Treasury secretary takes full responsibility for JobKeeper bungle
By Shane Wright
Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy has taken full responsibility for the $60 billion over-estimation of the Morrison government's JobKeeper wage subsidy program.
Giving his first public comments since Treasury and the Tax Office revealed last month that instead of costing $130 billion, the program would cost $70 billion, Dr Kennedy said JobKeeper had been put in place on expectations of a worse-case scenario for the country.
He said when JobKeeper was first announced, it was forecast Australia faced a full economic lockdown which could have resulted in Australian GDP contracting by 25 per cent in the June quarter.
"When the program was announced on 30 March the virus was spreading rapidly both internationally and domestically, and health modelling based on Australian-specific observed transmission rates was not yet available," he told a Senate committee on Tuesday.
"The full extent of measures needed to contain the spread of the virus domestically was not clear.
"In this uncertain context it was prudent to design the policy to be robust to whatever circumstances unfolded, to be demand driven."
Dr Kennedy said it was now clear the Australian economy would do much better than had been feared, with lower unemployment and better performances by businesses.
But responsibility for the over-estimation of the program rested with him.
"As the secretary of the Treasury I take full responsibility for the revised costing of the JobKeeper program and all matters associated with the advice that Treasury has provided," he said.
Tax commissioner Chris Jordan said preliminary estimates of how many staff would be paid under JobKeeper had been affected by the way firms completed an ATO form.
Instead of reporting the number of staff, a small number of firms had put in their Australian Business Number, their telephone number or even their bank account details.
He said there had been an expectation large employing firms would take their time to fully apply for JobKeeper support. But it became apparent by the second half of May that there would be a large shortfall in the number of firms and staff using the program.
Mr Jordan said 3.3 million people were now being supported by JobKeeper.
The original estimate was that more than 6 million people would be paid the $1500 a fortnight JobKeeper subsidy.
Latest updates
Pandemic claims more Australian journalism jobs
News Corp Australia will slash dozens of roles in its metropolitan and national newsrooms as it attempts to simplify its operations to counter a slump in advertising, Zoe Samios reports.
News Corp has announced more redundancies as it progresses with a restructure.Credit:AAP
Staff at The Daily Telegraph in Sydney and The Herald Sun in Melbourne were told on Tuesday that production and editorial would be syndicated across multiple newspapers, resulting in dozens of job losses. National masthead The Australian will also undergo "a small number" of redundancies in the next few weeks, but is unlikely to share its news content with the city mastheads.
The Australian is also exploring ways to pay less for contributors, according to multiple sources briefed on the plans.
The cuts, which also include commercial roles, are in addition to the hundreds of jobs axed by the Rupert Murdoch-controlled media company two weeks ago. They are a further blow to Australia's media industry, which has lost a number of newsrooms due to factors related to the coronavirus pandemic and a struggling advertising market.
Meanwhile, the ABC will push ahead with plans to axe about 200 jobs as managing director David Anderson prepares to unveil his five-year strategy before the end of the month.
Mr Anderson's release of the five-year blueprint was initially scheduled for March, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the plans were delayed. A three-year funding freeze that took effect last July, stripping $84 million from the ABC's budget, is expected to result in an estimated 200 redundancies.
Day one in NZ of life with no coronavirus
New Zealanders hugged and kissed, shopped and planned parties on Tuesday as the country took off all coronavirus restrictions for the first time in more than three months.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared on Monday that the nation had no active coronavirus cases.
This meant no more limits on people in cafes, malls, stadiums, night clubs or public and private gatherings.
Life, for the most part, is back to normal.
Nightclubs are back in New Zealand.
"I'm just walking in the city today and I've seen more people than I have seen in months," said Steve Price of the capital, Wellington. "People are shopping, dining and just hanging about holding hands... it's so lovely to see."
New Zealanders are emerging from the pandemic while big economies such as Brazil, Britain, India and the United States continue to struggle with the virus.
This comes after months of tough restrictions, including seven weeks of a strict lockdown in which most businesses were shut and everyone except essential workers had to stay home.
Katy Ellis of Mojo Coffee in Wellington said her business has removed all social distancing measures.
"That's what allows us to have a lot more people in the cafe, it's really helped generate that absolute buzz and that real feeling of more normality, really," Ellis said.
Offices were open again, and public buses and trains were packed with commuters.
Reuters
Where are active coronavirus cases in Victoria?
By Craig Butt
There are currently 66 active coronavirus cases in Victoria, and the map below shows a breakdown of where the infected people typically reside:
Keep in mind that the map shows the area where people who have tested positive to COVID-19 and who have not yet recovered live, it does not necessarily mean this is the area where they currently are staying or where they were infected.
A sizeable proportion of Victoria's current caseload are returned travellers from overseas who are in hotel quarantine, so would not be staying at their usual address.
The areas with the most active cases are Hume (12), Melbourne (10), Casey (7), Brimbank (6) and Hume (4).
There are 16 local government areas (out of the 79 populated ones in Victoria) in which there is at least one active coronavirus case among its residents.
However, at the same time last month there were 31 local government areas with at least one known active infection.
WATCH: Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 press conference
Chair of the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19, Senator Katy Gallagher, discusses evidence from today’s hearing into JobKeeper.
NEW: Tourism industry calls for JobKeeper extension until international borders reopen
By Jennifer Duke
The tourism industry is giving up hope of a pre-Christmas revival, asking the government to extend JobKeeper until international borders reopen and expand the scheme to include visa and seasonal workers.
Businesses reliant on local and international tourists have been in hibernation for months but Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC) managing director Simon Westaway said there would not be any "real recovery" for the sector before the end of the year.
JobKeeper is scheduled to end in September but the tourism industry wants the wage subsidy until planes are in the air again.Credit:AP
The federal government is reviewing the $70 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, which gives employees $1500 a fortnight through their workplace and is scheduled to end on September 27. More than 900,000 businesses have applied so far, including more than 55,000 in the accommodation and food sector.
"If [the] industry has the confidence to keep staff and invest in a return to sustainability by Christmas, we could see [JobKeeper] start to phase out during the early part of 2021, pending the international border," Mr Westaway said.
Cash carrot revealed to lure eastern states FIFO workers to WA
By Hamish Hastie
The WA government will extend its $20,000 building bonus to eastern states FIFO workers in an effort to lure them to the state.
The bonus, announced on the weekend, will also be made available to the 6000 eastern states workers who fly to WA to work on resources sites.
The WA government is offering eastern states FIFO workers incentives to move to the state.Credit:Glenn Hunt
It will mean the workers will receive up to $45,000 in incentives if combined with the federal government's $25,000 HomeBuilder stimulus payment for new home builds also announced last week.
Before the stimulus measures, some builders were staring down a sheer drop in new home builds with less migration and more unemployment as a result of the pandemic.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said he expected his bonus would provide a strong incentive for FIFO workers to move to WA.
“They are already working here on mining or oil and gas sites across the state. We want as
many of these workers as possible to consider making a home in WA and I’d particularly
encourage them to learn about some of our fantastic communities in regional WA," he said.
ICYMI: WHO says virus 'worsening' globally
By Reuters
In case you missed it, earlier today the World Health Organisation warned that the coronavirus pandemic is still worsening globally, with more than 136,000 cases reported worldwide.
Biosecurity officers board Chinese cargo ship off Queensland
By Robyn Wuth
Biosecurity officers have boarded a Chinese cargo ship off the coast of Queensland to ensure the crew is complying with the COVID-19 health requirements.
The vessel had docked at the coal terminal at Hay Point, south of Mackay, where security officers asked to carry out a standard inspection.
A spokesman for the Premier said the ship's captain initially refused to allow health authorities to inspect every room but is now cooperating with authorities.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday there was no evidence the crew were displaying symptoms of the virus.
No new cases were reported in Queensland overnight, with the statewide tally remaining at 1062.
There are just three active cases across the state.
AAP
AMA staff slashed after WA doctors association hit by pandemic they tried to help navigate
By Nathan Hondros
The Australian Medical Association in WA has been hit by the economic crisis gripping the state, laying off as many as 35 staff since February according to sources.
But the organisation's chief executive Benny Ng said not all of the redundancies were related to the pandemic's fallout.
The AMA(WA)'s staff have been hit by a number of redundancies in 2020.Credit:Peter Braig
The AMA(WA), which led the push for tough pandemic measures and was a prominent voice calling on the state government to lock the state down, has a number of income-generating businesses not associated with its job of representing doctors.
These include AMA Training, which provides health industry short courses, and AMA College, which offers full fee paying students a course in health administration and is marketed to overseas students.
It is understood some of the redundancies were sparked after restrictions on international arrivals meant students booked to study at the college couldn't enter the country.
Will the crisis actually make us healthier in the long run?
By Caroline Zielinski
For the last couple of months, Australians have been living in what seems like an alternate reality.
Our freedoms curtailed, we’ve bunkered down at home and tried to make sense of this new world where going outside spelled possible infection and hugging your grandmother meant possible death.
Experts say a lot more people have started to exercise more as a family.Credit:iStock
For most, it's been a time to focus on surviving and evaluating what is truly important to us. And while it’s certainly been no picnic, as we emerge from lockdown there are signs of silver linings.
Limited to largely indoor activities, many of us have taken enthusiastically to home cooking, sourdough baking, hand washing, sleeping longer and virtual exercise classes.
Long-forgotten bikes have come out of storage and new ones have been purchased, all ready to go on longer adventures now that we’re allowed to exercise away from our suburbs.
And while we still have a way to go on many health fronts, experts are optimistic that the habits we’ve picked up while in lockdown just may make us healthier in the long run.
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