Ben Small (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator Cash. With the vaccine rollout underway and continuing signs of economic recovery across the country, can the minister please update the Senate on how the Morrison government's economic supports through COVID-19 have helped small businesses to ride out the crisis and Australians to stay in jobs?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Small for the question and again acknowledge to the chamber Senator Small's background, in particular, as being a small-business owner back in our home state of Western Australia, and the fact that he really understands what it's like to build a business from scratch, to employ people, to pay wages and to certainly have sleepless nights.

As we now know, in Australia, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is underway, and so is Australia's economic recovery. According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force statistics for January, we've seen a net increase of 29,000 jobs. That, of course, came off the back of the creation of 59,000 full-time jobs. We've also seen, as Senator Payne knows, women's workforce participation return to the near-record level it was prior to the pandemic. Underemployment is now falling, and, as we know, over 93 per cent of the jobs lost during COVID-19 have now returned to the economy.

All of this has been possible because of the support that the Morrison government has provided, in particular, to small and family businesses across Australia. We've put in place policies that have kept Australians in work, because we've put in place policies that have kept businesses in business. These, of course, included JobKeeper; apprentice and trainee wage subsidies; the cash flow boost, which, of course, gave people back their own hard-earned money; the SME guarantee scheme; and the early withdrawal of superannuation. We put in place a suite of policies, and this suite of policies has played a vital role. In fact, when you look at the RBA research, it estimates that JobKeeper saved over 700,000 jobs in the first half of 2020. Our Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy has now supported over 59,000 small businesses to keep 119,000 apprentices on the job, where we need them to be.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Cash. Senator Small, a supplementary question?

Ben Small (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, can you outline how the labour market has responded to the tapering of JobKeeper and other COVID-19 economic supports implemented by the Morrison government?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I've said, we've seen around 93 per cent of the jobs that were lost as a result of COVID-19 return to the economy. What we are seeing is that the transition to the second phase of JobSeeker has been successful. It is ensuring that support is targeted to those who need it most. In fact, between September and December of 2020 we saw the level of economic support fall by $30 billion. At the same time the support was tapered, the economy added 320,000 jobs. New analysis of tax microdata by Treasury shows the number of phase 2 JobKeeper workers who are working zero or very low hours has been decreasing over time. What we've also seen is record numbers of previously unemployed people finding new jobs. In fact, to November 2020 we saw a record of 170,000 unemployed people into the workforce.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Small, a final supplementary question?

Ben Small (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the original COVID-19 supports begin to conclude, how will the Morrison government continue to support small business through the jobs recovery over the course of 2021?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister has always said our No. 1 priority as a government is keeping businesses in business and getting Australians back into work. We have our $74 billion JobMaker plan. That is, as you know, supporting employers to hire and bring on additional people into their workplaces. We're supporting Australians to train, to upskill and to reskill, and of course we're supporting hardworking small-business owners to grow their own business. Our economic support measures have boosted family and business balance sheets. We've seen over $200 billion extra in savings over the last year. We're also unlocking confidence to spend that money, which is a good thing, particularly in our small businesses. As we know, small businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy and we need to do everything that we can to support them. We know there's a long road ahead but we are committed to boosting the confidence of Australians and of course ensuring that Australians remain in work.