- The Federal Treasurer said he expects the number of Victorians on the wage subsidy payment JobKeeper to surge over the next seven months
- Currently, around 975,000 Victorians are signed up to the payment — but that number is expected to balloon to 1.3 million
- Both the JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments will take centre stage in Parliament this week, as the Senate debates legislation to extend both subsidies beyond September
- Under the planned changes, JobKeeper will reduce to $1200 per fortnight from the end of September, before dropping to $1000 per fortnight from December to March
- In the meantime, a record 41 COVID-19 related deaths have been recorded in Victoria today along with another 73 cases of the virus
- While Premier Daniel Andrews has announced a roadmap out of current stage-four lockdowns for Melbourne, amid criticism from the Federal Government for delaying announcing exit plans
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he expects the number of Victorians on JobKeeper to surge to 1.3 million over the next seven months, as COVID-19 lockdown continues to decimate the state’s economy.
Additional job losses
Currently, around 975,000 Victorians are signed up to the wage subsidy payment — launched when COVID-19 first began affecting Australians — but the Treasurer told ABC he expects that number to balloon to 1.3 million.
“We will have more Victorians on JobKeeper than the rest of the country combined,” he told News Breakfast.
Treasurer @JoshFrydenberg is demanding Vic Premier @DanielAndrewsMP outline a Stage 4 exit strategy.
— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) August 30, 2020
“We will have more Victorians on JobKeeper than the rest of the country combined. The damage to the Victorian economy will go for years… the Premier needs to provide a roadmap” pic.twitter.com/s6wzCEwW6u
Victoria has been in and out of various lockdowns since the pandemic began, with restrictions first coming into force in March, before being reintroduced in July amid a second-wave of infections.
The second round of lockdowns had left hundreds of thousands of people out of work and is expected to cost the wider economy up to $10 billion in lost GDP.
Lockdown pain continues
In the meantime, in his interview this morning, Treasurer Frydenberg also criticised Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for not announcing when strict stage-four COVID-19 lockdowns will be lifted for Melbourne.
“We haven’t seen a definite plan from the Victorian Premier, and just yesterday, he said it’s too early for that. I disagree with him on that and so do Victorian businesses and many Victorian families,” he said.
The Treasurer’s comments come as he gears up to push amendments to the Government’s JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments through Federal Parliament.
The Senate is expected to debate the legislation this week, in a bid to get the changes passed before the sitting week finishes and the deadline for Job Keeper runs out.
Among the changes are an extension to the Job Keeper wage subsidy payment, which will last until March, but decrease from $1500 per fortnight to $1200 per fortnight at the end of September. From December, it will decrease again to $1000 per fortnight.
The Job Seeker payment — for those who are looking for work — will also be reduced, with the coronavirus supplement dropping from $1100 per fortnight to $800 per fortnight from next month.
Death rate rises
Meanwhile, since the Treasurer’s comments criticising Victoria for not re-opening, Premier Daniel Andrews has announced a plan is being devised to lift the current restrictions and get the state back to normal.
Premier Andrews said he’ll announce a full roadmap on Sunday, August 6. But he couldn’t guarantee Melbourne wouldn’t have its current stage-four lockdowns extended beyond mid-September.
“We can’t rule out settings in two weeks time, it is very difficult to know what those settings will be,” he said.
“They have to be guided by the data, the science and the very best medical advice. What we will provide on Sunday will be the plan that we intend to put in place, the plan that all things being equal, we will put in place,” he added.
Victoria recorded another 73 new cases of COVID-19 today, while a record 41 deaths were also announced. That number is so high, as it takes into account previous deaths that had not been initially linked to COVID-19.
“There is a reconciliation that we needed to go through. These are deaths that have happened over previous weeks, including going back to late July,” Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton explained.