Australia says ready to crack down on "welfare crooks"

Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison on Monday warned welfare rorters that their days taking advantage of the government's generosity were limited as he prepares to hand down the mid-year budget update next week.

Morrison said more than 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in welfare savings were before the Parliament ahead of the budget update, and said while some Australians cheating the welfare system are getting away with it currently, the government crackdown would expose them.

"Sometimes the crooks move quicker than the welfare cops on these things," Morrison told Macquarie Radio on Monday. "(But) we've got 4.5 billion U.S. dollars of welfare savings measures before the parliament right now."

He said a government plan to make high school graduates wait a month before receiving welfare payments was also set to pass through Parliament, forcing school leavers to actively look for work instead of relying on taxpayer-funded handouts.

"Originally it was at six months, and that was unacceptable to the Senate," he said. "(It's) so you can't go from the school front gate to the (welfare) front door," Morrison said.

"We put the protections in place, these are young people who can stack shelves, pick fruit, and we say if they knock back those jobs they should not be getting (welfare payments)."

Meanwhile Morrison also took the opportunity to address claims from outspoken MPs Pauline Hanson and Cory Bernardi that Muslim Australians were using religious polygamy to rort the welfare system.

He said if that was the case, welfare police would soon bring it to an end.

"The law and its implementation cannot condone polygamy. It's against our values, it's 100 percent wrong," Morrison said. Endit