Dire warning for welfare bodies with more job losses predicted as JobKeeper ends
Ending the JobKeeper subsidy has been labelled cruel, short-sighted and irresponsible, with warnings of impending job losses and welfare bodies being forced to turn people away.
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THE end of JobKeeper will push many Tasmanians to the financial brink with community services likely to have to turn people needing help away, the state’s peak welfare body says.
TasCOSS chief executive Adrienne Picone is concerned that removing the wage subsidy will result in more Tasmanians joining the JobSeeker queue because employers will not be in a position to retain staff without it.
“For many, the hardship they are currently experiencing will only get worse as their ability to maintain employment, keep a roof over their head and pay bills will become far more difficult with the withdrawal of COVID-19 supports,” Ms Picone said.
“Already many organisations delivering community services can’t keep up with demand, including family violence and sexual assault services, food relief providers and mental health services.
“In the coming months, turning yet more people away from frontline services will be inevitable.”
Nearly 13,000 Tasmanians have accessed the wage subsidy.
Ms Picone said for every job in Tasmania there were 14 applicants, or twice the national average.
“This is stark reminder that our recovery is precariously placed and removing vital supports now is short-sighted and, frankly, irresponsible,” she said.
Leading economist Saul Eslake believe it is inevitable there will be some job losses in Tasmania when JobKeeper ends on Sunday.
“There will be job losses in a myriad of small businesses that rely on office workers in the CBD such as cafes, restaurants, dry cleaners, newsagents and florists,” Mr Eslake said.
“But I don’t think it will be nearly as bad as some suggest because a smaller proportion of people here were supported by JobKeeper than other states.”
Mr Eslake said JobKeeper was appropriate in the short term but was not a long-term solution.
Unions Tasmania secretary Jessica Munday said JobKeeper had been the “backbone that held our economy together throughout the pandemic”.
“To cut JobKeeper while sectors of the economy are still feeling the effects of the crisis is cruel and economically irresponsible,” she said.
“Genuine recovery from the pandemic recession will require job creation, wage growth and supports for workers while the going is still tough.”
Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief operating officer Colleen Reardon said workers who have been displaced or were now underemployed, would require support to transition into new jobs.
“COVID-19 has resulted in structural changes within our economy, and support will be needed to manage the resulting impact on the workforce,” she said.
“This includes supporting new workers, such as young people, or those not participating in the workforce to take up jobs they may have never previously considered.”
Businesses to suffer as JobKeeper ends
LABOR leader Rebecca White has used day one of the election campaign to go into bat for regional tourism and hospitality operators who she says will suffer when JobKeeper ends this month.
Campaigning at New Norfolk in her own seat of Lyons with Labor’s candidate for Derwent in the Legislative Council Craig Farrell, Ms White said the government had called the election knowing unemployment would rise when the wage subsidy ends on Sunday.
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She said many businesses in regional Tasmania were very worried about the end of JobKeeper.
“The future for them looks incredibly uncertain as we head into winter,” Ms White said.
“Instead of helping them, Peter Gutwein has instead thrown in the towel early and gone to an election.
“The concern that we all have is that Peter Gutwein has gone to the polls early to avoid dealing with the catastrophic fallout from JobKeeper ending, which is going to put so many thousands of Tasmanians into the unemployment queues.”
Ms White was joined by the owner of accommodation and tea rooms Glen Derwent at New Norfolk, Liz Virtue, who with six of her staff has been receiving JobKeeper.
“They could have assisted us directly instead of throwing all the money at the airlines,” Ms Virtue said.
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