The Australian government will forge ahead with plans to launch its new internship program in April, despite not having enough votes to pass the legislation through parliament.
The voluntary internship program, known as Prepare, Trial, Hire (PaTH) was unveiled in the 2016 budget, and would see 30,000 unemployed or disadvantaged young people paid $200 per fortnight to complete an internship of up to 12 weeks.
The $200 payment would be on top of existing welfare benefits, while participating businesses would receive an upfront payment of $1,000.
Legislation for the scheme was unexpectedly blocked in the Senate on Monday, after One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts announced his party’s opposition to the program.
The government has removed the PaTH bill from the Senate notice paper, meaning debate won't continue and a vote in the near future is unlikely.
But the program will still go ahead. A spokesperson for employment minister Michaelia Cash confirmed to BuzzFeed News PaTH will commence in April, with or without the legislation.
Without the legislation, the government says young people who sign up for the program would have to pay tax on the $200 payment they receive for their 50 hours of fortnightly work.
Modelling from the Department of Employment shows Newstart recipients will receive $48 less per fortnight, and young people on Youth Allowance $28.50 less after tax.
Passing the government's legislation would have prevented the extra income being taxed.
The government have labelled Labor and the Greens hypocrites for opposing a bill which cuts welfare payments to young people.
Labor and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) have previously branded PaTH as a “$4-per-hour" internship scheme. After tax, it's more like a "$3-per-hour" internship.
The government requires the votes of nine out of the 10 cross benchers to pass anything opposed by the Greens and Labor in the Senate, so without the support of the three One Nation senators the vote will fail.