Proposal to raise Newstart 'wiped': report

Liberal MP Russell Broadbent will not confirm claims he was asked to alter a parliamentary report that recommended lifting unemployment benefits.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age allege the recommendation was removed from the final report when it was released in April just before the federal election.

Mr Broadbent chaired the bipartisan parliamentary committee that probed the causes of long-term welfare.

He would not confirm that then social services minister Paul Fletcher asked for the final report to be changed, saying just that he had "many conversations with many colleagues", The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age report on Wednesday.

The committee's final report recommended examining the adequacy of welfare payments to young people and single parent families, and did not recommend lifting payments.

The allegation comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned his backbenchers against publicly speaking out on issues that the coalition did not take to the election, including lifting Newstart.

Mr Broadbent and fellow Liberal MP Dean Smith have both broken ranks and said the Newstart allowance is too low.

Labor on Tuesday formally decided to call on the government to review and increase the rate of Newstart.