Coronavirus: Scott Morrison announces JobKeeper, JobSeeker extension amid more Vic deaths
JobKeeper will be extended at a reduced rate, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced. It comes as Victoria recorded 374 new cases of coronavirus and three more deaths on the eve of mandatory mask wearing in the state.
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JobKeeper will scale down gradually over six months from October starting at $1200 a fortnight for full-time workers and dropping to $1000 by 2021.
The wage subsidy will be extended for three months from September 27 at the higher rate of $1200 for full-time and $750 for part-time workers.
The payment will then drop further to $1000 for full-time and $650 for people working less than 20 hours a week in the March quarter.
The 30 per cent drop in turnover will be applied as a test for businesses to qualify at the start of each quarter.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the support measures during the coronavirus crisis are not “set and forget” policy.
He said changes would be made where needed, acknowledging it was a complex issue.
“JobKeeper is doing it’s job and will continue to do its job,” he said
“A review has found that it has been well targeted and it has been effective in stemming the loss of businesses.”
Mr Morrison said the wage subsidy “has been the game changer” for businesses to stay afloat during the coronavirus crisis.
“Despite the hardship that has been felt, particularly in the southern states … Australia’s performance has been a stand out,” he said.
“Australia is a country that just doesn’t look to survive … that is not who we are
“Who we are is an innovative, adaptive people, supporting each other … not for survival but to be in a potion on the other side where we can emerge from it strong.”
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The coronavirus supplement topping up JobSeeker dole cheques will be more than halved to $250 a fortnight from October.
The federal government announced the extension of the support, due to end on September 27, would also coincide with relaxed income rules allowing JobSeeker recipients to earn up to $300 a fortnight without their payments being impacted.
The COVID-19 supplement is on top of the normal $550 fortnightly unemployment benefit.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) welcomed the continuation but said it was concerned by changes to the program.
It questions the justification for cutting payments to all workers receiving JobKeeper and especially those working fewer than 20 hours.
“This announcement has delayed the economic catastrophe that would have resulted from pushing these programs off the cliff during the pandemic, but we need far-reaching government investment to create a path out of recession and to create the jobs we will need to rebuild the economy,” ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said.
“The increase of the income free threshold to $300 for JobSeeker is welcome but the reintroduction of mutual obligations is a worrying return to the punitive approach to welfare payments which we hoped the Morrison Government had left behind.”
The Transport Workers’ Union said aviation workers will struggle on reduced payments while thousands shut-out of the scheme are at risk of losing their jobs.
“The announcement to cut payments and that thousands of aviation workers will again miss out on JobKeeper shows how Scott Morrison is failing to understand the serious situation aviation is in,” TWA National Secretary Michael Kaine said.
“Aviation workers need adequate support and a commitment from the Government that it will stand by their industry.”
But Master Builders Australia says the JobKeeper scheme is the right move for the building and construction industry and will help boost confidence in our industry, the economy and the community.
“Building and construction is the industry with the most businesses registered for JobKeeper and that reflects that 98 per cent of the industry is comprised of small businesses and with more small businesses than any other sector of the economy,” MBA CEO Denita Wawn said.
“There’s no doubt that JobKeeper continues to be lifeline for thousands of small builders and tradies as well as many in the building supply chain. The continuing easier accessibility for sole traders to access the scheme is also important.”
THREE MORE DEATHS IN VICTORIA AS CASES RISE
It comes after more bad news for Victoria with the state recording 374 new cases of coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours – including three more deaths.
Of the known cases, 62 are connected to known and contained outbreaks, Premier Daniel Andrews said at a daily briefing this morning.
Three women, one in her 100s, another in her 90s and a third in her 80s, passed away raising the state’s death toll to 42.
The state has 6289 cases of coronavirus, with 3078 active cases.
There are 174 Victorians in hospital, of which 36 are in intensive care.
Mr Andrews said 1,361,238 tests have been conducted on the state since January 1.
“Our testing rate per 100,000 is now exceeded 20,000 per 100,000. And yesterday we completed some 29,464 tests,” he said.
“That gives us the information we need to trace, to track and to isolate and quarantine anyone who is a close contact or, indeed, a positive case.”
The grim figures come on the eve of mandatory mask wearing in the state.
OXFORD VACCINE WORKING, SAFE
The world has taken a major step towards a coronavirus vaccine with new results showing that Oxford University’s jab works and was safe.
Stage 2 trials on 1077 people conducted in the UK found that the vaccine provided a spike in immunity, both for T-cell and antibodies within 28 days.
The success, published in medical journal The Lancet, was a significant step forward, after Oxford University researchers repurposed a vaccine they had been developing for years for another illness to tackle COVID-19.
The next step was a larger trial, which has already started in Brazil where infection rates were soaring, as well as the UK and South Africa.
The British government has already ordered one million doses of the drug to be delivered by September, and there were hopes that millions more could be delivered by Christmas if the stage three trial was successful.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the promising trials “an important step in the right direction”.
This is very positive news. A huge well done to our brilliant, world-leading scientists & researchers at @UniofOxford.
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) July 20, 2020
There are no guarantees, we’re not there yet & further trials will be necessary - but this is an important step in the right direction.https://t.co/PRUTu8rlPF
Co-author Professor Sarah Gilbert, of the University of Oxford, said: “There is still much work to be done before we can confirm if our vaccine will help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, but these early results hold promise.
“As well as continuing to test our vaccine in phase three trials, we need to learn more about the virus – for example, we still do not know how strong an immune response we need to provoke to effectively protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
Prof Gilbert said that millions of doses could be made.
CNBC reported that the Oxford trials could be partnered with drug industry manufacturers to roll out two billion doses of the vaccine.
“If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale,” she said.
“A successful vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 could be used to prevent infection, disease and death in the whole population, with high-risk populations such as hospital workers and older adults prioritised to receive vaccination.”
Side effects of the vaccine, which will be produced by pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca, were eased with paracetamol.
Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group, welcomed the Oxford vaccine results.
“There hasn’t been much cause for celebration over recent months, but the early trial results from Oxford have wrenched open a window to offer some cautious hope that this ‘new normal’ may not be with us forever,” she said.
“The UK’s medical and scientific research capabilities are truly first-rate, and it’s not a surprise that we have found this early success.
“All of Westminster is now looking on with the great hope that the UK’s rather miserable pandemic record could finish with a much happier ending.”
FACE MASKS MANDATORY IN VICTORIA
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Sunday that masks and face coverings will be made mandatory in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire from 11.59pm on Wednesday.
People defying the rules will face a $200 fine, Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews said the face coverings did not necessarily have to be a “hospital-grade mask”.
“It can be a scarf, it can be a homemade mask,” he told reporters.
Mr Andrews said common sense would guide the police’s enforcement of the fines and that he hoped the requirement would lead to a change in behaviour.
“We are going to be wearing masks in Victoria, and potentially in other parts of the country, for a very long time. There’s no vaccine to this wildly infectious virus, and it’s a simple thing but it’s about changing habits,” he said.
It comes after a “concerning” increase in cases in recent days and the lack of people voluntarily wearing masks in public areas where they cannot safely social distance.
