Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

I rise today on behalf of the Australian Greens to introduce the Coronavirus Economic Support and Recovery (No-one Left Behind) Bill 2020.

This Bill does three things.

Firstly, it directs the Finance Minister to create the Coronavirus Economic Support and Recovery Fund. This would require the Minister to create a $2.3 billion recovery package for the arts and entertainment sector, a $12 billion manufacturing investment fund, a $2 billion contribution to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and a $6 billion investment in electricity transmission infrastructure. It prohibits the fund from being used to subsidise or invest in coal, oil and natural gas extraction or production or power generation, or to subsidise manufacturing processes which are solely or primarily reliant on the direct use of coal, oil or gas.

Secondly it would expand the $550 per fortnight COVID-19 supplement to recipients of the disability support pension and carer payment, and ensures that holders of temporary visas are eligible for the JobSeeker payment if they otherwise meet the JobSeeker criteria. Eligibility would be back dated to 27 April 2020.

Finally, it would extend the JobKeeper payment scheme, requiring the Minister to create rules for the JobKeeper scheme that:

- Extend potential eligibility to all casual employees, regardless of period of employment

- Extend potential eligibility to all temporary visa holder employees

- Extend potential eligibility to intermittent workers with a demonstrated income history

- Include certain entities 100% owned by foreign sovereign governments within Australia as eligible employers, including companies such as Dnata

- Include higher education providers as eligible employers

- Facilitate prompt back payment of newly eligible employees and employers

To date, the global COVID-19 crisis has not only left over 400,000 dead but lead to millions facing unemployment and poverty. It has been truly unprecedented. The Morrison Government's response has been slow, dragged to action by both the states and territories and the unfolding severity of the crisis. But each day we learn of new shortcomings, of communities left behind or skewed priorities for the road ahead and we must ask ourselves one question, the question of priorities.

Because what exactly do decisions to date tell us of the priorities of the Government's response? What set of priorities would say that someone who had been a casual employee for only 11 months with the same employer would be treated far harsher than one with 12? What set of priorities would say that an international student should be left without income and in many cases life's essentials like food or housing purely by virtue of their visa status? What set of priorities would say that the hundreds of thousands of workers in the arts or higher education sectors should be thrown to the wolves, and the homeless ignored, while millions of dollars are handed to wealthy homeowners to re-do their kitchens?

And when we look to the recovery, to the charted path out of COVID-19, what priorities do we see there? Another round of the game of mates, as big business and the rent seekers come to collect their favours. A gas-led recovery that would see environmental protections ripped apart and public money funnelled to locking in decades of climate pollution. Billions in tax cuts for the big end of town, to the tune of over $11,000 a year for people already earning over $200,000.

So when the Government makes a $60 billion mistake, and finds that its stimulus program actually won't be stimulating the economy as much as intended, what does it do? It decides to bank it, to pay down debt. This isn't sensible economic management, it's economic sabotage. The most recent Labour Force statistics show that 600,000 jobs were lost in April alone. We are in our first recession in three decades. Now is not the time for penny pinching, it is time to support those who are doing it tough and invest in the recovery.

That's why the Greens are introducing this Bill today. We say let us use this windfall to actually invest in people, and invest in the industries we want to nurture. Let's use this opportunity to expand the JobKeeper program to all casuals, to temporary visa holders, to intermittent workers and to workers at universities. Let us ensure that people with disabilities and those who care for them are able to access the resources they need to navigate this truly challenging period. And let us build the industries of the future, in arts and entertainment and higher education and renewable energy and green manufacturing.

And the fight goes beyond this Bill today. As we continue to navigate the twin health and economic crises, as we emerge from the lockdowns and try to restart our economy, we need to ask ourselves what kind of society we want to build. We have a choice. We can choose to continue with the successful elements of the Government's response, by maintaining the rate of JobSeeker and keeping childcare and early childhood education fee-free. And we can create a fairer and greener Australia. We can make Australia run on 100% renewables, not only to save the climate but to power energy-intensive green manufacturing industries that actually add value to our mineral exports. We can guarantee access to universal services, like free university and TAFE that can train the next generation of workers while removing the structural inequalities that prevent young people from pursuing post-school study. We can use government investment to reach truly full employment, where everyone who wants a job has one, while making our income support system truly fair so that no one has to live in poverty.

These are the choices we face. This Bill goes some way to rewriting those priorities, charting a pathway out of this moment and leaving no one behind along the way. I commend the Bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.