Fine dine restaurant owner calls Jobseeker increase ridiculous
Restaurant owner Chris Lucas has slammed the Jobseeker increase, calling it “ridiculous”.
Lucas, who is struggling to get workers across his Melbourne and Sydney restaurants said, “Why would you at a time of record employment go and increase the dole by another $20 a week?”
“To me it doesn’t make any sense. It’s like taking a slab of beer to an Alcoholics Anonymous picnic, it’s ridiculous. To anyone out there struggling to get a job, we’ve got nearly 200 vacancies at the moment and I’m not the only one, there’s restaurants right across Australia struggling to get workers. Pick up the phone, as long as you’re fair dinkum.”
Lucas owns high-end restaurants including Chin Chin and Grill Americano.
Following a spat between 2GB radio’s Ben Fordham and unemployed Melburnian Jez Heywood, Lucas invited Heywood to apply.
“The good news is we’ve got over 150 full-time and part-time jobs currently vacant in Melbourne and about 30 vacancies in Sydney, so we’ve got plenty of opportunities for anyone who wants to pull their finger out and get on with life and get a real job,” Lucas said.
“We’d obviously like to meet Jez and see what kind of character he is but at the end of the day if you’ve got a good character and a good work ethic and are serious about making a contribution to society rather than being a dole bludger, of course [we are interested].”
Heywood, who is president of the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, has been out of work since 2017 due to health conditions.
His spat with Fordham covered the state of unemployment in Australia and Heywood’s own battles with mental health issues. He called Fordham’s invitation to find him a job, a publicity stunt.
“Fordham’s cheap publicity stunt is deliberately sweeping the issues I advocate for — which cause so much pain — under the rug, all so he can boost ratings and act like the hero on his own airwaves,” Heywood wrote on Twitter.
“Unless Fordham is willing to dedicate airtime to find every other jobseeker in the country a job, then this is nothing but attempt to shut me up because I had the nerve to stand up to him and call him out. This odious brand of welfare shaming Fordham has done for several days now, and which his shock jock predecessors have done for decades, does incredible damage to people’s mental health.”
Fordham defended his stance saying, “we frequently find jobs for people, we’re contacted by people who have jobs or are looking for jobs and match them up.
“You’ve told us very clearly that your mental health problems have been created by your unemployment, so we’re here to help,” he said. “Opportunity sometimes knocks softly so you’ve got to learn to listen, and we are lining up job offers for you.”
There may be a sliver lining with the owner of a graphic-design company reaching out to Heywood and discussions progressing.
Jonathan Jackson, 18th May 2023
