Ewen Jones, a member of parliament (MP) for the Liberal National Party in Australia, has pinpointed Nintendo and Xbox as the cause for the country’s high unemployment rating among the youth.
The Liberal MP has openly supported the Abbott government’s proposal to make young people wait at least six months before they can receive unemployment benefits, but a parliamentary committee’s investigation deemed the plan as a clear violation of Australians’ human rights.
Ewen Jones told journalists in Canberra that “You either earn, learn or work” in the country, whilst claiming “If you are in the game, that’s fantastic.” Additionally, the MP for Herbert believes the coalition’s plan is “perfectly reasonable” for slashing down the country’s unemployment rate — which was at 6.1% in August 2014, according to The Guardian.
“If you’re not in the game we’ve got to make it as easy as possible for you to get into the game, by turning up for work for the dole programs so you’re not sitting at home awake from 10 o’clock at night to 6 o’clock in the morning playing bloody Nintendo or whatever people do, or roaming the streets,” Jones said.
“What they’ve got to be doing is getting up in the morning going to work, or going to college, getting those qualifications. We can’t let people isolate themselves.
“[Or] is it better to say to them, there’s your dole, go home eat Cheezels, get on the Xbox?”
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott defended his proposal during a session of Question Time, where he stated: “I am all in favour of rights. I am also in favour of the rights of taxpayers not to have their money abused.”
The Australian Labor Party, the Greens and the Palmer United Party oppose the plan put forward by the Abbott government, with the coalition set to face an ongoing battle with parties over the scheme in the Senate later this month.
