Centrelink outrage: Unemployed man fires back at 2GB's Ben Fordham after being ... trends now
An unemployed graphic designer has clashed with Ben Fordham after the 2GB host last week told him to 'get a job'.
Jez Heywood, 47, president of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, has been unemployed since 2017 and says he has limited job options due to mental health issues.
Mr Heywood, who lives in Melbourne, had previously said he was 'angry and annoyed' by welfare payments not being raised high enough.
The pair finally went head-to-head on Wednesday morning on the radio show, with Fordham saying he 'wanted to see whether we can find Jez a job'.
Mr Heywood accused Fordham of calling him a 'dole bludger'.
'Can I just point something out? You calling me a dole bludger on national radio...' he said.
'I didn't,' Fordham interrupted.
'You didn't? What did you call me?' Mr Heywood responded, to which Fordham told him he needed to 'get your facts straight'.
'I never called you a dole bludger, I said ''Jez why don't you get a job?'',' the broadcaster said.
Jez Heywood, 47, president of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, has been unemployed since 2017 and says he has limited job options due to mental health issues
Mr Heywood then said while Fordham didn't explicitly call him a dole bludger, it had been 'inferred'.
Fordham laughed off the accusation and said he just wanted to help Mr Heywood find a job.
'Do you? Because you're not saying very nice things about me on the radio,' Mr Heywood replied.
Mr Heywood said he was actively looking for a job but his ability to work was 'greatly reduced' due to mental health issues.
'It's hard to find things that my brain can handle,' he said.
'The last job I applied for on Seek, I got an email back saying there was over 100 applicants, so there's a lot of people out there looking for jobs and it's a really tough market.'
Fordham then questioned whether his mental health issues were brought on by the fact he wasn't working.
Fordham questioned why Mr Heywood hadn't found a job given there were tens of thousands of roles waiting to be filled
'There's 54,000 jobs available in Melbourne. None of those 54,000 jobs are suitable for you? Or you're applying for them but they're not giving you the nod?' Fordham asked.
Mr Heywood said he was applying for roles suitable to him.
'I can't consistently commit to something. My brain just gets so incredibly
