Despite the political consensus, McClure's blueprint has a long road ahead, Michelle Grattan writes. Mission Australia's Patrick McClure has scored a trifecta. Government, Labor and Democrats all had positive things to say about his inquiry's blueprint for welfare change. That's a measure of how elite and community thinking about welfare has transformed, as all sides of politics recognise.
Mutual obligation is here to stay.
It is a question of how it's applied, the combination of incentives and sanctions, and the extent of extra resources pumped into the system to smooth the way. No longer is it thought sufficient for Government to just give income support to those in need. Conversely, it is increasingly accepted that those receiving benefits should do something in return. The strength of the McClure report is that it is not driven by a narrow Right or Left ideology. It does urge more obligations be put on welfare recipients, but it also speaks strongly for their needs.