Senate rejects bid to make unemployed wait for welfare
An attack on young people has been defeated. A measure to force jobseekers under the age of 25 to wait an additional four weeks before accessing unemployment benefits has been defeated in the Senate, 30 votes to 35.
Labor and the Greens opposed the bill, announced in the May federal budget, meaning six of the eight crossbenchers had to vote with the government for the bill to pass.
Only two crossbenchers — Family First’s Bob Day and Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm — voted with the government. Independent Senator John Madigan abstained and the remaining five Senators voted against the bill.
Melbourne commuters raise $40,000 for asylum seekers
A Melbourne man has raised more than $40,000 after urging people affected by the city's train strikes to donate their fare to help Syrian asylum seekers.
James Wright saw the images of drowned Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi on a Turkish beach on September 3 and began an online fundraising campaign that asked commuters to donate their train fare for the day of the train strike to the UNHCR.
He initially hoped for $2500, but more than $40,000 was donated. Commuters shared their contributions on social media using the hashtag #donateyourtrainfare.