Greens query Gillard welfare plans

AAP-April,14-The federal government may face a battle with the Australian Greens if it goes too far with its welfare-to-work reforms.
Welfare reform is expected to feature in the May budget, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard turning her focus to boosting workforce participation rates.
In a speech on Wednesday, Ms Gillard said taxpayers should not fund people who can support themselves and suggested tougher mutual obligation programs for the jobless.
She told the Sydney Institute dinner that "every Australian should pull his or her weight" and that it was not fair for taxpayers to support someone who could support themselves.
Greens community services spokeswoman Senator Rachel Siewert told AAP on Thursday she was concerned that the prime minister was focusing "on more of the same rather than the kind of fundamental welfare reform that is needed".
"If we consider the reforms to be poor, we would seek to amend them in parliament," Senator Siewert said.
"We are concerned that the balance may tip more towards punitive measures rather than genuinely addressing the gap between the demands of industry for more skilled workers and the current capabilities of the long-term unemployed."
She said that while a full-time job was the best outcome, for those who have low skills, a partial capacity to work, or have been out of touch with the workforce for a long time the government "needs to be realistic" about the pathway into the workforce.
The Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate from July, making their vote crucial to any legislation changes.
Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said Labor appeared to be adopting Liberal party policy but doubted whether it would be funded properly given the tight budget.
"I bet you they will not put any money towards it because it costs ... billions of dollars to get people off their backsides, trained and into work," Mr Hockey told Macquarie Radio.
The coalition wants work-for-the-dole to be mandatory for those under 50, and the suspension of benefits for young people who refuse to move to areas were there are jobs.
Ms Gillard says the government is already moving people into areas of skills shortage, noting a trial involving flood reconstruction work in Queensland.
"It's proved difficult in the past to get people to move around the country for work but I do believe we need to get people thinking about going to where work is," Ms Gillard told ABC Radio.