Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that there are those on the other side who are already calling to wind back the support offered through JobKeeper and jobseeker. I just have to wonder who are those members talking to other than the ideologues at the IPA and the other pushers of rampant free market ideologies?

Well, I've have been talking to people in my community and they are still hurting.

They still need this support and they need to know that it won't be ripped away from them. In fact, too many of them are still missing out. This includes people who were told by their employers that they would get JobKeeper, only to find at the last minute that those employers couldn't afford the bridging finance. There are people who have worked as casuals across a number of jobs, yet find they're not eligible from support from any of their employers. There are people on temporary visas who, until now, have worked in Australia for years. And there are people at La Trobe University. The government changed the rules on them deliberately to exclude them from the JobKeeper scheme. Again, I realise those opposite seem to have an ideological opposition to people having jobs at universities, but it's not just those people who suffer. Businesses in our local community who supply to the university, and the cafes and shops nearby where staff do their shopping are all hurting too. To suggest that we can just snap back or that more support is not needed is an insult to all of these people. Labor is up for the challenge ahead. It is clear that the government is not; it is failing people who need them. (Time expired)

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