The federal government will keep its completed review of the JobKeeper payment under wraps until a highly contested by-election has been and gone, despite calls for those findings to be revealed ASAP.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the review, which forms the basis for the next phase of the $70 billion subsidy scheme, won’t be revealed before the Eden-Monaro by-election on July 4.
As it stands, JobKeeper reforms will be revealed on July 23.
The $1500-a-fortnight payment, aimed at workers whose jobs have been walloped by the coronavirus crisis, is set to wind down at the end of September.
That isn’t so far away, and the decision to keep the new plans secret for a few more days comes amid some serious uncertainty.
Folks in the tourism and aviation industries, whose workplaces are unlikely to bounce back by September, are currently in the dark about the future of the financial safety net.
Speaking to 2GB on Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there will be a “next step” to JobKeeper, but Labor is calling for that step to be unveiled before the contentious election.
The Liberals have a report about JobKeeper but they are sitting on it until after the Eden-Monaro by-election next weekend. They should be upfront about their plans now. What have they got to hide? @SkyNewsAust #auspol pic.twitter.com/OuQZaKJwCv
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) June 28, 2020
And that’s without even discussing what’s going on with JobSeeker. Watch this space.
