Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a pleasure to rise in this place and speak about the government's continued commitment to supporting our economy and, importantly, supporting our business community, and the employees employed by those businesses, through the coronavirus pandemic. As I look at this bill, the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Jobkeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020, and the initial bill for JobKeeper, I think of the thousands of employers across my electorate of Forde who have told us time and time again how important JobKeeper has been for them in keeping their employees engaged. As many on both sides of the chamber have already said in their contribution to this debate, keeping employees engaged in the workforce is enormously important. That is why we're extending and better targeting the JobKeeper payments to support the businesses, and the employees they employ, as they manage through and recover from the economic effects of the coronavirus.

Already around 5,300 organisations in the electorate of Forde are benefiting from JobKeeper. These are small and family businesses, community clubs, our local manufacturing businesses, our cafes and restaurants. They are all doing their part to keep people in jobs. Club Beenleigh is a community club just down the road from my electorate office. It supports sporting clubs and community organisations across the Beenleigh district. The club was shut down for a total of 102 days during the peak of the pandemic but, through the availability of JobKeeper, they were able to retain 32 staff. JobKeeper means that these 32 staff continue to get a pay cheque, which allows them to provide for their families. While the club was in hibernation it was able to get the staff to do some little renovation jobs around the place to get it ready to welcome guests again when restrictions were eased. They were busy painting, mowing, cleaning the tennis courts and doing online raffles to support local sporting clubs who were doing it tough. It just goes to show the community spirit and ingenuity of many of our businesses across the electorate of Forde and, I'm sure, across all electorates represented in this House.

Another fantastic example is Good Life Kindergarten and Child Care. I met recently with Casandra and Kayla Lipsett, who opened their new childcare centre in Park Ridge on 10 February this year. At that time, they never dreamed that the coronavirus pandemic would have such an immense impact on their business. As parents were anxious about sending their children to child care, their incomes dropped dramatically. Casandra told me that JobKeeper saved them as a new small business in what I am sure and have no doubt was a distressing time for Casandra and her staff members. They were able to keep everybody employed because of JobKeeker. The support that it provided to a small family business like theirs at a time when it was needed most meant that she could retain all nine of her hardworking team members, including the early childhood nurses, who had worked tirelessly to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children at the centre.

Casandra and her team are immensely grateful for the support that they received and recently even went on radio to offer the Prime Minister a virtual hug. When I spoke with them recently, we also spoke at length about the government's new childcare package and how that is helping support families and allowing the kids to return to child care. Gullivers Coomera, a local outside-school-hours care provider and swim school, were able to retain 33 of their staff thanks to JobKeeper. They said that JobKeeper has been so beneficial to them that, from September, they will be able to operate without it while continuing to support the over 1,500 families on the northern Gold Coast who use their facilities.

These are not unique stories. Harvey’s Towing in Park Ridge was one of many businesses impacted by the initial restrictions as Australians were urged to stay home and the roads became quiet. I met Joe Andriske recently, the owner of Harvey’s Towing, and Joe told me that JobKeeper saved their business. He said, 'Our company was hit at its peak and was thriving when the pandemic hit, but the restrictions resulting from it made doing business just that bit more difficult.' Access to JobKeeper meant Joe could retain his team of 29 specialist personnel within the tow truck industry, with 25 of those on JobKeeper.

We recognise the fact that many business, including those in my electorate of Forde, like Harvey’s Towing, are still feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing economic restrictions. That is why the government is extending and better targeting the JobKeeper payment to support those businesses and employees as they continue to manage and recover from the effects of coronavirus. It is this investment that sees the bill extend the prescribed period of the coronavirus payment framework for the JobKeeper payment from 31 December 2020 to 28 March 2021 and allows the Treasurer to extend and make rule changes to the JobKeeper rules up until 28 March 2021.

Further changes were made to the turnover test for the extension and the employment reference date to help more businesses qualify for JobKeeper. From 28 September 2020, businesses and not-for-profits seeking to claim the JobKeeper payment will be required to reassess their eligibility for the JobKeeper extension with reference to their actual turnover in the September quarter of 2020. The introduction of the two-tiered payment will also ensure JobKeeper payment rates are more reflective of the income prior to the impacts of the pandemic. The measures in this bill also enable the Australian Taxation Office to share JobKeeper payment information with relevant Commonwealth, state and territory government agencies, where that information will aid in the delivery of programs that support businesses affected by the impact of coronavirus.

But what's important is that JobKeeper shouldn't and doesn't, importantly, work in isolation from other economic measures and that it plays a key role and an important role in ensuring and informing our economic response from all levels of government. Other measures that this government has taken include the extension of the $150,000 instant asset write-off. I was recently speaking with the owners of Beaurepaires in Beenleigh. They were telling me that that allowed them to buy three new trucks. Their business has actually gone from strength to strength during the coronavirus because they changed what they were doing with their business and focused on a different segment of the tyre market. I have many stories like that, of businesses who have used this opportunity to change the way they do business and it has resulted in significant growth in their business.

In addition, we provided the Coronavirus Small and Medium Enterprises Guarantee Scheme to support finance for our small and medium-sized businesses. Importantly, it allowed them to maintain the cash flow requirements they needed. Previously, this government has provided tax cuts to the small- and medium-sized enterprise sector. Also, we've provided an extension to the wage subsidy scheme for apprentices and trainees.

I've heard those opposite wax lyrical about their economic policies and their belief in what we should or shouldn't do. I note, just for the record, that they haven't referred to the $385 billion of new taxes that they took to the last election and that are still part of their policy platform. So I think our economic measures stand in stark contrast to what those opposite actually believe in.

Schedule 2 of this bill extends the flexibilities in the Fair Work Act for a further temporary period, out to March 2021, for employees who remain on JobKeeper after 28 September and for those who are no longer on JobKeeper but have not yet recovered and remain in financial distress. This is an important measure that is absolutely critical to keeping business in business and Australians in work, considering the fact that three out of four surveyed employers used the flexibilities provided for by these provisions. The measures will provide continued operational flexibility for business in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic to maximise the ongoing viability of these businesses and, importantly, as a consequence, maintain employees' connections to the workplace and their jobs.

JobKeeper has played a key role in ensuring businesses stay operational and can keep Australians in work. As I touched on earlier, over 5,000 businesses and organisations in Forde have been able to retain staff and maintain that important and valuable connection with their staff. JobKeeper has saved households and ensured Australians can provide for themselves and their families during these uncertain times. Speaking with constituents and business owners across my electorate, I know that JobKeeper will continue to play a vital role in assisting them in their recovery moving forward. This bill will ensure that we can extend and continue to provide the economic support necessary that has saved so many jobs and businesses in Forde and across the country. I commend this bill to the House.

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