The Morrison’s governments’ third support/stimulus package this month, is the biggest so far of the three and will be a $130 billion package to support the wages of up to six million Australian through the coronavirus crisis.
Called a “Jobkeeper” subsidy, it will be worth $1,500 a fortnight and will be delivered through the Australian Tax Office.
The payment will be for all employees laid off regardless of their salary.
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said yesterday that employers will be allowed to top-up wages beyond that amount.
Businesses that have taken a 30% hit to turnover because of the coronavirus, will be entitled to the payment and companies turning over more than $1 billion will be eligible if they have taken a 50% hit.
(That will rule out the likes of BHP, Rio Tinto, Coles, Woolies (but Big W?), Metcash (Mitre 10?), the major banks, Wesfarmers and its chains like Kmart, Bunnings, but perhaps not Target), CSL, (but perhaps Cochlear), Ansell, Treasury Wine Estates, Fortescue Metals, South 32, Transurban and perhaps some major retail and property investment trusts.
The subsidies will last for six months, with full-time, part-time and casual workers who have been with their employer for at least 12 months eligible for the payment.
Sole traders have also been included in the package.
Payments will flow to businesses in the first week of May and will be backdated to March 30 a while employees stood down since March 1 (several hundred thousand) will be eligible.
“We will pay employers to pay their employees,” Prime Minister Morrison said yesterday afternoon. “Our government has made a decision today that no government has made before.
Mr. Morrison said the package would provide an “economic lifeline”.
“Our goal is to protect lives and livelihoods of Australians to protect and preserve the economy that we depend on and to get to the other side as well.”
Mr. Morrison warned that many countries “may see their economies collapse” throughout the crisis.
He said the stimulus and survival measures taken so far, equal to up to $330 billion, would help Australia avoid this fate. “It is never the time for rash and ill-considered decisions,” he said.
“We still do not know the many other challenges that we will face.”
The Centrelink partner threshold rate has also been raised to $79,000. This means Australians will be eligible for welfare payments if their partner earns up to this amount.
The threshold had previously been set at $48,000, meaning up to 400,000 people would not get the payment despite having become unemployed.
