House debates
Tuesday, 16 March 2021
Matters of Public Importance
JobKeeper Payment
3:14 pm
Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I have received a letter from the honourable member for Macquarie proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:
The Government's decision to cut JobKeeper and failure to provide certainty to Australian workers and small businesses.
I call upon all those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.
More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—
Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
To hear those opposite, you'd think that life is pretty good: 'We don't really talk about COVID except that we're all about to get vaccines. We don't think about border closures, either at home or internationally. Business is booming; the emergency is over.' It feels like they're living in a completely different world than the world the small businesses and workers in our electorates on this side of the House are functioning in. So I want to take them to the reality of life in my electorate of Macquarie and in the electorates of people all through Australia.
Put yourself in the shoes of a small-business owner in Katoomba or Blackheath. Since November 2019, life has not been kind. In November 2019, smoke kept people indoors and away—not just for a day, not just for a week, but for months and months. There were signs at Circular Quay telling people not to go to the Blue Mountains because of bushfires, and people who'd planned to visit from overseas cancelled. It's not like they could just move their visit a month or two; they just cancelled. Then the smoke cleared, and, after a while, the fire went out—the biggest fire from a single ignition point that the world has ever seen. Finally, people came back. For about a minute, they came back to the Blue Mountains, to the Hawkesbury and to the South Coast. But before international visitors could return, including some of the million who visit just the big attractions each year, COVID closed those international borders. And then there were more signs to Australians saying: 'Stay at home. Don't travel. Don't go anywhere.'
Through all of this, thanks to the wage subsidy that we pushed for, that the unions pushed for, many small businesses hung on and some workers kept their jobs, but not all—not the casuals of less than a year, not the musicians and not the people for whom the job was a second, but still really necessary, job. But many small employers and workers made a pact to get through it, knowing that, sometime, it would end. But it's gone on longer than they thought. The ongoing restrictions mean that, while small cafes and restaurants are booked some nights, it's still very thin profit margins. Turnover is down. It's not steady. It's up and down. There are some good weeks, some good days, but it isn't reliable, and there are plenty of bad days. People unable to go places have actually been their saviours. People have visited the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury, and I want to thank everybody who made a trip from Sydney or who managed to get from interstate to Sydney and then came up to our part of the world. You have been very welcome.
But it still needed a safety net. And, in 13 days, the only safety net that's left, the only thing that's helping people stay positive—the wage subsidy—goes. It just disappears. I want you to stand in their shoes. How do you reckon they're feeling? I'll tell you what they're telling me in meetings, in Zooms and in emails. They're saying they're anxious. They're exhausted. They're emotionally wrecked. From Mount Victoria to Leura, across the whole of Macquarie, down the mountains and even beyond our region, they're worried. How are they going to pay the bills? How can they keep their staff on?
They have been hopeful. They hoped this government would listen to their concerns and look at the realities, but that hope has pretty much faded. It completely disappeared with the joke of a tourism package, a package that actively discourages people from visiting anywhere within cooee of Sydney. How do you think people get to the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury? They come to Sydney, and from Sydney they travel beyond. Without any incentive to come to Sydney—in fact, with disincentives—and with incentives to go everywhere but, they just won't come.
The Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains usually have millions of visitors a year. They come for World Heritage. They come for apple pie. They come for historic towns. They come for fresh air. Some of the bigger attractions, like Scenic World, get more than a million visitors just on their own, and 75 per cent of those visitors are typically from overseas. Their visitation is down around 75 per cent. It can't be replaced by local visitors, especially not when a tourism package encourages people to go everywhere but!
The Blue Mountains economy—both the bigger businesses and the smaller businesses—depends on tourism, and every loss of visitation translates to a loss of jobs. Yet this hopeless tourism package contains nothing—oh, except loans! But, as one of my business owners points out, there's no interest-free period on that loan. The bigger ones say they may have to go for that, but it isn't their preference. The smaller ones are already scared of the debt that they carry; they're already fragile. For the bigger attractions, what is missing is the same sort of support that we saw for zoos and aquariums—an attractions and experiences package, which would help them maintain their equipment, maintain the cable cars, keep the rides going, keep the buses on the road and keep them safe. So the end of JobKeeper and the failure to support this vital tourism economy mean that jobs will go, and they'll be really hit in our second-biggest local economic sector.
As JobKeeper ends, jobs will go in the travel industry. There are travel agents like Kim in Richmond who have kept on staff, thanks to JobKeeper. Kim has had to dip into savings to do it, and I don't know how she, Peta and Claudia can keep smiling month after month after month. There is no prospect of international borders opening soon and every prospect of internal borders closing because this government has failed to demonstrate any national leadership on this issue. Remember when the Treasurer assured us all that, by the time JobKeeper was ending, the vaccination program would be well underway. There was a promise of four million vaccinations by the end of March. I think there are 16 days to go. Around 170,000 doses have been delivered, so that means there are 3,830,000 doses still to go. And that means we'd need nearly a quarter of a million vaccinations to take place every single day to achieve that promise. It's not going to happen. They know it's not going to happen, yet they're still saying to people, 'Oh, yes, she'll be right.' I look across at those on the other side, and I see a prime minister who's happy to promise whatever it takes to help bushfire regions recover but is totally incapable of delivering on that promise and any of the other headline promises that they so happily throw around.
I come from small business. I grew up in it. I ran my own small business for 25 years, and I can very easily put myself in the shoes of those depending on JobKeeper: the employers and the employees. The employees are your team. They're not just people you pay a pay cheque to. They make your small business function, and you can't function without them. But we're already seeing those skills being lost because small businesses can't give people the shifts that they need to put food on their tables. And it isn't every business that still needs help. We know that. Some are doing fine. Some are doing great, but many aren't. They're about to be cut adrift by this government, and their staff are about to be cut adrift to join the two million people who are unemployed or who are unable to find enough work. There are two million people right now who cannot get enough work, who cannot survive on JobSeeker and who won't be able to survive once JobSeeker reduces, yet we're going to add to the list of those people.
I have looked at the figures that show who is really underemployed, and I'm going to highlight something that was in those figures before COVID. I don't want anyone to think that everything was fine before COVID, because that would be a lie. Before COVID, underemployment for women in the Sydney area who hadn't studied beyond high school was 18 per cent. That means 18 per cent of women really didn't have enough work, and that was before COVID—not during and not after. It goes on. So this government's pretence that we're going to get back to normal is an outrage. Why can't this government identify the businesses who still need JobKeeper? It can't be that hard. This doesn't just affect the 5,600 workers in my electorate who will still be on JobKeeper for another 13 days. This represents $2.7 million a week that's going to be ripped out of our local economy. It's a policy failure. The government is yet again showing its true colours. It only looks after its own, and the rest can do it alone. (Time expired)
3:24 pm
Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I want to acknowledge the member for Macquarie, one of the few on that side who have been in small business, I have to say. So congratulations. Having done it myself, I know it's a difficult road. It is one where, every week, you have to think about where the money comes from in order to pay wages and pay your bills, and it's one which many Australians take up.
In terms of my local electorate and the comments made by the member for Macquarie, we have similar problems and different problems. The first thing I'd point out is Enzo's on the Beach, a well-known cafe in Hervey Bay. I'm sure you know it, Mr Deputy Speaker Llew O'Brien, as a local. It is opposite the state member's office. While I have the opportunity, I want to acknowledge the retirement of Ted Sorensen, the former member for Hervey Bay, after 26 years of service. I think it is a phenomenal thing for an individual to put themselves forward for community service for that period of time.
Last time I spoke to Enzo, I learned that, quite simply, he has what was previously a seven-day-a-week business, serving coffee and food, mainly to tourists, and, unfortunately, he has only been able to operate four days a week. The reason for that is not being put forward by those opposite. The reason is that he simply cannot get enough staff. Can you imagine, Mr Deputy Speaker, in an area where we have a significant and substantial unemployment rate, not being able to get enough staff in hospitality to keep your business operational for seven days a week? So this is the problem for Enzo and any number of other small business operators in my region and in my electorate and, in fact, across a very large part of regional Queensland in particular. So, whilst it's different, there are some things which are the same.
Mr Deputy Speaker, as I'm sure you know—it's in your electorate—Fraser Island is doing it tough in terms of visits by international tourists. I would absolutely like to see support for the return of the route from Sydney to Hervey Bay. Of course I would. But, when I went and had a look, I saw that it's actually planned. Jetstar have already announced that they'll return to that route in May. They're advertising right now, with tickets starting from, if I recall correctly, $45. I think $45 is a relatively affordable fare to travel from Sydney to Hervey Bay, and I absolutely congratulate Jetstar, because we do need those tourists from places like Sydney and Melbourne back in the regions and, in particular, in those areas which are directly affected by the loss of international tourism from the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreak and the subsequent actions that the government has had to take. We have made the right decisions for Australia, and the response of all Australians, in my view, has been quite simply magnificent. Australia has done a phenomenal job off the back of the Australian people doing what they needed to do, making the decisions that were necessary and making the commitments that they had to, with support from the Commonwealth. That will continue into the future. So I congratulate all of those people who are out there working hard and working in business.
As part of my portfolio, the resources sector have been fantastic. They have done an exceptional job. They have maintained their businesses. They've kept their staff employed. They have managed the hygiene requirements to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak, and to date, to the best of my knowledge, there has been no outbreak in the resources sector. They've done what is necessary. The people who work in the industry have spent months away from home because it was required. Many of them have relocated their families. I congratulate all of them on the work they've done.
And what are the results? The results are spectacular. In the December quarter alone, the resources sector was up 5.8 per cent in terms of employment. That is 14,000 jobs. We know that it's the largest number of people employed in the coal sector since 2012. Some 264,000 Australians right now are directly employed in the industry. That is up from where it was in the previous year, and we know there are more opportunities. There are jobs right now in the resources sector right across the country. So we want to see those jobs filled. We want to see those opportunities taken up.
It is not just the big exporters—iron ore and coal. We are also working in the critical minerals space. The Critical Minerals Facilitation Office, which was stood up a couple of years ago, has the sole job of extending and expanding Australia's operations for critical minerals. Of course, we are looking to ensure that we can provide downstream manufacturing and processing, particularly the final product, and we are working with like-minded democracies right around the world to ensure that we can provide those supply chains which are currently supplied from elsewhere. There is an opportunity here for our country to build new areas of manufacturing and new jobs, particularly in the regions, but it takes significant changes in terms of technology. We need to test the prototypes in terms of the processing facilities. Once we have done that, once the prototypes have been firmed up and we have proof of concept, I think there will be significant amounts of finance that will continue to come. There's a great example of that, and that of course is Lynas in Western Australia, who have secured a contract with the US Department of Defense. Off the back of the work of the company and the Critical Minerals Facilitation Office, they have that opportunity now to extend their operations in Western Australia and provide more jobs.
Western Australia—as much as I don't like to raise it, obviously it wasn't the result we were looking for on the weekend! But the point I want to make here is that 25 per cent of the budget of the WA state economy is propped up by the resources sector—predominantly and overwhelmingly by iron ore. Over 25 per cent—that is a significant contribution to paying for the essential services Australian rely on. Whether it's hospitals, roads or schools, it's off the back of the resources sector that that work is done. Of course, that also drives jobs into those local communities.
There is another challenge out there, and it's the challenge of state premiers. If we want to keep Australians in the domestic tourism space, they need confidence. They need confidence that they are not going to have a state premier pull the rug out from under them when they have booked, planned, travelled and gone to a regional location to have a holiday, only to find they have to turn around, on a handful of hours notice, and return to their state before their borders close. What we know, quite simply, is that confidence is lost when state premiers put up snap border closures. Is there an alternative? Of course there is. You only have to look at Premier Berejiklian and what she has done in New South Wales. They have not closed their borders, they have managed COVID outbreaks, they have worked with the health system, they have ensured their contact tracing was absolutely bulletproof, and they are managing it. Once again, when state premiers continue to suggest to Australians that they will close borders at the drop of a hat, you cannot expect Australia's domestic tourism industry to stand up to those sorts of changes. You simply cannot.
There is lots of opportunity being driven by the Commonwealth. One of those areas, of course, is the gas led recovery. Of the five strategic basin plans I announced and what will they will do for jobs, the first one out there is the Beetaloo Basin. Why are we looking at the Beetaloo Basin? Quite simply, it's because it is probably the hottest player in gas in the planet. We expect there is over 200,000 petajoules of reserve out there, and that is a significant amount of gas. We want to bring that on and we need to connect it to market, and industry will do the rest if they have the confidence to invest. So, to give that confidence, we announced as part of the Beetaloo Strategic Basin Plan $50 million in terms of support for exploration and drilling. We want to see that work done in this dry season and the next dry season. We're providing that encouragement to bring that work forward because we know that if we can firm up the resource, that will firm up confidence and provide more opportunities for industry to drive jobs into the Northern Territory.
Right around Australia, this government is standing up for those people looking for work. We are ensuring that in the short, medium and long term, those opportunities will continue to come to fruition. We have made significant changes to the tax system. We have provided significant support through the COVID period. I think Australians absolutely understand that this is the only country in the world to be in, in terms of the outbreak of this pandemic. We are ensuring that they are staying safe; we are ensuring that they're provided opportunities, particularly for employment; and we are looking to the future in a post-COVID environment, in particular to drive manufacturing back on shore to this country. To do that, we need affordable and reliable gas, affordable and reliable electricity and an available workforce which has the right skill set, which is in the right location and which is ready to go. We need to ensure that red and green tape is out of the way and governments stop getting in the way of businesses who simply want to invest, drive jobs and provide opportunities. I think there is no greater example of that than the Bravus mine, formally known as Adani, in Central Queensland. It was a bunfight—there is no doubt about that. But what is the result? There are 2,200 people with jobs and a significant amount of money committed—$1.5 billion to contracts, driving some 9,000 indirect jobs into the project at a time when it is desperately needed.
Once again, I would say to those opposite that we are dealing with these issues, we are providing opportunities, we are working hard to ensure the Australian people have an opportunity in the future for a well-paid, reliable job from which they can pay for their own way, their own mortgage and the education of their own children.
3:34 pm
Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Once again I rise today to talk about this government's failure to help local workers in my electorate, because, despite the ongoing calls to do more, despite the pleas and the cries from businesses and workers doing it tough, the government is pushing full steam ahead with its cuts to JobKeeper from the end of the month—cuts that will see almost 1,500 local businesses and more than 4,500 workers in Gilmore left without support, cuts that are pretending everything is back to normal and there is no more need to help.
No-one is saying that we should continue paying JobKeeper to businesses that don't need it anymore. Many businesses have graduated off the program, and that is fantastic news. That's exactly what should happen. I've spoken to many local businesses who are in that situation and delighted to be standing on their own two feet again. But the reality is that there are some businesses and industries that are a long way from recovering and being able to survive on their own.
Ignoring the fact that the pandemic is still significantly impacting on some businesses disproportionately to others is simply irresponsible. It beggars belief. International borders are still closed indefinitely. State borders are still precarious at times. People are not travelling as they were before the pandemic, and our tourism businesses, which rely heavily on international tourists, can't just magically be okay. But that seems to be what the government wants them to do.
Time and time again, the government says it's listening. It tells businesses in my electorate on the New South Wales South Coast that it cares and that it hears them. Then it announces a so-called tourism rescue package that actually encourages tourists away from the South Coast. It incentivises people to travel elsewhere this year. The package they announced last week—which, let's be honest, is aimed at the airline industry, not the tourism industry—won't do a thing to help struggling tourism operators in our community. Moruya Airport, a wonderful regional airport on the far South Coast in my electorate, has been left off the 'ticket to recovery' list. Shellharbour Airport, slightly to the north of my electorate but with the potential to bring people to Kiama and the Shoalhaven, has been left off the list as well. Why? Who knows? I certainly don't. The entire package is just another example of flashy announcement and failed delivery by the Morrison government.
It's not the first time. In December, they announced a package which was meant to help travel agents, a group I have been strongly advocating for over months and months. But, almost as soon it was announced, it was clear the package was a dud. Agents from across my electorate contacted me in droves to tell me of their disappointment and their heartache. It was devastating for them. After fighting so hard for help for so long, they were not going to be eligible and this so-called rescue was not going to help them. Our tourism operators and travel agents deserve better. Our independent cinemas, another struggling group, deserve better. There's been no real help for them either.
The government have simply not taken the time or simply don't care to work out which industries need targeted support and how to give it to them. Instead they keep looking after their corporate mates, ticking the box on COVID recovery and patting themselves on the back for a job well done, while local businesses and local workers pay the price. It is infuriating, and it is totally unacceptable. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Senator Molan even came to the South Coast to hear directly from local travel agents and tourism operators, only to have their government announce, just weeks later, a package that not only won't help but will hurt them. Is that what it means for the Morrison government to listen to people—to listen but do nothing?
Well, I have been listening, and I won't stand by while they do nothing. I won't stand by while this government makes its flashy announcements but rips the rug out from under thousands of local people in our community. Those workers and those businesses deserve better. They need an extension of JobKeeper. They need the government to finally stand up and end the uncertainty and stress that they are facing now. They need targeted support programs for the industries that cannot recover while borders remain closed and the pandemic continues to impact, and I will keep standing here with them every day until they get them.
3:39 pm
Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
What a pathetic MPI this is! What a pathetic group of individuals we have opposite! You can just imagine the opposition's tactics team this morning saying, 'Let's come up with something so ludicrous, so misleading and so duplicitous,' and then giving it to one of the few credible members they have left on that side to move—that being the member for Macquarie. What we just heard then was a cacophony of confusion, self-truths, half-truths and absolute nonsense. On the one hand, the member for Gilmore apparently wants to have targeted support, but, on the other hand, the member for Gilmore would like to have a complete and absolute open gate, raining welfare down upon all Australians.
Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Members on my left!
Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
No, Deputy Speaker! They will shout and they will scream because the one thing they can't handle is the truth. They hate the truth as much as Dracula hates sunlight. They will keep going and there's no limit to how much they can scream, but we on this side will not be drowned out any longer.
Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Mackellar will pause.
Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
We will not be silenced by their fear and loathing—
Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Mackellar will pause. The member for Gilmore is warned. The member for Mackellar will continue.
Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Thank you, Deputy Speaker. No doubt I will continue. The fact of the matter is that this MPI shows once and for all the difference between the two political parties in this chamber. One party—the party on this side—stands up for working Australians. We believe in the value of individuals. We believe in empowering Australians, empowering their families and empowering their communities. All the opposition believe in is enslaving Australians, getting them on the welfare drip and leaving them there—right where they want them, where they're dependent upon those opposite.
The issue here is that this side of the House believes in the innate worth of ordinary Australians and believes that they're smart enough to look after themselves and their own families. Those on the other side think they're too stupid to live their own lives unless those on the other side are telling them how to do it. If there were any doubt about that truth, this MPI puts it to the sword. They cannot help themselves. They have never seen a tax they didn't want to increase, they've never seen an industry they don't want to ban, they've never seen a hope they don't want to crush, and they've never seen a welfare program that they don't believe should be bigger and better, with money stolen from other Australians to remove any hope and prospect that they have of a better future in this nation.
The fact of the matter is—and this is what hurts them the most; they hate this more than anything—that this government has created the Australian moment. The rest of the world is looking to us, in terms of social media code laws, vaccine rollouts, handing this pandemic, and creating jobs and economic opportunities that Australian families can rely on. What's their answer over there? More welfare. How can we make more Australians more enslaved by the state and by the federal government? Have you ever seen a political party—being the Labor Party—that cannot help themselves? Anytime something good happens in Queensland, they say, 'Oh, that's Annastacia Palaszczuk.' Anytime something bad happens in Queensland—and I know you're from Queensland, Deputy Speaker Llew O'Brien, but it is quite often—it's always Scott Morrison's fault. They cannot help themselves. Anything good that happens in New South Wales apparently is just a fluke.
The fact of the matter is that the Labor Party does not believe in Australian workers. You keep going through this over and over again. We have created more jobs, we have created more economic opportunities, and we have created more business start-ups. We have done more to give Australians hope and economic opportunity than any other government. We will continue to do that and we will not be shouted down by those opposite. We will not be silenced by those opposite. We will not let Australian workers continue to be betrayed by those opposite just because they've got the loudest voices and they've got more friends at the ABC. We will continue to come in here and tell the truth. We will continue to advance policies that do nothing more than give Australian families the truth. The fact of the matter is that the only vision that those opposite have is increasing the circle of grievance and continuing the cycle of poverty. How pathetic! (Time expired)
3:45 pm
Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I don't know where to start with that! There is something for everybody when the member for Mackellar speaks in this chamber! First of all, he said that JobKeeper is a form of welfare that is enslaving businesses. I just want to remind the member for Mackellar of the criticism of what his government has done: 'Ending JobKeeper is signing a death warrant for our industry.' Was that the member for Oxley saying that? Was that the member for Macquarie saying that? No, it was tourism operator Roderic Rees on the front page of our local paper The Courier Mail yesterday. How dare the member for Mackellar criticise and condemn industry and business leaders for speaking out against what his government is doing. The article goes on to say of Mr Rees:
With his workforce virtually halved, he had a blunt warning for others in the industry who were fearful of what might happen once JobKeeper winds up.
"There's a cliff face coming, make no mistake about it," …
"Get ready to start haemorrhaging money. All your subsidies and your safety nets are gone.
"I'm going to watch a lot of my friends' businesses go broke.
The member for Mackellar is big on lectures and big on responsibility, but he's actually not delivering for people by not creating jobs and not supporting industry in our country. We on this side are supporting industry and are supporting small businesses.
I thank the member for Macquarie for putting this MPI on the JobKeeper payment on the agenda today. What was your MPI going to be about today—not respecting women? What was your MPI going to be about today—cutting support for industry?
The minister at the table, Minister Pitt, in his contribution once again slagged off the state government for keeping Queensland safe. No wonder there was an 11.1 per cent swing in the state seat of Hervey Bay in his own electorate—the LNP completely wiped off the face of the earth. No wonder there was an 8.8 per cent primary swing in the state seat of Bundaberg—wiped off the face of the earth in his own electorate. Keep telling the voters in your own electorate that you wanted borders open—keep telling the voters in your own community that you didn't want to keep them safe. You know who told them that she wanted to keep them safe? Our Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk. You may have been rubbishing her, but the people of Queensland don't agree with you. No wonder the LNP were thrown out of office at the last election. They had no hope. Their vote went backwards, and the member for Hinkler is still carrying on, saying that he wants the borders open. He's still carrying on about the dozens of times the economy would have been smashed if the member for Hinkler had had anything to do with Queensland state politics. The economy would have been destroyed if you'd opened the borders, as those opposite wished, during the last election, and he is saying 'rubbish'. We will be reminding the voters in Hinkler at the next election that it was he who wanted the borders open. He wanted his community to be kept at risk. Well, I'm glad that we have a strong premier. Didn't you get the message from Western Australia? Didn't you hear the message on the weekend? Start opening your ears—
Mr Pitt interjecting—
Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The minister will cease interjecting.
Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
and listening to what the community wants. I'm glad that we're here today talking about these critical issues.
There are 172,000 Queenslanders crying out for help. In my own electorate, 5,000 workers are expected to be thrown on the scrap heap, with JobKeeper ending at the end of the month. That means $2.4 million a week in support will be ripped away from our local economy. The member for Mackellar might call it welfare; I call it money going to the mums and dads of the small businesses in my community.
I've met with many workers and businesses who have done everything right, and they've suffered because of a health crisis that's out of their control. They're only going to suffer more because those opposite are shrugging their shoulders, refusing to do their jobs and create meaningful policy. What have we got as an alternative for the people of Queensland? Half-price airfares. The member for Hinkler is here. Why wasn't Hervey Bay listed? Why wasn't Bundaberg listed? Did you fight for them? Did you ask for them to go on the list?
Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Oxley will address the chair.
Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Through you, Mr Deputy Speaker: did the member for Hinkler ring up the tourism minister and ask if they could be included? Silence. Did you ring up and see if your tourism operators could be included in that?
An honourable member interjecting—
Absolutely not. He's got confidence in them, but he won't help them. On this side of the chamber, we will continue to speak about the thousands and thousands of businesses that are going over the cliff in a matter of two weeks. It's not good enough to criticise them. They need help and support, and you should start doing your job.
3:50 pm
Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
It was around this time last year that the world was taken by storm, seemingly overnight. The global population was at serious risk of a terrifying new illness or, even worse, death. Many countries still live horrified at the possibility of being ravaged by this sickness. Across those countries, economies are grinding to a halt, shops are being boarded up and people are losing their jobs en masse.
The story in Australia is very different—like a cold, harsh winter ending and the light of spring bringing back new life. Australia has returned to a firm sense of normality. Through the stable and measured hands of the Morrison government, certainty was, and continues to be, provided to Australian workers and small businesses. It was the Morrison government's $251 billion of direct economic support that provided a crucial lifeline to help small businesses around the country retain their staff and apprentices, maintain their cash flow and reinvest in their businesses.
In my home state of Victoria, businesses and people faced even greater adversity than those in other states had to endure. The extended lockdowns decimated businesses in my electorate. Even in the face of the Victorian Labor government's assault on the Victorian economy, the Morrison government's precise and calculated economic support packages have managed to save many businesses in my electorate and in the state.
Just last month, I had the pleasure of visiting Twin Electrics & Plumbing, a business in my electorate that undertakes electrical work. They were showing me a new piece of equipment they had recently installed, thanks to a federal government grant they had received earlier. It wasn't easy for those guys, though. They were hit hard by the extended lockdowns we've experienced in the last year. Most of their staff were full time too. It was through the JobKeeper package the Morrison government designed that they were able to continue to work and to keep food on the table for their families. Now Twin Electrics & Plumbing are off JobKeeper, as of last December, and thriving as they move forward. This illustrates the success of the package. It was targeted and effective. Neither small businesses nor people were left behind in this government's plan. Also, job creation was central. We wanted people to have plenty of opportunities available. While talking to the team down at Twin Electrics & Plumbing, I found out that they have been able to utilise the Morrison government's apprenticeship scheme, which allows them to benefit from a 50 per cent wage subsidy for new trainees and apprentices, and soon they plan on bringing on an additional trainee to teach them the ropes of their business, which they will be able to do through the same scheme.
I would like to suggest that the Morrison government has provided economic certainty to Australian workers and small businesses from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has not lapsed in doing so. We are providing a framework to ensure that Australia makes it through this crisis and is in a position of enviable strength on the global stage. The Morrison government will always look out for the best interests of all Australians, and we definitely are doing that for businesses and workers.
3:55 pm
Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Before I start, I will give a brief history lesson. It was Labor who suggested to the government that it introduce a wage subsidy, way back in March last year, when the government failed to introduce JobKeeper. That's when the government failed to introduce JobKeeper. It was a Labor, unions and big business idea, and perhaps that explains the risible contribution from the member for Mackellar. You just chip away, and he shows his true self. He hates JobKeeper. He calls it 'enslavement'. The member for Mackellar called this enslavement: a program that has been singularly responsible for saving the livelihoods of millions of Australians and businesses, and the member for Mackellar calls it enslavement. It's an absolute disgrace.
It was Labor who suggested it. The PM didn't want it. He had to be talked into it. The government described the idea at the time as dangerous, but JobKeeper has been vital. It's still vital. This is the great irony. It is still vital for many businesses and many Australians. The pandemic's not over. If the pandemic were over the international borders would be open, but the government's taken the right decision to keep the borders closed. The international borders are closed, but they're closing off JobKeeper at the end of this month. They are consigning hundreds of thousands of Australians—as many as a million Australians, perhaps—to the dole queues.
At the end of January 2021, about 50,000 Tasmanians were either out of work or looking for work, and the state's unemployment rate was 7.9 per cent. Almost 13,000 Tasmanians are currently in receipt of JobKeeper. They're still on it. Many rely on the payment to keep them in work, to keep food on the table, to keep the lights on and to keep a roof over their heads. I shudder to think what happens when JobKeeper comes off at the end of the month. There are businesses that, on the face of it, are doing well—their doors are open, the staff are serving customers—but the customers don't know that the staff are being paid through JobKeeper. When JobKeeper goes off, those businesses, which are struggling to get the business custom through the door that they used to have, are going to have to make decisions: 'What do we do? We can't afford to pay the wages. We haven't recovered the profits yet.' They're going to have to start letting people go. These are very real impacts.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that, at the height of the pandemic in May 2020, 19,000 jobs were lost across Tasmania. A quarter of the jobs lost to COVID are yet to return. They've still not returned. Our recovery in our state from this pandemic is precarious and it is nowhere more precarious than in tourism and hospitality.
As Australians emerge from the deepest, most damaging recession in almost 100 years, there have been some welcome, positive signs in our economy—there's no doubt. The green shoots are emerging. Australians have stuck together and done the right thing by each other, so we can perform much better than many other countries. This credit belongs to all Australians and, particularly, to the state governments, which have led the way. In the absence of real national leadership from this government, it is the state governments, Labor and Liberal, that have led the way in this nation.
On those issues that the federal government's been responsible for, it's fallen over. Issues that the federal government's taken? No good. A vaccination rollout of four million by March? I don't think so. Four million by March? It's not going to happen. That's a federal government responsibility. It's already stalling and it's barely begun. It's already behind schedule.
In my electorate of Lyons, almost 3,000 workers are expected to lose JobKeeper at the end of this month, with $1.3 million a week in support ripped away from our local economies. It's a very uncertain and anxious time for many Australians, particularly with what will happen in the labour market and the economy more broadly. There is uncertainty about the government's plan to cut pay, to cut superannuation and to attack job security. There is uncertainty about people's ongoing job security and what it means for their family finances—their ability to get a loan, for example. This government's addiction to casualisation and contracting out is going to affect people's ability to get a loan and provide for their families. This government is failing the test, with gross incompetence and economic uncertainty.
4:00 pm
Dave Sharma (Wentworth, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
It gives me great pleasure to be able to talk about our economic recovery from the COVID pandemic, including how the economy is travelling and how JobKeeper has supported that economic recovery. Just last week, the Australian National Accounts figures came out. They showed that the Australian economy grew 3.1 per cent in the December quarter. That's on top of 3.4 per cent growth in the September quarter. It's the first time in several decades that the economy has grown quicker than three per cent in two consecutive quarters. If you look at the overall figures for 2020, the Australian economy is 1.1 per cent smaller than it was at the start of this pandemic. That is the best performance in the OECD. Look at other OECD countries: Japan's economy contracted by 1.2 per cent; the Korean economy contracted by 1.3 per cent; the US economy contracted by 2.5 per cent; the Canadian economy contracted by 5.2 per cent; and the UK economy contracted by 7.8 per cent. To go through what we've been through—a once-in-a-century pandemic with all the disruptions to international travel, global supply chains and any number of other things—and emerge at the other side with unemployment at 6.4 per cent and the overall economy 1.1 per cent smaller is not a bad effort. I think we should give credit where it's due.
We've seen the economy continue to recover. In the last four months we've seen 350,000 jobs created, 90,000 in the month of January alone. Of the 1.3 million Australians who either lost their jobs or had their hours reduced to zero at the start of the pandemic, 94 per cent are back at work. Just last week we saw that job advertisements are at pre-pandemic levels. The same is true for consumer confidence and business confidence. Just recently we had our AAA credit rating reaffirmed. So the story is very much a positive one. We've still got further to go on this road of economic recovery. We've got more work to do to support some industries that still need assistance, and we've still got some work to do to get some of our more vulnerable populations, particularly our younger Australians, back to work. But we are very much heading in the right direction.
What role has JobKeeper played in all this? Well, phase 1 of JobKeeper, from March to September last year, was very much an emergency phase. During that six-month period, $70 billion went out the door in JobKeeper, making it the single biggest program of federal government expenditure in the history of the Commonwealth. At that time, half of all Australian businesses were being supported by JobKeeper and one-third of all Australian workers were being supported by JobKeeper. But, if you look at where we are today, the story is considerably different. At the end of September, when JobKeeper kicked over into phase 2 and we extended it by six months, we had 2.1 million workers and half a million Australian businesses graduate off JobKeeper. Today, there are 2.7 million Australians and 650,000 businesses that have come off JobKeeper. In my own electorate, Wentworth, it's a similar story to the one being played out nationally. In Wentworth 5,800 businesses and almost 20,000 individuals have graduated from JobKeeper.
Contrary to what those opposite may be saying, JobKeeper was never intended to be a permanent program. It was an economy-wide, emergency measure. We're not in the business of providing permanent wage subsidies to Australian businesses, and nor should we be. This would be a massive distortion in the economy. Instead, what we are doing is moving towards more targeted support, which is exactly what you'd expect. As the Reserve Bank governor, Philip Lowe, said recently:
When the JobKeeper program finishes at the end of March we expect some additional job losses, but over time these are expected to be offset by the jobs created by the ongoing recovery of the economy.
In Treasury's review of the JobKeeper program, which it conducted last year, it found:
JobKeeper has a number of features that create adverse incentives which may become more pronounced over time as the economy recovers … it dampens incentives to work, it hampers labour mobility and the reallocation of workers to more productive roles, and it keeps businesses afloat that would not be viable without ongoing support.
That's the truth. The economy is ready to transition to its next phase of recovery. In that recovery, we need to be supporting the areas that still need targeted assistance. We need to be supporting the broader economy. But it is time for JobKeeper to end. That's why we've got programs in place like the JobMaker Hiring Credit—to encourage businesses to hire new workers. That's why we've got the apprenticeship scheme in place, which has already seen 100,000 apprentices hired over five months. That's why we've got the COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program in place—to support travel agents. That's why we've got the domestic aviation travel announcements that we came up with last week—to support that sector of the economy. That's why we're bringing forward tax incentives for workers—to bring forward consumption. That's why we're creating tax incentives for businesses—to engage in investment—and why we're bringing forward infrastructure investment. We've moved beyond the crisis and the response. We're now moving to the next stage of recovery, and the ending of JobKeeper is part of that.
4:05 pm
Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
This government's tin ear and cement heart have been on show again this week and are on show right now in this MPI. They extend to its response to the recovery and the renewal effort needed in regional communities. JobKeeper has been central in getting us to this point, a point of fragile hope for the future. It was Labor, back in March, who pushed the government to introduce a wage subsidy. Those opposite described the idea of JobKeeper as 'dangerous', but JobKeeper has been vital. Tragically, hundreds of thousands of Australians are about to be left behind. Entire sectors, including tourism and hospitality, will be denied the government support that has kept them afloat and given them any hope.
In my electorate of Eden-Monaro, 5,339 workers are expected to lose JobKeeper at the end of the month. That's $2.7 million a week ripped away from our local economy, at a time when we can least afford it. The day-to-day weight that comes with this kick in the guts is real, especially for the already traumatised communities right across Eden-Monaro. A recent survey of business in the Bega Valley found that 50 per cent of businesses lack confidence in their viability over the next 12 months. These businesses were robbed of income over the last two summers, and I have no doubt that the results would be very similar in other parts of Eden-Monaro. The depth of this feeling comes from years of challenges—years of drought followed by the worst bushfires in modern history, followed by floods and followed by a global pandemic. But you don't get it.
The salt in the wound for families tied to these local businesses is that the very support they have been relying on is about to be ripped out from under them, with no plan or safety net for their future. Over 5,000 families in Eden-Monaro can't see a future beyond the next two weeks. The survey—which was done by Bega Valley Shire Council, Sapphire Coast Destination Marketing and Destination Southern NSW—also showed 54 per cent of businesses had to reduce their staffing levels, with 53 full-time staff and 218 part-time staff laid off in the wake of bushfires and border closures.
Last New Year's Eve, businesses from Eden to Narooma, from Jindabyne to Talbingo, were braced for good times. Camp sites were full, hire boats were busy, local breweries were singing and restaurant tables were being turned over. A solid rebound was building following the wipe-out from the bushfires the summer before. That was until COVID-19 flared in Sydney and the Victorian border was slammed shut. The people in those camp sites and on those hire boats had to leave. The Prime Minister's national cabinet failed to come up with a definition for 'hotspots' before, during or after. It has failed to set trigger points for border closures. The risk of snap border closures remains for communities and businesses in Eden-Monaro. Peter from Longstocking Brewery at Pambula told me: 'We had just four days of excellent sales when the Victorian border closed. We had 130 people booked in, of which only seven turned up. And, as a consequence, we had to lay off staff.'
The jobs that have remained have been supported by JobKeeper, and the sad irony for Peter and every business in Eden-Monaro is that the New Year's Eve border closure happened on the same day that, 12 months prior, fire ripped through our local landscape, smashing the busiest and most productive part of our year. The Eden-Monaro economy has lost two summers—that's over $150 million in the Bega Valley alone. We simply can't afford to lose any more, and yet this government is about to rip another $2.6 million a week out of local pockets. When quizzed on the future of JobKeeper, those opposite have pointed to the vaccine rollout—a misguided hope, as it turns out. The snail's pace at which people are being vaccinated simply isn't building confidence and hope in people that need it. The loss of JobKeeper only compounds the despair, as does the risk that, while we wait for the jab, borders could snap shut again. In the end, beyond income support, real, secure and meaningful work is what people really want.
On the South West Slopes, timber jobs are at risk too. This government's tin ear and cement heart have failed to grapple with that—that's $2 billion from the Snowy Valleys' economy. Forty per cent of their timber production has been lost and 157 jobs could be lost in Tumbarumba alone. But what have they done, apart from listening to a commonsense solution? They have done nothing. (Time expired)
4:10 pm
Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
When we look at other nations—their ongoing struggles and how they managed their responses to both the health crisis and the economic crisis—Australia's got a lot to be grateful for. The member for Wentworth certainly pointed that out in no uncertain terms in his address. It's a remarkable feat to have outperformed all other advanced nations in the OECD when it comes to our economic management of COVID-19. But what's most important is the economic safety net that the Morrison government has provided, saving tens of thousands of jobs and thousands of businesses right across Australia. Government knows that there's more to be done, and we get that. We all get that. We know that we're not out of the woods yet.
We now know that the recovery phase and the economic management strategy are well underway, but I think it's important today, particularly under this topic, that we recognise how far we've come. More than half a million businesses, employing more than two million Australians, have already graduated off JobKeeper. In my great state of Tasmania, around 68,900 employees received payments over the first phase of JobKeeper. Compare that to the second phase, which was just 24,100. That's a significant difference. That represents a decrease of 65 per cent, so 65 per cent of businesses in Tasmania who accessed the JobKeeper program are now back on their feet and working towards a positive future. The program's done its job.
Just a few weeks ago, the Treasurer was in the electorate of Braddon. It was a great trip, and the mood in the street, right across the North West, the West Coast and King Island, was positive. In fact, the Deloitte December quarter report suggests that Tasmania's business confidence is amongst the highest in the nation. The Treasurer and I started our day by visiting some great businesses.
One business, Mead Con, owned by Tim and Vonette Mead, employs their daughter, who's a third-year apprentice. Her name's Elsie. They're all positive. They've got about 70 employees and about 14 apprentices. In fact, they've employed three apprentices just this year. That represents confidence. Confidence is as infectious as the COVID-19 virus, and if confidence isn't firmly at the feet of our businesses then they have no hope. Confidence is strong in the North West. Tim said in no uncertain terms that confidence has never been stronger and his businesses have never been stronger. He's getting orders 12 months out and he wonders how he'll have enough employees to fill the jobs that he already has. He's even bought a new 2½ tonne forklift under the new instant asset write-off legislation that we released—a program that has allowed businesses in my electorate to purchase and bring forward expenditure on their fleet, making their bottom line that much more effective.
From there we went to Darren at Derrico Cycles. The mountain bike scene in Tasmania has taken off, with tracks around the place like Derby, Hollybank, Maydena, Wild Mersey, Penguin and Dial Range, and with $2½ million the federal government has supported the West Coast mountain bike trails, covering Oonah Hill, Sterling Valley and Montezuma Falls. This has seen Darren's business become as busy as it's ever been, according to Darren.
The other side is talking about the failure to provide certainty to workers and small business. I certainly disagree with that. In fact, I would maintain that the government has been completely open and transparent in our approach to this economic recovery. The government has always said that JobKeeper was a temporary program designed to be wound back without tails attached, as economic confidence and momentum rebuilds in our economy.
Other measures have included income tax cuts and the JobMaker hiring credit. Around 41,400 taxpayers in Braddon have benefited from tax relief this year. We've seen 9,700 businesses in Braddon eligible for the instant asset write-off, which Mead Con used to purchase their new forklift. Business confidence is certainly high along the north-west coast of Tasmania and will remain high as they work towards a positive future.
Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The discussion is now concluded.