Coronavirus Australia: $130b JobKeeper package passes parliament

The largest financial package in Australian history has passed through parliament after getting the green light in the Senate on Wednesday night.

The largest financial package in Australia has passed parliament. Picture: AAP/Lukas Coch

The $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy package has passed the Senate, making it the largest financial package ever legislated in Australian history.

Federal parliament today sat with a scaled-down number of members and senators to pass what Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called a "lifeline" for businesses and their employees.

Mr Morrison said the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in "the greatest economic crisis to afflict the world in many generations".

"We have responded with the biggest economic lifeline in Australia's history," he said.

The Coronavirus Economic Response Package Bills have passed the #Senate without amendments

Details are available from the Dynamic Red https://t.co/Wi8bN9E81O

— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) April 8, 2020

Around six million workers will receive a flat payment of $1500 per fortnight through their employer for six months.

More than 730,000 businesses have registered for the JobKeeper support and that number is expected to grow.

"This is the single biggest rescue package that our nation has ever seen,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Wednesday.

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More than 6000 cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed across Australia. Picture: Supplied

HOW DOES THE JOBKEEPER PAYMENT WORK?

The JobKeeper package is designed to keep Aussies in jobs as the pandemic plays out, but could also lead to significant changes to employees’ regular roles.

The money won’t be paid to eligible workers directly – instead, employers will pay their staff and be reimbursed by the government.

The first payments by the ATO will be received by employers in the first week of May, but it will be backdated to when the scheme was first announced in late March, which means people will initially receive a lump sum of one month’s worth of payment.

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Under the scheme, workers who have their hours cut will be able to request time to work a second job.

Companies will be able to cut employees’ hours so their income matches the $1500 per fortnight JobKeeper payment, as long as there is not enough work available for them in their normal role.

Businesses will also be allowed to move workers into different roles or physical locations to keep them in work – within reason – such as requesting sales staff swap to deliveries.

Workers can agree to change their days, while bosses could also ask staff to take annual leave, provided employees have two weeks left over. Reasonable requests to take annual leave will not be able to be refused.

WORKERS MISS OUT

However, JobKeeper is not available to all workers.

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.

It specifically excludes around 1.1 million casual workers who have not been working for the same employer for more than a year.

Freelancers will also miss out, along with many foreign workers.

Those who are not eligible for JobKeeper can still apply for the JobSeeker allowance, which is $400 less at $1100 a fortnight.

– With wires