Rudd blasts dole ban proposal

Australia's Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says cutting dole payments to people aged under 30 would take pressure off the welfare system. Photo / Supplied

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has lambasted Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's idea of banning the dole for people under 30.

"What we have ... from Mr Abbott is once again policy making on the run," Mr Rudd told Sky News.

"I just think it's time Mr Abbott had some sort of work on these sorts of questions."

Mr Abbott proposed banning the dole for young people in a bid to fill the massive skills shortages in the resources sector.

He raised the controversial idea during a two-hour meeting with senior resources industry leaders in Perth on Monday night, The Australian newspaper reported.

He said cutting dole payments to people aged under 30 would take pressure off the welfare system and reduce the need to bring in large numbers of skilled migrants to staff mining projects in Western Australia and Queensland.

But Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes attacked Mr Abbott's remarks.

"If he genuinely thinks you are going to solve an economically crippling skills shortage by taking punitive measures against welfare recipients, he has clearly never lived in the real world," Mr Howes told Wednesday's paper.

A spokeswoman told The Australian Mr Abbott's comments did not mean the approach was Coalition policy.

Last month, Mr Abbott proposed giving parents six months' leave on full pay of up to $150,000 a year, financed by a levy on big business. Business groups condemned the plan.

- AAP