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Labor's national conference will be asked to commit to a rise in the dole. Darcy Byrne, the Labor mayor of Sydney's Inner West Council, is lobbying conference delegates ahead of the July meeting to enshrine a promise to raise the level of Newstart payments in the first term of a Labor federal government. "For a quarter of a century the lowest paid Australians have gone without any increase in income," Mr Byrne said on Friday. "Giving the poorest Australians a decent standard of living is a moral issue and quite obviously should be a Labor cause." No consensus has been reached on what the level should be lifted to. Newstart pays a single person with no children $545.80 a fortnight, or $39 a day. For a couple, it equates to $35.20 a day or $17.60 a person. A rise in the allowance has been backed by the Business Councils of Australia, prominent economist Chris Richardson and the Greens. Labor has only committed to a "root and branch" review, however leader Bill Shorten had questioned how anyone could live on such a low payment. "Failure to increase the meagre income of unemployed Australians in the first term of a Labor government would risk this national outrage continuing indefinitely," Mr Byrne said. The government says Newstart is not designed to be a permanent source of income. Australian Associated Press

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Labor national conference: Will increasing unemployment benefits help increase the standard of living of Australia's most vulnerable groups? Paul Osborne