Coronavirus stimulus: Why you missed out on Scott Morrison’s $1500

It has been praised as “country-changing” – but there are plenty of big losers in Scott Morrison’s unprecedented JobKeeper package.

The PM has just announced special new payments to keep businesses afloat and workers in jobs – but not everyone will get the Federal Government’s “JobKeeper” subsidy.

During a press conference yesterday afternoon, Mr Morrison announced that eligible workers would receive a $130 billion wage subsidy of $1500 per fortnight for a maximum of six months as the coronavirus crisis rages on.

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Broadly speaking, the generous JobKeeper payment will be made available to full-time, part-time and casual workers as well as sole traders – including those working in the gig economy, such as Uber drivers – who have been affected by the downturn sparked by the virus.

WHO IS EXCLUDED?

But there are important caveats.

Businesses with less than $1 billion in revenue will only be able to claim the subsidy – and pass it on to individual workers – if they experience a 30 per cent drop in sales, or a 50 per cent hit for firms with more than $1 billion in revenue.

And while the government believes around six million eligible Australians will end up receiving the payment, it will be restricted to staff who were working for an eligible business on March 1 and are at least 16 years old.

Casual workers will need to have been working for the company for at least one year to receive the payment.

To qualify, you must also be an Australian citizen – or hold a permanent visa, a protected special category visa or a non-protected special category visa and have been living in Australia continually for a decade or more.

New Zealand citizens on a special category visa will also be eligible.

FOREIGN WORKERS MISS OUT

Under the rules, countless foreign workers will be excluded from the payments, which is a huge problem for the individuals themselves and for certain industries that typically hire foreign workers out of necessity, such as hospitality and retail.

Valerio Domenici, who owns Zucchero Caffe Bar in North Sydney, appeared on Today this morning to explain businesses like his would be affected by the exclusion.

Mr Domenici explained that while he had tried to hire Australian workers first, he had struggled to fill job vacancies and as a result, relied on foreign workers to fill the gaps.

The majority of his workforce won’t qualify for the new subsidy.

“I’m a little bit disappointed … my main concern is my workers,” he told hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon.

“I have tried to employ Australians as much as possible, being Australian myself, but I have not been able to.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government's $130 billion wage subsidy package yesterday. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

He said his cafe, which had only been open for around seven months, was struggling to stay afloat despite moving to takeaway-only and engaging the services of food delivery platform Uber Eats.

“We are struggling. We’re trying to put some things in place so that we can soften the blow,” he said.

“But, of course, for us, our concern is looking after our team – they look after us, so we need to look after them,” he said.

“People from other countries are actually a big part of our workforce. If we don’t have any sort of safety net for them, whatever it may be, we are going to be in a bit of strife because these people have still got rents to pay, food and all the other bills we all have as well.”

He said there was “no safety net” for foreign workers and that while it would be easier for him to close down and let workers “fend for themselves”, his main concern was his hardworking staff.

OTHER BIG LOSERS

Other Australians who will also miss out – including those whose employers were not eligible, and those casual workers who had been with their company for less than one year, have taken to social media to voice their concerns with the eligibility criteria, using the #WageSubsidyForAll and #NoWorkerLeftBehind hashtags.

“I work at Toll as a casual. I’ve been stood down. Tolls revenue needs to drop 50 per cent for me to get #jobkeeper. Not likely to happen. It should be 30 per cent for big not small business,” one Twitter user wrote.

My sister is immunocompromised & has been risking her life working in disability services everyday. Because she's been there <12 months, she's not eligible for the jobkeeper payment #wagesubsidyforall

— Philip Marrii (@pmarrii) March 30, 2020

Another explained their immunocompromised sister who had been “risking her life working in disability services everyday” would lose out as she had not been in the (presumably casual) role for more than 12 months.

And others pointed out that women were particularly at risk of missing out, as they were more likely to be in casual work for less than 12 months.

Looks like women again take the biggest whack! Women predominate in industries with the bulk of the 1m casual workers ineligible for JobKeeper payment due to less than 1yr in job (thanks @BeckCassells for table & #ABS data) @BroadAgenda5050 @UCBGL @GenderANU https://t.co/jRRWLRSZbf

— Virginia Haussegger AM (@Virginia_Hauss) March 30, 2020

UNION RESPONDS

Meanwhile, United Workers Union national secretary Tim Kennedy said in a statement that while payment was a positive step, more needed to be done to protect every worker.

“Just days ago the Government said wage subsidies were impossible. We now have a $130 billion wage subsidy. At last year’s federal election we were told raising Newstart by $75 per week was also impossible. The rate has now been doubled,” Mr Kennedy said.

“The Government is moving in the right direction because they have been pushed. But there is more work to be done to ensure all workers are included and supported to the extent that is needed. This must include all casuals, temporary visa holders and non-visa holders.

“UWU continues to call for a Jobs Guarantee backed by a 100 per ceent wage guarantee and an Income Guarantee for all unemployed workers.”

$750 PAYMENTS BEGINS

The new subsidy comes as around 6.5 million Australians eligible for the first round of $750 Economic Support Payments begin to receive the cash in their accounts from today.

That payment has been earmarked for Australians who receive a range of government benefits.

It includes those on the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, Carer Allowance, Parenting Payment, Wife Pension, Widow B Pension, ABSTUDY (Living Allowance), Austudy, Bereavement Allowance, Newstart Allowance, Jobseeker Payment, Youth Allowance, Partner Allowance, Sickness Allowance, Special Benefit, Widow Allowance, Farm Household Allowance, Family Tax Benefit A, Family Tax Benefit B and Double Orphan Pension.

The $750 payments will begin landing from today. Picture: iStock

You will also receive the payment if you have a Pensioner Concession Card, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card or Veteran Gold Card or if you get the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Veteran Service Pension, Veteran Income Support Supplement, Veteran Compensation payments, including lump sum payments or War Widow(er) Pension.

However, the decision to restrict that payment to welfare recipients only has caused some confusion and anger among the general public, with many questioning why many working Australians had been excluded.