Scott Morrison to announce five-point plan for 2021

Scott Morrison says he will not run a “blank cheque” budget and indicated the next stage of the economic recovery will be up to Aussies opening up their wallets.

Scott Morrison says he will not run a “blank cheque budget” and indicated the next stage of the economic recovery will be up to Aussies opening up their wallets.

The Prime Minister will on Monday unveil a five point plan for 2021, headlined by “suppressing the virus and delivering the vaccine” – with the cost of rolling out the jab revealed to be $1.9 billion.

He will also hint at agricultural workforce reforms to attract more workers will form part of the May budget.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will say he will not back a “blank cheque budget”. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jenny Evans

It comes as Opposition leader Anthony Albanese confirms the eight Queensland seats Labor will target at the next election. It is also understood a ninth seat in Dickson could also come into play if high-profile Minister Peter Dutton retires.

The other points of Mr Morrison’s plan include economic recovery and job creation, guaranteeing services, protecting Australia’s interests in a challenging world and “care for our country”.

Mr Morrison will point to the unemployment rate falling to 6.6 per cent, well below the previously forecast 8 per cent, and say fiscal discipline was needed not to “overburden future generations”.

“We are not running a blank cheque economy,” he will tell the National Press Club on Monday.

He will say JobKeeper had boosted savings for families and businesses by $200 billion, while tax cuts, JobMaker hiring credits and other measures would continue to pump money into the economy after the wage subsidy ends after March.

“There is not a large sum of money available to be spent across the economy helping to create jobs and maintain the momentum of our economic recovery and that is where it needs to be right now – in Australians’ pockets,” Mr Morrison will say.

Meanwhile, the eight seats Labor will target are Leichhardt, Herbert, Flynn, Capricornia, Longman, Forde, Petrie and Brisbane.

It has dropped George Christensen’s seat of Dawson from the target list, with it’s margin blown out to almost 15 per cent, while Herbert and Longman have been added as seats to win back after they were lost in 2019.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will target eight seats in Queensland at the next Federal election. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gary Ramage

There are high margins in some of those seats, including Capricornia at 12.4 per cent, while Forde, Flynn and Petrie are all held by the LNP with more than an 8 per cent buffer.

Labor Senator Murray Watt said many of the margins were inflated by preferences from One Nation and the Palmer party, which meant they were within reach.

“The state election shows there’s an opportunity for Labor to reclaim traditional voters who had turned to One Nation,” he said.

Labor Senator Anthony Chisholm said the party’s climate message needed to be focused on jobs.

“It needs to be jobs today and tomorrow. Jobs of the future are important, but Queensland is a practical electorate. Labor can’t afford to be pie in the sky,” he said.

“That means focusing on the current economic circumstances, good jobs, well-paying jobs, not casual ones.”

Longman, Leichhardt, Brisbane, Petrie and Flynn will also be targeted by an Australian Council of Trade Unions campaign to be launched on Monday, focused on the Morrison Government’s proposed industrial relations reforms.

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said the laws would hurt workers, keep jobs insecure and wages low.