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More workers in Victoria will be living off the federal government’s wage subsidy scheme than in every other state combined before the end of the year, according to new data.
Analysis from Treasury also reveals the brunt of the economic hit caused by the second wave has been felt by Melburnians, with the regions avoiding some of the pain.
Josh Frydenberg on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Daniel Andrews’ handling of the coronavirus and his failure to release an economic recovery plan. The Treasurer slammed the Premier for a “litany of failures” that had a “devastating impact”.
Treasury analysis showed almost 30,000 Victorians had started receiving unemployment benefits since the end of June — more than half of whom joined the unemployment queue over the past two weeks alone.
The wages of almost a million Victorians are already being supplemented through the federal government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy. Treasury estimates that by December about 60 per cent of the scheme’s 2.24 million recipients will be in Victoria.
Melburnians have been harder hit than regional Victorians in the second wave, with an 8 per cent jump in unemployment benefit recipients in the city compared with 3 per cent in the country.
Victorians are also spending less on their households since the second lockdown began when compared with the rest of Australia.
Non-essential spending also plummeted, dropping 45 per cent in recent weeks.
The Sunday Herald Sun revealed Victoria’s devastating second wave of coronavirus was costing the state between $300m-$400m a day in economic activity.
A leading economics and analytics firm warned the cost of the current lockdown could run as high as $25bn.
Mr Frydenberg on Sunday said Mr Andrews had added economic pain by failing to outline the road out of restrictions for businesses.
“There’s been a litany of failures in Victoria. Obviously quarantine is the most graphic of that,” Mr Frydenberg said.
”We’ve heard from no lesser a body than the Australian Medical Association that what has transpired in Victoria is like a slow car crash, that everyone has been witnessing as it’s been occurring.
“It is devastating what is happening in Victoria and we’re only two weeks away from the end of the so-called stage four restrictions and businesses are in the dark as to how they’ll get their workers back and their doors open.
“These are the strictest of restrictions taking a huge toll on people’s mental health, but also on the economy.”
Mr Andrews said he had “no interest” in fighting with Mr Frydenberg.
“There is no economic recovery until we can get the health problem fixed,” Mr Andrews said. “That’s the story of every nation across the world.”
Mr Andrews said it did not make economic sense to emerge from the second wave and support businesses without restrictions to control the spread of the virus.
He flagged the government would today announce how it would “engage” with businesses and industry on a plan to reopen to “ensure we are getting the latest and best input around what that opening up should look like”.
The federal government expects to get its JobKeeper and JobSeeker extension legislation through parliament this week.
RELIEF FOR PARENTS AS RETURN TO SCHOOL FLAGGED
Struggling parents are rejoicing at the thought of the return to school given some kids are doing as little as an hour of learning a day at home.
Parents report children in prep to year 2 are doing the least, clocking in at two hours a day on average.
Education Department guidelines stipulate children from prep to year 2 should do a minimum of 45 minutes of literacy, 30 minutes of maths and 30 minutes of play-based learning and physical activity.
Older children in years 3 to 6 are doing an average of three and a half hours a day, an informal survey by the Herald Sun of 105 parents found.
The guidelines say children in years 3 to 10 should do a minimum of 45 minutes of literacy, 30 minutes of maths, 30 minutes of physical activity and 90 minutes of additional curriculum.
High school students, unlike primary pupils, are doing a normal school day, with most schools holding web-based sessions mirroring the usual class timetable.
At all year levels, those at non-government schools are more likely to have a full day of web-based lessons. One parent from Haileybury said her son in year 4 was doing classroom Zooms from 8.45am to 3pm as well as homework.
Deakin University education senior lecturer Emma Rowe said it was to be expected equity gaps between public and private schools “would continue to be significant during the pandemic”.
“Parents may be picking up more of the load if their students attend public schools, although it’s difficult to generalise without some decent research into the area,” Dr Rowe said.
A University College London Institute of Education study found in some cases children hadn’t done any schoolwork at all, and only about 17 per cent did more than four hours a day.
East Kew mother of three Marissa Dunell said her daughter Alice, 13, was doing “mega hours” in year eight at private school Genazzano.
Meanwhile, her son Jack, 8, in year 2 at a Catholic primary school, was doing “an hour or two a day spread out over three or four hours”.
And her other daughter Leila, 11, at another Catholic primary school, is doing “what she needs to do as fast as she can”.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiqAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5oZXJhbGRzdW4uY29tLmF1L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzL21lbGJ1cm5pYW5zLWJlYXItZWNvbm9taWMtYnJ1bnQtb2Ytc2Vjb25kLXdhdmUtYXMtd2FnZS1zdWJzaWR5LWtlZXBzLXdvcmtlcnMtYWZsb2F0L25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvYzA4Zjc1MmEzMDczZTI4ODlhZjIxZmIyMThkOTUyNTDSAagBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuaGVyYWxkc3VuLmNvbS5hdS9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy9tZWxidXJuaWFucy1iZWFyLWVjb25vbWljLWJydW50LW9mLXNlY29uZC13YXZlLWFzLXdhZ2Utc3Vic2lkeS1rZWVwcy13b3JrZXJzLWFmbG9hdC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2MwOGY3NTJhMzA3M2UyODg5YWYyMWZiMjE4ZDk1MjUw?oc=5
2020-08-30 20:59:53Z
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