AUSTRALIA
in our community from it. Australian Border Force officers are enforcing border measures. Our state and territory police forces are also playing an integral and ever-increasing role. We thank them for their dedication and sacrifice, for the fact they are risking their health and wellbeing for the wider Australian community.’ Senator Keneally commented that Labor is working constructively with the government to address the crisis but will hold the government to account where necessary. Senator Keneally stated that ‘Labor is concerned that the government’s latest response has not substantially addressed some of the gaps we identified in the original stimulus and it raises additional concerns, which we will work through with the government. Foremost amongst these concerns: there is no substantial support to protect jobs and no guarantee that businesses receiving support will keep workers on. We are also gravely concerned that the Coronavirus supplement may not be available for some Australian families struggling to put food on the table, particularly given there has been no change to the income test.’ Labor’s most serious concern about the package was the early release of superannuation. Senator Keneally stated that ‘drawing from superannuation should only be done as a measure of last resort. If people are at that point now as a result of coronavirus, it is a sign that the government must do more to help them. We should not be encouraging people to draw from their superannuation at the bottom of the market. In addition, charities, food banks and organisations that provide essential services to vulnerable Australians really need more substantial support. We cannot ignore the absence of a coordinated wholeof-economy plan and the lack of sufficient support and planning for essential and strategic industries - like the airline industry, the childcare sector and the arts.’ Coronavirus Economic Response Legislation – Part Two On 8 April 2020, the Australian Parliament sat again to pass further response measures to the Coronavirus pandemic. These measures focused on supporting jobs and maintaining a connection between employees and employers. The Treasurer,
THIRD READING: AUSTRALIA Hon. Josh Frydenberg, MP, stated that ‘this Bill introduces a $130 billion JobKeeper package to keep businesses in business and Australians in a job. This is the single biggest rescue package that our nation has ever seen. It is anticipated that over the next six months the JobKeeper payment will support the jobs and livelihoods of around six million Australians, many of whom will need this critical economic lifeline. I’m pleased to note to the House that, despite these major spending pressures, Standard & Poor’s has reaffirmed today Australia’s AAA credit rating.’ The Treasurer stated that ‘extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and this new $1,500 a fortnight payment will provide job security at a time when it is needed most. This is a level of support like this country has never, ever seen before. The $1,500 flat payment is the equivalent of about 70% of the median wage and represents about 100% of the median wage in some of the most heavily affected sectors, such as retail, hospitality and tourism. It will be available to full-time and part-time workers, sole traders and, in the case of casuals, to those who have been with their employer for 12 months or more and importantly will apply to the many Australians working in the not-for-profit sector. Combined with the government’s previous actions, this totals $320 billion or 16.4% of GDP in economic support to Australian businesses, households and individuals affected by the coronavirus to get them through to the other side and to put Australia in the best position possible to bounce back stronger than ever.’ The Shadow Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers, MP, commented that ‘the immediate economic priority is triage. The wage subsidies in these Bills, which are all about maintaining the link between employers and workers, are important in that regard, along with additional support deployed fast enough and in sufficient quantities to prevent business closures, to protect jobs, to support the vulnerable and to prevent a bad quarter or two becoming a lost year or two, or worse.’ Dr Chalmers noted that ‘the core of the legislation we are considering here was first
proposed in Australia by the Labor Party and by the labour movement, drawing on experience overseas. For more than a week the government said it was impractical and unworkable, and that they wouldn’t be going down this path - a week wasted on politics as usual, shooting down an idea because of where it came from and who proposed it. That kind of thinking is frustrating and corrosive at the best of times, but at times of crisis it is downright destructive. So, naturally, we welcome the government’s change of heart on wage subsidies. It is not just a victory for the labour movement; it is a victory for all of those who send us here to represent their interests.’ The Leader of the Australian Greens, Mr Adam Bandt, MP, commented that ‘in many respects I think the government has made some significant steps that I never expected this government would make, but it is clear that in other respects they have had to be dragged there. There was advocacy from the Greens and community groups that means in some states we now have eviction bans for renters. This was because of Greens amendments that passed New South Wales and Tasmanian Parliaments.’ Mr Bandt stated that the ‘the largest group being left to languish are renters. The government are bending over backwards to secure the rights of landlords and property owners. They are working hard to find a pathway for commercial arrangements to continue, even when commercial land value right now is reduced to zero. But what about a roof over someone’s head? What about the human right to housing? The government, it seems, couldn’t care less. The issue keeps slipping off the national cabinet agenda. We heard a proud announcement today how far advanced the Cabinet is on a code for commercial tenants but still nothing for residents. People are being evicted right now, people are being threatened with eviction right now and it keeps going in the too-hard basket. Unless the government acts and acts in the next couple of days, this will reach crisis proportion. This must be a matter of priority to ensure that there is a national eviction ban and that there are rental holidays for those who need them.’
The Parliamentarian | 2020: Issue Two | 100 years of publishing 1920-2020 | 175
