Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has proposed banning the dole for young people in a bid to fill the massive skills shortages in the resources sector.
Mr Abbott raised the controversial idea during a two-hour meeting with senior resources industry leaders in Perth on Monday night, The Australian newspaper reports.
He said cutting dole payments to people aged under 30 would take pressure off the welfare system and reduce the need to bring in large numbers of skilled migrants to staff mining projects in Western Australia and Queensland.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
But Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes attacked Mr Abbott's remarks.
"If he genuinely thinks you are going to solve an economically crippling skills shortage by taking punitive measures against welfare recipients, he has clearly never lived in the real world," Mr Howes told Wednesday's paper.
A spokeswoman told The Australian Mr Abbott's comments did not mean the approach was Coalition policy.
'Policy on the run' says Rudd
Kevin Rudd has slammed Tony Abbott's reported idea of banning the dole for people under 30 .. labelling it policy on the run.
The opposition leader's flagged a jobless benefits age test as a way of enticing young people to move west to fill labour shortages in the resources sector.
The prime minister's told Sky News it's time the opposition leader did some work before answering these sorts of questions.
