Coronavirus: the leading JobKeeper postcodes revealed

Josh Frydenberg will on Thursday release a postcode breakdown of where JobKeeper payments are being made.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in question time on Wednesday. Picture: AAP

Companies and sole traders in tourism and manufacturing hubs across Australia have been forced to rely heavily on the government’s $70bn JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme to keep workers on the books, according to Treasury analysis.

Josh Frydenberg will on Thursday release a postcode breakdown of where JobKeeper payments are being made, showing more than 844,400 businesses and individuals have had their applications processed by the Australian Taxation Office, supporting around 3.5m employees.

The Treasury data reveals the top two postcodes where businesses and individuals have had applications processed were in the heart of the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs. Sydney’s Liverpool and Melbourne’s Hoppers Crossing — both manufacturing hubs — were also in the top four postcodes relying on the $1500-­fortnightly payments, which are due to cease on September 27.

Businesses in Cairns, a tourist economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, led JobKeeper applications in Queensland ahead of the Brisbane CBD and Surfers Paradise. Multiple Gold Coast suburbs, suffering from coronavirus-fuelled downturns in one of Australia’s biggest tourism markets, feature prominently in the top postcodes for JobKeeper applications.

The Treasurer said Treasury had estimated that without JobKeeper, the unemployment rate would be five percentage points higher.

“The JobKeeper payment is an economic lifeline to millions of Australians and hundreds of thousands of businesses,” Mr Frydenberg said. “From the tourism operator in Cairns to the office worker in Sydney and the manufacturing business in Hoppers Crossing, JobKeeper is keeping businesses in business and people in jobs right across the country.

“The government will continue to do what it takes to ensure that Australia bounces back stronger.”

Anthony Albanese, who used question time to grill Scott Morrison and Mr Frydenberg on the JobKeeper program, said the economy would be “severely” impacted if the wage subsidy scheme disappeared “for everyone on one particular day in September”.

“I want to see a sensible transition. I want to see as well, people emerge from this crisis with more job security, not less,” he said.

Labor has ramped up attacks on the government this week over its handling of the JobKeeper scheme, after an ATO bungle shaved $60bn off the cost of the original $130bn announced by the Prime Minister.

Mr Morrison said the Treasury review into the delivery and future timelines for the JobKeeper scheme was due by the end of the month. He said the review would consider the “fiscal implications” of Treasury’s recommendations to government.