The Liberal backbencher Eric Abetz says the “burden” of government debt prevents the Coalition increasing the Newstart allowance.

Asked about the Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce’s decision to break ranks and call for a boost to the dole, Abetz told the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night he thought “every politician [would] love to increase Newstart”.

But Abetz said past years of “deficit budgeting” meant Australia could not afford an increase to Newstart, which currently stands at $277.85 a week for a single person without children.

“And if we didn’t have that burden of debt, didn’t have to pay that interest, chances are there would be money around to, in fact, provide an increase for Newstart,” he said.

Last month, the Coalition passed its income tax cut package, which cost $158bn over a decade and will eventually slash marginal rates for high-income earners. The budget forecast a $7.1bn surplus in 2019-20.

The $75 increase to Newstart advocated by the Australian Council of Social Service would cost about $3bn annually, although Deloitte modelling has estimated the resulting stimulus would create an extra $1bn in taxes.

How can the government expect people to live on Newstart, when Barnaby Joyce can’t survive on $4000 a week? #QandA pic.twitter.com/3VLZn0udxQ — ABC Q&A (@QandA) July 29, 2019

Can’t afford a Newstart increase apparently, but stage 3 of tax cuts for the rich? No problem! #qanda — Croydon Cathy (@croydoncathy) July 29, 2019

Joyce drew criticism on Monday for initially saying he had newfound empathy for the unemployed because he was now struggling to make ends meet on a backbencher’s salary of more than $200,000.

The former World Vision boss Tim Costello praised the former deputy prime minister for advocating an increase.

“I personally think it’s immoral,” Costello said of the Newstart rate.

Would raising Newstart and reducing punitive social security obligations be the fastest way to make a dent in Australia's rate of suicide and domestic violence? #QandA pic.twitter.com/UFZ7D8mWXe — ABC Q&A (@QandA) July 29, 2019

Abetz entered parliament in 1994, the year the unemployment payment was last raised in real terms. Since then, the base salary of a federal politician has increased from $68,000 to $210,000 a year.

He acknowledged Newstart was “difficult to live on” but claimed “in fairness it is indexed each year but from a very low base”.

“It has been increased in line with inflation over the years that it has been operating,” he said.

The Howard government’s decision to benchmark Newstart to inflation effectively froze the payment at 1994 levels. If Newstart was instead tied to wages, like the pension, recipients would get a base rate of $351.91 a week.

It is simply obscene to suggest Australia cannot afford to increase Newstart.



The last two budgets alone have delivered $300 billion dollars of income tax cuts. Foregone revenue which could have gone to increasing Newstart. #qanda — Australia Institute (@TheAusInstitute) July 29, 2019

The Labor senator Kimberley Kitching said she believed an increase to the payment was now inevitable.

“I’m not going to denigrate Barnaby Joyce for arriving at a position of empathy, no matter the path he trod to get there,” she said.

Should there be prison sentences for industrial scale underpayment of wages? #QandA pic.twitter.com/ysioSpdJsJ — ABC Q&A (@QandA) July 29, 2019

Abetz also backed the government’s plans to criminalise wage theft. This month, the MasterChef host George Calombaris was in the middle of a $7.8m underpayment scandal.

The chef Adam Liaw, a former MasterChef constant, said “putting people in prison for doing large scale systemic wage theft is certainly something that definitely should be on the table”.

But Liaw also said the awards system needed to be simplified to help smaller businesses “who don’t have large payroll facilities and large payroll operations”.

“The carrot and the stick will have an effect here and it will be the way we need to go,” he said.

Abetz was also questioned by disability support pensioner Duncan Storrar about Scott Morrison’s promise to address suicide.

In 2016, Storrar’s personal circumstances were dredged up by News Corp papers after he appeared on Q&A and criticised the Coalition’s policies towards the poor.

“Would raising Newstart and reducing punitive social security obligations be the fastest way to make a dint in the rate of suicide and domestic violence amongst the country’s three million poor people?” Storrar asked on Monday.