why hundreds of thousands of Australians had been unemployed for more than two years.
“They can apply for a thousand jobs and they won’t get anything,” she said.
“They’re just at the back of the line.”
Ms Caine is one of many members of the Unemployed Workers’ Union who have called for higher Jobseeker’s Allowance to keep up with the rising cost of living.
She wants the government to increase benefits from the current rate of $381 per week to ‘at least $650 per week’ to keep benefit recipients ‘above the poverty line’.
One of those recipients told the newspaper she has been struggling to make ends meet since losing her government job six months ago.
The single mother qualifies for $716 per week in government assistance, the equivalent of working nearly 31 hours per week at minimum wage and earning $23.23 per hour.
Ms Caine’s tirade followed the release of Labour’s third federal budget on Tuesday evening (pictured, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese)
However, the mother claims she and her 14-year-old daughter are at risk of falling into poverty, especially because their landlord has increased the rent by $45 a week.
‘When winter comes, I’m nervous. Because I can keep the heat off, but not for my child,” she said.
The mother added that the application criteria to qualify for benefits makes her “feel like a circus animal jumping through hoops.”
When asked if she would be willing to return to full-time work, the mother said, “It would be a more difficult transition… but I certainly wouldn’t say no.”