Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Hanson. The truth is that we're dealing with a very, very difficult set of circumstances. We're dealing with a global pandemic with devastating health effects all round the world, including here in Australia. We're dealing with a pandemic which is having a very severe impact on our economy and jobs, on people's livelihoods and on families. And, yes, we did have to make very quick decisions to provide the appropriate and necessary supports into the economy and to support families.

We knew at the time, because of the requirement for speed and the scale, that the need for simplicity and speed would mean there would be trade-offs in terms of some of the equity issues that you referenced, Senator Hanson. In this bill we address those somewhat—in particular, the issue around people who previously were earning less and then getting $1,500 under JobKeeper. Of course, we have separated payments into two: if you work less than 20 hours you are on one payment and if you work more than 20 hours you are on another payment.

I would also make the more general point that different parts of the economy are impacted in different ways. It's true to say that some parts of the economy and some businesses have recovered better than others. The design of the ongoing JobKeeper arrangements for six months takes that into account. If you're a business which is fortunate enough to have recovered—if you're a business in Western Australia or Queensland which is fortunate enough to have recovered—then you will no longer be eligible for JobKeeper. JobKeeper will come to an end, as you are calling for, for those businesses at the end of September. But for those businesses which are not in such a fortunate position, but which are employing workers on the basis that they believe they have a future beyond this next six-month period and the heaviest impact of the coronavirus in the Australian economic context, then we do believe that it's appropriate to provide additional support to those businesses on a somewhat scaled-back basis as part of a sensible transition out of this crisis level of support.

But, nevertheless, we don't believe that it would have been sensible to go cold turkey from one day to the next, given the circumstances that Australia and Australian families continue to be in. I'm grateful that there is overwhelmingly a consensus around this chamber that that is indeed appropriate for a further six-month period.