Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer says he would consider voting for a waiting period for young people to qualify for the dole, but only if it is no longer than 60 seconds.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In comments that further cruel the Coalition’s chances of negotiating support for its plan to make people under 30 wait for six months for unemployment benefits, Mr Palmer said his party would support a waiting period of ''one minute but that’s about it''.
''How long is an MP prepared to wait for their salary?'' he asked, adding that the government should bring on a Senate vote on the policy so PUP could ''knock it over''.
As the Coalition continues its budget sell, there have been suggestions that the government could wind back the proposed six-month waiting period.
The current waiting period for Newstart is one week. The government wants people under 30 to wait for six months, but does not have the Senate's support.
On Monday, Reserve Bank board member Heather Ridout called the government's proposal ''ideological and far too harsh'' and suggested that Mr Palmer and the crossbench compromise with a one-month wait.
But Mr Palmer dismissed that idea on Tuesday, saying young people needed self respect when they were ''down and out''.
Despite the lack of support for the key budget measure, Mr Palmer said the Newstart issue had not been raised with him in recent meetings he has had with Treasurer Joe Hockey and his office.
Other crossbench Senators, including Australian Motoring Enthusiast Ricky Muir and independent Nick Xenophon, have also reported that the government did not raise the welfare waiting period in their recent budget meetings.
Senator Xenophon said his opposition to the measure is already well known to the government and that he Mr Hockey talked in ''broad terms'' about the budget situation.
One Liberal MP said that the government was not raising Newstart in the crossbench meetings because it had no parliamentary support and the Coalition was preparing to back away from the measure.
When asked why the Treasurer was not raising the dole changes, a spokeswoman for Mr Hockey said: ''We aren’t giving a running commentary of discussions.''
This comes as Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews hinted the government would be willing to give some ground on the measure.
''We want to see what is on the table from any other parties,'' he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
''If their starting point is that we need to ensure that as many people as possible get into work, that it is wrong to have young people in particular stuck on welfare for long periods of time . . . Then I'm sure we can come to some sensible conclusion.''
On Wednesday, a Senate inquiry will begin public hearings on the government's social security budget measures, including the six-month welfare wait.
