PM rules out JobSeeker, JobKeeper extension
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will reveal on Tuesday that the JobKeeper and JobSeeker support schemes will only be temporary, in a speech to the National Press Club.
“Our response has followed a clear plan to save lives and save livelihoods, with strong and coordinated leadership across all governments, brought together through the National Cabinet,” the prime minister is expected to say.
Morrison will say the “economic lifelines” were put in place to “cushion the cruel economic blow of the virus,” but these schemes cannot be extended.
“At a now anticipated cost of more than $150 billion in just six months, all borrowed against future tax revenue, these supports can of course only be temporary."
Also read: Treasury admits $60b JobKeeper ‘error’
Also read: No guarantee JobKeeper, JobSeeker will last 6 months: PM
Instead, the prime minister will announce the government’s next step: the JobMaker plan.
“Now it is true that in the short term, demand stimulus by Government can boost your economy. And that is why we have supported this as an emergency response, but it can only be temporary,” he said.
“At some point you’ve got to get your economy out of ICU. You’ve got to get it off the medication before it becomes too accustomed to it.”
The plan is set to change Australia’s “complex” and “chunky” skills and training system in a bid to create jobs.
“It is no wonder that when faced with this complexity, many potential students default to the university system, even if their career could be best enhanced through vocational education,” the prime minister said.
“To address this challenge we have embarked on a series of skills organisation pilots designed to give industry the opportunity to shape the training system to be more responsive to their skills needs and take responsibility for qualification development.”
The news comes despite the government’s $60 billion re-evaluation of the JobKeeper scheme, which would see the government spend $70 billion as opposed to $130 billion.
The error was made after the Australian Tax Office revealed the correct number of Australian employees accessing the $1,500 fortnightly wage subsidy was actually 3.5 million, rather than the initially forecast 6 million.
The JobKeeper scheme is currently due to expire on September 27, and the current doubling of the JobSeeker payment may be cut back before its September expiration date, the Prime Minister previously warned.
“I can give them the certainty that I want them to be back in their jobs, where they don't need it [JobKeeper or JobSeeker],” Morrison said.
This is despite the Senate’s advice to raise the JobSeeker rate permanently.
“The committee recommends that once the coronavirus supplement is phased out, the Australian government increase the JobSeeker payment, Youth Allowance and Parenting Payment rates to ensure that all eligible recipients do not live in poverty,” a Senate inquiry stated.
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