Is Australia's economic glass half empty or half full? This is an obvious question given the almost diametrically opposed positions touted by the government in respect of two very different pieces of legislation in Parliament this week.
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One was the permanent increase of just $50 a fortnight to the JobSeeker payment, and the imposition of even tougher mutual obligation requirements for the unemployed.
The other was the so-called "IR omnibus bill" which the government used its numbers to ram through the lower house on Tuesday.
When it came to capping the JobKeeper (formerly Newstart) allowance increase at just $3.70 a day, the Prime Minister and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash couldn't have been more upbeat.
Australia was experiencing a world-beating economic recovery, with 93 per cent of the jobs lost during the pandemic having already snapped back.
The presumption appeared to be that if the permanent JobSeeker/Newstart increase was too generous then workshy Netflix addicts wouldn't answer the nation's call to take up jobs employers are apparently struggling to fill.
"Now, in 2021, and in particular with 93 per cent of the jobs lost during COVID returning to the economy, and with our focus on the post-pandemic economy, it's time to reinstate mutual obligation," Ms Cash told reporters on Tuesday.
And, as far as the Prime Minister was concerned, there was a real sense of "mission accomplished" when he fronted the cameras.
"We are now confident that, at the end of next month, that our social safety net can once again be able to provide the support it needs to Australians [without JobKeeper or the JobSeeker supplement] as we come out of the COVID-19 recession," he said.
The government had already poisoned the well with a sneaky attempt to scrap the 'better off overall test' (BOOT) when the legislation was unveiled late last year.
This was the same day the House of Representatives was debating controversial industrial relations changes the government says are vital to save existing jobs and to create new ones.
So which is it? The government can't really have it both ways, in a Dickensian "best of times, worst of times" scenario.
The government had already poisoned the well with a sneaky attempt to scrap the "better off overall test" (BOOT) when the legislation was unveiled late last year.
While it has since dropped that provision, there is now strong opposition within the ALP, the union movement, and on the crossbenches to any concessions at all.
ACTU president Michele O'Neil says the government wants to extend emergency JobKeeper employment flexibility provisions, even after it stops paying JobKeeper.
She is also concerned the bill would make it easier for employers to casualise permanent jobs. It would also change enterprise bargaining arrangements, making it harder for workers to win pay rises.
"It shifts power towards big business and leaves working people worse off," she says.
The enthusiasm with which several employer bodies, including the Australian Industry Group, greeted the bill's passage through the lower house appears to support that claim.
"Industry welcomes today's vote by the House of Representatives to support the government's Industrial Relations Omnibus Bill," AIG chief executive Innes Willox said. "Industry urges all senators to support the sensible and modest IR changes in the bill."
That seems unlikely, given most crossbenchers in the lower house, including Dr Helen Haines, Bob Katter, Rebekha Sharkie, and Andrew Wilkie, voted against them.
The indications are a majority of Senate crossbenchers will likely do the same.
