Tony Abbott is not giving much away about a possible coalition crackdown on welfare reported to include compulsory work for the dole and tougher tests for disability pensioners.
"It's good that in opposition we are prepared to think outside the square," the opposition leader told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday when quizzed about details of a policy being developed by a coalition committee.
If Australia was to be a prosperous society in the future it would have to try to maximise the productivity of its people, Mr Abbott said.
"That means trying to ensure that as many people as possible are in the workforce."
Before he became opposition leader in December, Mr Abbott reportedly proposed that all unemployed people under 50 be forced to work for the dole after three months.
He also advocated that disability pensioners with "less serious medical conditions" - about one-third of the 700,000 receiving the benefit - be forced to take annual medical reassessments and sit two interviews a year "to encourage them into employment", Fairfax newspapers reported on Wednesday.
Mr Abbott also floated the idea of pushing up the pension aged for elderly Australians.
Liberal MP Stuart Robert said no idea should be off-limits.
"We don't have sacred cows. Everything's on the table," he told reporters.
"We should be setting an ideal that says if people are able to work they should be encouraged to work in every circumstances."
Opposition frontbencher Peter Dutton said the government had talked much about welfare reform but done little.
"Coalition policy in relation to this area is being formulated at the moment," he said.
The previous Howard government and Labor both acknowledged the very large number of people on disability support pensions, he said.
"Those people with a capacity to work should work," Mr Dutton said.
"Those people who have a disability that means that they can't work, then we should be providing those people with support."
Share
