Connor Drum lies to Centrelink about his income, and steals food through the self-serve checkout machines at the supermarket.

Key points: The Deputy Prime Minister says Newstart recipients should seek jobs in regional hubs like Parkes, in his NSW electorate

The Deputy Prime Minister says Newstart recipients should seek jobs in regional hubs like Parkes, in his NSW electorate Jobseekers say moving towns poses a big risk that is untenable without better support

Jobseekers say moving towns poses a big risk that is untenable without better support Inland rail is expected to bring a boom in jobs to regional centres in coming years

He wants the public, and politicians in particular, to know that is where life on unemployment benefits has left him.

Mr Drum is underemployed — he works at a theatre's ticket office casually, and spends most of his time volunteering to help run a Canberra art gallery.

He readily admits to giving Centrelink false information about his income, in order to maximise his payments.

He said there was nothing good about lying or stealing, but he could not see another option.

"There is no way to survive on the money that you get otherwise," he said.

"Certainly not if you are trying to find yourself in some kind of stable position."

The Federal Government has come under increasing pressure to raise the rate, which is currently $555.70 per fortnight for singles with no dependent children.

Mr Drum said he had been searching for jobs across his home town of Canberra for some time, with no success.

He has worked in labouring and library assistant roles in the past, but said he was not picky when it came to work.

"Any kind of office job, I don't really mind to be honest," he said.

"It's just so abysmally awful being poor, I will just do whatever shitkicker job it is that you give me. It's fine, at this point.

"If you wanted me to imagine the dream job — just one that pays. That's it. That's literally the condition."

Jobseekers urged to look to booming regions

Some of the political pressure to raise Newstart has come from within the Federal Government's own ranks, particularly the National Party.

Backbencher Barnaby Joyce made headlines in calling for the rate to be lifted, suggesting his own financial predicaments had given him a fresh perspective on the issue.

Inland rail is expected to bring jobs to regional towns like Parkes. ( ABC News: Tamara Penniket )

But Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has another suggestion for those struggling to find work.

"Go to an inland town, go to an inland city, look in the jobs pages, look online, there are jobs there," he said.

"It mightn't be the job they want right for the here and now, but there are jobs there. Take that job."

Mr McCormack would have Mr Drum and others like him consider a town like Parkes, in the Central West region of New South Wales.

The town of roughly 10,000 people is preparing to boom — it is set to become a major freight hub thanks to the $9 billion Inland Rail Project, which is due for completion by mid-next decade.

"What it means for Parkes is jobs," Mr McCormack said.

"What it means is a big and bright future."

Rail line bringing jobs inland

Parkes, in Mr McCormack's electorate of Riverina, sits at the intersection of the east-west and north-south rail line.

As major freight companies like Pacific National invest in new facilities along the line, jobs are being created.

Construction workers are currently building the line itself, while the town is preparing for an industry boom as it comes online as a freight hub.

But like most other parts of regional New South Wales, Parkes is in the grip of drought, which is putting downward pressure on its job market.

Bosmac owner James Haddin says jobseekers will likely find work in Parkes. ( ABC News: Tamara Penniket )

James Haddin, whose business Bosmac specialises in repairing farming machinery, said he would usually be in a position to offer work to almost anyone willing, particularly if they were qualified.

He usually offers apprenticeships as well — but the drought has forced him to cut back on staff.

"At the moment I'm probably down two staff members, from where we would normally like to be," he said.

"So that's a bit of a difficult thing."

But he said if people really wanted work, they would find it in Parkes — particularly through the Inland Rail Project.

"If you're willing to work, and want to work, I don't think you'd have too much hassle finding something in the Parkes area," he said.

Moving without support, guarantees 'not an option' for some

But Mr Drum said the barriers for someone in his position meant moving from Canberra to a town like Parkes was too great a risk.

He said he would be taking a huge gamble to move towns while in a precarious financial position, without a solid guarantee of finding work.

"With no support available, I just don't trust Centrelink to support me well enough by myself alone in town to live out that transitional period," he said.

Mr Drum also has a chronic health condition, and said he worried about leaving behind the support network of family and friends in Canberra.

"The risks involved in doing that are just really immense, and nobody who is demanding this of people has any understanding of what that risk entails," he said.

"Not on a personal level, not on a financial level, not on a familial level, not on a social level — they don't know, and they never will know."

He said the Federal Government should put people like him in a better position to find work close to home, rather than suggesting they uproot their lives

"I think Newstart should absolutely be lifted, not raising it is cutting it," he said.

"If the payment that you are providing somebody does not match increases in the price of things they have to use that money to buy things with, it's a pay cut."

He also rejected suggestions he was a "job snob", a term used by some to describe those knocking back job opportunities they consider beneath them.

"Offer me the job — I don't have the job offer," he said.

Mr McCormack said the suggestion that people on Newstart were turning to crime to get by was terrible, but it did not justify increasing the rate.

"I would abhor people for resorting to these means — the fact is that they can get jobs, the fact is they can get legal work," he said.

"They just have to … find that ability within themselves to go out from where they are at the moment."