GOVERNMENT ABANDONS A MILLION CASUAL WORKERS

Up to 1.1 million casual workers will miss out on a wage subsidy – and potentially be forced into the unemployment queue – because of the Morrison Government’s refusal to compromise.

Yesterday, Christian Porter signalled he was listening to Labor and union concerns, and was considering changes to the JobKeeper program that would extend it to more casuals who will otherwise miss out. The Government even briefed possible changes to the newspapers.

But this morning Porter – clearly overruled by his own colleagues – has ruled out any such change.

Porter must now explain why he thinks forcing up to 1.1 million casuals into the Centrelink line is good for those workers or for the Australian economy.

Instead he is trying to distract from this terrible decision by making the ridiculous claim that Labor intends to block the JobKeeper legislation.

This is hysterical and dishonest nonsense.

It was Labor that pushed for a wage subsidy for weeks when the Government was stubbornly ruling it out.

Labor facilitated the return of Parliament this week because we want this legislation to pass as soon as possible.

It would certainly help if the Government provided us with the Fair Work Act amendments rather than blank pages.
 
Labor has also argued Parliament should continue to sit regularly throughout this crisis so we can fix any problems that arise and provide more support for people. It is the Government that has put the Parliament into “hibernation”.

Since the Government announced JobKeeper we have only made constructive suggestions on how to improve it so it can reach as many people as possible and isn’t subject to rorting.

We have never once suggested we would hold up the passage of this wage subsidy.