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11.25pm BST
Still on Radio National, the former treasury secretary, Ken Henry, is talking to Fran Kelly now and said, with a laugh, that it was “deeply ironic” to hear Labor criticising waste in the jobkeeper payment system because many people were paid more than the wage they would otherwise have earned, when they were put on the $1,500 flat payment in May. He noted the positions were reversed when he was the head of Treasury during the then Labor government’s response to the GFC.
Henry also said he was surprised the Morrison government didn’t set a permanent new rate for the jobseeker unemployment payment yesterday, instead of just extending the coronavirus supplement, at a reduced rate, for another three months.
I would have thought that the government would have taken an opportunity to announce a permanent new rate for Newstart (jobseeker). I don’t understand why they did not do so. But come October they will have to, because they will have to put a figure in the budget for the budget forecasts.
11.11pm BST
The social services minister, Anne Ruston, has told Radio National that she expects that the unemployment rate and the effective unemployment rate “will actually be reflecting each other at 10%” by Christmas, and that there will be a “higher level of unemployment going into 2021”.
That means there will be a need to maintain “a higher level of support”, but what that support will look like for the 2m people on the jobseeker payment has not been set out.
Clearly we recognise that the coronavirus payment has had a significant impact on Australians particularly those who lost their jobs in March when we shut the market, basically we shut the jobs market entirely. Now we need to make sure we have the balance of support… we want to encourage people to go out to apply for jobs.
I am not making that accusation at all, Fran. What I am saying, Fran, is we need to make sure we have got the balance right and we need to make sure people are keen to go out and looking [for a job].
Continue reading…AMA wants national network of contact tracers; calls for low-risk prisoner release; Port Stephens in NSW on Covid-19 high alert. Follow all the latest news and updates, liveFollow the global live blogWhat you need to know about Melbourne’s stage three lockdown rulesMelbourne map: where Covid-19 cases are rising or fallingSign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email 11.25pm BSTStill on Radio National, the former treasury secretary, Ken Henry, is talking to Fran Kelly now and said, with a laugh, that it was “deeply ironic” to hear Labor criticising waste in the jobkeeper payment system because many people were paid more than the wage they would otherwise have earned, when they were put on the $1,500 flat payment in May. He noted the positions were reversed when he was the head of Treasury during the then Labor government’s response to the GFC.Henry also said he was surprised the Morrison government didn’t set a permanent new rate for the jobseeker unemployment payment yesterday, instead of just extending the coronavirus supplement, at a reduced rate, for another three months.I would have thought that the government would have taken an opportunity to announce a permanent new rate for Newstart (jobseeker). I don’t understand why they did not do so. But come October they will have to, because they will have to put a figure in the budget for the budget forecasts. 11.11pm BSTThe social services minister, Anne Ruston, has told Radio National that she expects that the unemployment rate and the effective unemployment rate “will actually be reflecting each other at 10%” by Christmas, and that there will be a “higher level of unemployment going into 2021”.That means there will be a need to maintain “a higher level of support”, but what that support will look like for the 2m people on the jobseeker payment has not been set out. Clearly we recognise that the coronavirus payment has had a significant impact on Australians particularly those who lost their jobs in March when we shut the market, basically we shut the jobs market entirely. Now we need to make sure we have the balance of support… we want to encourage people to go out to apply for jobs.I am not making that accusation at all, Fran. What I am saying, Fran, is we need to make sure we have got the balance right and we need to make sure people are keen to go out and looking [for a job]. Continue reading…