A Guaranteed Job? Radical idea to combat automation, alienation gathers momentum

An extraordinary thing happened in the Tasmanian parliament this year. Liberal MP, Sue Hickey, Speaker of the House, crossed the floor to cast the deciding vote in favour of a Greens motion to investigate a Job Guarantee.

It was the first time Liberal government had lost a vote in the house since Peter Gutwein took over as Premier in January this year. Sue Hickey is often described as “maverick Liberal MP”. Maverick or not, it is highly unusual for parliamentarians to cross the floor, to side with their political adversaries rather than their colleagues, and Hickey’s decision spoke volumes about the subject matter at hand.

A Job Guarantee is an “unconditional offer of public employment at a socially inclusive minimum wage to…