Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Today I have met with dnata workers who lost their jobs because the Prime Minister excluded them from JobKeeper. Why has the Prime Minister left dnata workers behind, left local government workers behind, left arts and entertainment workers behind and left university workers behind?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't accept the proposition that was put by the Leader of the Opposition because the Leader of the Opposition contends that the government does not have a suite of economic support that is assisting Australians through this economic crisis. That suite of economic supports has included the additional payment we have made to those on welfare payments. That was done back in April, and there will be another one of those in July. He makes no acknowledgement of the cash-flow assistance, with up to $100,000 for businesses, that is there to support wages. He gives no acknowledgement also of the doubling of the jobseeker payments that have been provided to provide the ultimate safety net to Australians right across the Australian economy.

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The instant asset write-off.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And of course there are many other measures—the Treasurer mentions the instant asset write-off—including JobKeeper. In the design of JobKeeper, we ensured that it has covered a wide spectrum of the Australian public—full-time employees, part-time employees and those who are casual equivalent in terms of having been long-term casuals working for employers.

But we said we were not going to cover the bills of state governments and their responsibilities, we were not going to cover the bills of local governments and we were not going to cover the bills of foreign governments—and that is the principle on which we established the JobKeeper program. And those workers who find themselves in need of support can access the jobseeker program. What I will not do is join with the opposition in seeking to demonise jobseeker as a program to support workers who lose their jobs.

The Leader of the Opposition has consistently come into this place and sought to pass off jobseeker as some sort of second prize for Australians who are needing economic assistance. So we have ensured that we have brought together JobKeeper and jobseeker. Some 75 per cent and more—as the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts will advise you—of those in the media and entertainment industry are being supported by JobKeeper. But, where there are those employers who can't make themselves eligible for that program, some 1.6 million Australians or thereabouts have been able to access jobseeker payments.

The extensive work done by Services Australia to process some two years worth of applications and claims for support has been done in a period of about eight weeks, which is an extraordinary response from Services Australia and the hardworking staff right across the Public Service to achieve that result. We will continue to provide those supports, but I will say this also: we're now on the road back. It's not about going further down in terms of the supports that are necessary; it's now about being on the road back. Jobseeker is in place until the end of September, and our government will continue to provide the support that is necessary across the full suite of measures we have provided. (Time expired)