Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline to the House how the Morrison government's plan for jobs is helping business to get back on its feet, particularly in my electorate of Lindsay?

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

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question and note her experience in the not-for-profit sector before coming to this place and being a great advocate for the people of Lindsay. The member for Lindsay, like those on this side of the House, understands that the Australian economy has been hit by a once-in-a-century economic shock, which we have responded to with unprecedented levels of support. JobKeeper is a $101 billion program that, in the words of the Governor of the Reserve Bank, is a 'remarkable' program that has been supporting more than 3½ million workers. The JobSeeker coronavirus supplement has helped cushion the blow. The cash flow boost of $32 billion has been supporting small and medium-sized businesses across the country. And there have been two $750 payments to veterans, to carers, to pensioners and others on income support.

We recognised in this budget that we needed to transition to the next stage of our economic recovery plan, and that's why we put in place tax cuts for more than 80,000 taxpayers in the honourable member's electorate. That's why we are supporting investment in infrastructure projects as well as supporting businesses to write off major purchases of equipment and machinery. That's why we are also supporting apprentices, with $1.2 billion to help the hiring of 100,000 new apprentices across the country by providing a wage subsidy of up to 50 per cent. And that is why we have put in place the JobMaker hiring credit, to help support 450,000 jobs for young people aged 16 to 35 who may have been unemployed in one of the last three months.

When I went to the honourable member's electorate of Lindsay, I had the opportunity to go to a manufacturing business—SpanSet manufacturing, with Kristian and more than 50 employees—that is making important safety equipment for construction sites. I also met with Frank, who runs a crane company with more than a hundred staff. In the cases of both Frank and Kristian, they relied on JobKeeper to keep their employees in place. But, now with the economic recovery underway and now with the business coming back to them and their doors being open, as the virus has been suppressed, they no longer need to rely on JobKeeper. This is the story right around the country. This is the story right around the country of the government's support for businesses—small, medium and larger sized businesses—and more than 3½ million workers across the country. We have built that bridge to help them get to the other side of this virus.