If he wants to demonstrate that to the electorate he couldn't do better than to review the level of Newstart payments.

It is clear both major parties consider the unemployed to be undeserving of adequate financial support.

Numerous studies, articles and most recently the ABC's Four Corners have documented the dire situation of the unemployed in this country.

They survive only with help from family and friends, if they are fortunate enough to be able to call on these people, and assistance from charities, some of which have been stretched beyond breaking point so can no longer help.

Housing is both incredibly scarce and prohibitively expensive. Survival has now come down to luck.

As long as government benefits exist they should be adequate. It is Centrelink's role to determine the suitability of an individual for benefits and to monitor compliance with requirements. Any non-compliance by recipients, real or perceived, should be taken up by the government with Centrelink, not visited as a punishment on the unemployed as a group, by keeping financial support low.

Even the business community recognises Newstart's inadequacy - it has now in itself become a barrier to employment.

Such blatant and shameless prejudice against the unemployed has no place in a national government.

Let's hope Kevin Rudd's heart can overcome it.