Forrest Backs Welfare Cuts to Double Jobs for First Australians
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Billionaire miner Andrew Forrest, tasked by Prime Minister Tony Abbott to help end disparity between indigenous and other Australians, recommended a raft of measures including welfare cuts in an effort to double employment among aborigines.
“We must make jobs more attractive and ensure that welfare entitlements are such that transition to the workforce is reinforced,” Forrest, the chairman of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., said in his 256-page report released today. The government needs to “make better use of the existing funding, and make sure First Australian workers of the future are given opportunities to move to take up work and to contribute to the productivity of the nation,” he said.