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Morrison unveils third stimulus package
The Morrison government has announced a third stimulus package designed to keep Australians in work as businesses struggle to mitigate costs following the coronavirus outbreak.
Morrison unveils third stimulus package
The Morrison government has announced a third stimulus package designed to keep Australians in work as businesses struggle to mitigate costs following the coronavirus outbreak.
The “unprecedented” package, worth $130 billion, aims to prevent firms from laying off employees in order to ensure the economy “bounces back” once the threat of the coronavirus has passed.
Businesses of all sizes will be eligible, while workers will need to have been employed by the business for more than 12 months to receive the payment. The payments will start in the first week of May and be backdated to March.
“We want to keep the engine of our economy running during this crisis,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told media.
But the question remains of whether the lay-offs this part of the package seeks to avoid have already happened, with long lines for Centrelink support dominating the news last week amidst reports that a million people are already out of work.
“We are working now to a whole new set of rules,” Prime Minister Morrison said, warning that some countries could see both their societies and economies collapse.
The latest package follows the first stimulus package worth $17 billion, which was aimed at retirees and the unemployed and a second $66 billion package designed to keep small businesses afloat as well as those who lost their job.
The Prime Minister announced this partner income threshold has been extended to $79,762 per annum, which was previously capped at $48,000.
Morrison said, however, that Australians will not be eligible for both the JobKeeper and the JobSeeker Payments.
“I would note, though, that many of those partners who are seeking those payment will obviously now in very many cases be covered by this job to the payment by remaining attached to their employers,” he said.
Unlike the first two stimulus packages, the third will help New Zealanders living in Australia on a 444 visa.
“New Zealanders on 444 visas don’t get access to the welfare system, but they can get access to this JobKeeper Payment,” Mr Morrison concluded.
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