Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

) ( ): I also rise to speak in support of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Jobkeeper Payments) Amendment Bill 2020, and I do so because the future of this payment and the JobSeeker payment are the most critical issues before our parliament at the moment.

I'm speaking today remotely from my office in Adelaide and it is important that I do so, because I'm here speaking for Adelaide, and I'm speaking for my state of South Australia, because the future of JobKeeper is pertinent to our economic recovery in SA. Economically, in my state, we were already doing it tough before the pandemic. In June it got worse. We reached our highest rate of unemployment in 20 years at 8.8 per cent. Whilst we saw a welcome drop in July we know that figure is likely to really be much higher than the figures reveal. The Treasurer himself has said that about the national figures. The real unemployment rate is probably well over what the reported figures are telling us.

As of July 2020 for the first time in our history more than one million Australians are unemployed. Almost 346,000 are young people, young Australians, at an unacceptable rate of 16.3 per cent. Many of those young Australians are in my state of South Australia. Of course, these statistics don't just tell us numbers. They don't just tell us a broad picture. They all contain individual stories, individual stories of young people, of families, without jobs losing hope, people who are scared about the future of our economy, scared about what a second wave in South Australia might bring.

I've spoken to small business owners in SA who are still struggling to pay their bills each week. They've taken credits cards out. They've maxed them to the limit paying the bills while waiting for the payments and support to come in. Owners have withdrawn their super under the early access scheme, often to the complete detriment of their super balances, just to pay the bills, just to keep their businesses afloat.

The latest ABS data tell us that 71 per cent of small businesses reported that revenue had decreased as a result of the pandemic. While many of these businesses hope they can survive and recover the fact is this depends on the case numbers remaining stable in South Australia, because these businesses won't survive another lockdown. They need JobKeeper extended. Of course, it's not just small businesses. It's across our whole economy. Whole sectors have suffered terribly at the hands of this pandemic and continue to do it tough.

At the start of the pandemic the economic implications became rapidly clear, what the impact of social distancing and isolation would be on our economy, on our businesses and on our way of life. That's why early on it was Labor who called for the government to implement a wage subsidy with urgency. As is often the case from the government side, they dismissed our idea at first, but eventually they saw the necessity of it and JobKeeper was born. Notwithstanding our support for JobKeeper—I mean, it was our idea—and notwithstanding our support for this extension, there still remain considerable questions which have gone unanswered by the government. With mounting job losses and rising unemployment substantial support is being removed from our economy without a jobs plan set to replace it. This support needs to be tailored to conditions in the economy, including rising unemployment.

The Treasurer himself has extraordinary powers to set the rates and eligibility arrangements for the JobKeeper payment. The bill here doesn't specify the rate. The Treasurer alone has the power to decide what that rate is and who receives it, yet we know there are millions of workers and struggling businesses in Australia who continue to be excluded from the JobKeeper payment.

The most important test for this government's management of the recession and its aftermath will be what happens to jobs and what happens to businesses in Australia. Australian workers, businesses and communities all need a plan from the Morrison government that will promote growth, protect and create jobs, support business, support jobs and set Australia up for an economy. And, of course, it needs to be a plan that doesn't leave Australians behind. We are so committed to making sure that the most vulnerable Australians who have been hardest hit by this pandemic aren't left behind by any response the government takes, and that's something Labor has always fought for and will continue to fight for throughout this pandemic.

Early on in the rollout of this scheme we saw significant blunders from the government and significant challenges in the way that the scheme was implemented. Support was too slow, creating too much uncertainty and excluding too many people. There were one million casuals excluded, despite these workers being some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. We saw botched figures, with the $60 billion JobKeeper bungle, and we saw years of underinvestment in Centrelink and the Australian Public Service exposed. Queues spiralled out the door for blocks and blocks as Australians sought to access JobSeeker and couldn't get the support they needed to do so.

During this time, my office was one of many that fielded countless calls from South Australians, most of whom never ever expected to find themselves on social security payments. They had lost their jobs through no fault of their own and were in the unemployment queue seeking support from their government. They had no idea how to navigate the Centrelink system, no idea what to do. They waited in queues for hours on end and sat on phone lines for hours on end never to get through to someone, terrified about the future and unable to get help when they needed it. A big part of that was the huge underinvestment of our government in our Australian Public Service and Centrelink. We've also seen the government drag their feet on paid pandemic leave. No worker should ever have to choose between staying safe and healthy, and keeping their community healthy, and paying the bills, keeping a roof over their head.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of the government's response during this crisis has been the handling of superannuation. Their early-access scheme has forced three million vulnerable Australians to raid over $30 billion from their superannuation accounts. This is at those workers' expense. It is not the government's expense, not a package expense but from these workers. Superannuation is a great Labor reform—one of the greatest Labor reforms—and an important equaliser in our community. But it is under attack from this government, and, when super comes under attack, it is the most vulnerable workers in our community who pay the greatest price. It is women who pay the greatest price. It is young people who will pay the greatest price. The very idea, the very purpose, of super is completely undermined if Australians are forced to raid it well before they reach retirement age.

Of course, we know that the government's attacks on superannuation don't end there, through this scheme. They're there with government members taunting Australian workers with their ideas for scrapping the legislated superannuation increase. Those in support of this idea argue that it will result in pay rises for Australian workers, but we know that wage growth was stagnant prior to the pandemic. Where is the evidence to support the idea that suddenly we'll see wage growth if we get rid of the superannuation increase? It's not there. This is a legislated increase. Australian workers expect it. It's essential to realising the promise of superannuation—what it can mean for our community, for my state. While the minister may be ambivalent on it, Labor are not. We will take up the fight on super right to the end, because we always stand for Australian workers.

Throughout this crisis, Labor have worked responsibly and constructively with the government on the passage through the parliament of legislation to support Australians. We've done this because it's our priority to protect jobs to help Australian workers, businesses, families and communities get through, and to ensure that vulnerable Australians are supported and not left behind. We have been responsible and constructive, and our support for this bill is part of that. But that doesn't mean we'll be silent where there are serious failures in implementation going on. Australians have worked together to combat this virus. More work needs to be done by the government to ensure that the hardest-hit Australians are not left out or left behind in the recovery.