Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this important issue of the JobKeeper program. As a senator for Western Australia, I've spent most of my time speaking to as many businesses as I possibly can across the whole state of Western Australia, from the north, up in the Kimberley, right the way down to the South West and into the Great Southern, and of course in Perth as well. Particularly early on, when we were first discussing the JobKeeper program, before all the details were released, and when the consideration of the program was put out there in the public, there was of course a lot of interest. I really commend the Treasurer on the way that he approached this. He called upon colleagues to provide feedback so that it could be fed into the design of the program, and I commend the Treasurer on the way that he consulted with his colleagues on this to make sure that the program was designed in a way that could provide the maximum impact using a system that could be tailored and scaled to meet the demand that was expected. We expected that there could be up to six million people that would be impacted by this and that would be provided with this support. To date there have been over 5½ million businesses and employees that have been impacted and have registered for this, and it really is making a solid impact. As I said, I do commend the Treasurer on the design.

We had to make sure that it was done in such a way that it could be rolled out as quickly as possible, using existing systems rather than having to design new systems that would no doubt be complicated by the fact that you don't have a lengthy lead-in time to set these things up. So we've used existing systems to enable this program to happen. That means that you cannot possibly have it designed to cover every single, conceivable person. This is why we have the safety net of the jobseeker program and the doubling of the jobseeker payment—to ensure that those people that find themselves in a situation where they're not eligible for JobKeeper have the ability to claim jobseeker if they are eligible.

We're seeing the impact of the JobKeeper program. As I said, I've spoken to lots of businesses across the state. One particular business, in the southern suburbs of Perth, is Alba Edible Oils. This business produces oils which go into restaurants and get shipped across the world. With restaurants closing down due to COVID-19, the demand for this business's product is not there right now. Had there not been the JobKeeper program, they estimate they would have laid off about 17 people in their factory. This is an amazing workshop. It's an amazing factory. What they're able to do is incredible, and the time and the energy that they've put into their staff to train and equip them to perform in their workplace is very, very considerable. Had the business lost that connection with its employees, getting back up and running would be very difficult. But the JobKeeper program has enabled that business to retain its staff so that it's ready when we are through this and when the restaurants reopen, as many of them are expected to do in Western Australia as of this coming Monday—and I commend the state government for really leading the way nationally, following the guidance from the national cabinet and being part of the leading edge when it comes to the reopening of our economy in Western Australia. This company is now set up and ready when things move forward.

I'm also pleased to see that this company has received a grant from the Commonwealth's Manufacturing Modernisation Fund, enabling the purchase of new equipment which will streamline operations. Again, because of the JobKeeper program they're able to put in place the equipment that's necessary for them to grow and develop, equipment that will enable them to bring in new packaging, which will enable them to export to new markets. This is all possible and they're able to install that equipment because of the JobKeeper program, meaning that when we're out the other side of this they'll be able to launch ahead.

As I said, the jobseeker payment has been doubled, which means that those that don't have that safety net of the JobKeeper have the safety net and the fallback position of the jobseeker program. Those people will be able to be restored into employment once we're through this crisis. (Time expired)