Treasurer called to explain $60bn error before Senate Committee

Chair of Senate Committee calls for Josh Frydenberg to appear to explain JobKeeper error ‘that could be seen from space’.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has been called to personally explain the $60bn JobKeeper error.

Chair of the Senate Committee on COVID-19 Katy Gallagher has called for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to make an appearance in the Senate and explain how a Treasury reporting error resulted in the JobKeeper wage subsidy’s expense forecast being off by $60 billion.

On Friday, Mr Frydenberg revealed the wage subsidy, originally expected to cover more than six million furloughed workers at a cost of $130 billion, will cover just over three million workers at a cost of $70 billion.

Senator Gallagher said Mr Frydenberg’s decision to explain this “unprecedented” bungle in the Senate goes to the “heart of his credibility and competence.”

“I think if he chooses not to appear, he needs to explain why,” Senator Gallagher said.

“It goes straight to the heart of his credibility and competence and I would have thought he would have welcomed an opportunity where he is given the opportunity and a platform to explain what went wrong and what the Government is doing about it, and how could we have all been so misled for the past eight weeks.”

For the first time, @SenatorWong reveals that the chair of the Senate committee into the COVID-19 response is going to call Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to give evidence about the #jobkeeper "black hole". #Insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/qHrdpXtqPS

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) May 23, 2020

Senator Gallagher said the government should now consider reviewing the scheme earlier than the planned date of June, and consider expanding the scheme.

“I think again it is up to the government to look at this through maybe the review, bringing

the review forward, but to make sure that JobKeeper is actually doing what was originally intended, which was to support employment during this crisis,” she said.

.@David_Speers asks @SenatorWong whether Labor believes casuals and temporary visa holders should get the #JobKeeper allowance. pic.twitter.com/BiJNYuimH0

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) May 23, 2020

“I note that Treasury haven’t changed nature forecasts around unemployment and the impact on the labour market, so I think it is up to the Government and the Treasurer to be looking very closely at what it happening in the real economy and making sure that their

economic response is appropriate, because this has really changed the goalposts.”

On Sunday morning opposition spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said Mr Frydenberg should appear before the committee to explain how such an error could occur.

“Josh Frydenberg hasn’t fronted up and taken responsibility. He should do that and we will give him the opportunity,” Senator Wong told ABC’s Insiders.

Accusing the government of economic mismanagement, Labor Leader Anthony Albanese on Saturday said the JobKeeper error so enormous it “could be seen from space.”