E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERENCE
BRISBANE
MONDAY, 30 MARCH 2020
SUBJECTS: Economic response to Coronavirus; Wage subsidies; Changes to FIRB arrangements; Recall of Parliament; Childcare sector; Access to tests.
JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: This health crisis and its devastating economic impacts still have a long way to run yet. Australians are very anxious about their health, their loved ones, their job security and their financial situation at home. In these uncertain times we take our obligations to be responsible and constructive very seriously. That's the approach we've taken to the health measures as they've been announced; it’s the approach that we've taken to the first two waves of stimulus from the Government; and it’s the approach that we will be taking when the Government announces the third wave of economic measures later on today. We will be constructive, responsible, and supportive where we can.
We will support any additional measures which get more help to more Australians more quickly. We will be constructive, but being constructive does not mean being silent. Where there are obvious gaps, obvious flaws or a lack of urgency we will make those points. In the packages which have been announced already there are issues with the superannuation changes, and with getting payments out the door quickly enough to make a difference to the lives of ordinary Australians. There's an absence of a childcare plan. There are problems associated with a lack of support for New Zealanders who have been here for many years working, raising their kids here, and sending their kids to local schools but are missing out on support. Today the Government has an opportunity to fix those obvious gaps and fix those obvious flaws. If they do that, we will be supportive, constructive and responsible about it.
We have welcomed the steps that the Government has taken already to support people in the economy. Indeed, we voted for all of the measures in the Parliament. We welcome the additional steps which have been flagged to include renters and students, and to fix the problem with the income test in two-income households. We welcome the steps which have been flagged by the banks to be a part of the solution when it comes to commercial rents so that commercial landlords are not throwing out commercial tenants, many of them small businesses who can't possibly meet their rental payments in the current economic climate.
We welcome the announcements made today by the Government about foreign investment. These are sensible steps in uncertain times. We seek further detail about some of the deals which have been approved but not yet executed but in principle we do support sensible steps taken in uncertain times to make sure that we get our foreign investment regime absolutely right.
We welcome the Government's admission that Australian workers and businesses desperately need wage subsidies. It has been obvious for some time now that the otherwise-welcome support for small- and medium-sized businesses have not been enough to maintain the link between employers and their workers throughout this crisis. Every day that wage subsidies have been delayed has meant more Australians joining unemployment queues which are already unacceptably long.
One of the reasons that the Government has been behind the play throughout this crisis is they spend too much time dismissing and ridiculing the good ideas that Labor, the unions, and others in our community have put forward so that by the time they come around to implementing them it is later than would be ideal.
For wage subsidies to be effective, they need to be conditional on that link between employers and workers being maintained and there are hopeful indications on that front. To be effective, wage subsidies also need to be broad enough, certainly broader than just full-time workers, and they need to be sufficient enough to prevent some of the mass lay-offs we have seen in the last couple of weeks. We need these wage subsidies to be comprehensive, to be broad and we need them to be conditional on people staying in work. If the Government has had a change of heart we welcome that but we want to make sure that they get the detail of it right so that these wage subsidies can be effective and do enough for workers, businesses and our economy in these desperate, uncertain economic times. We stand ready to be supportive and responsible.
There will be additional measures announced in the next couple of hours by the Government. We will support any additional steps which get more help to more people, more urgently.
The Parliament will need to be recalled to implement some of these steps. We call on the Government to recall the Parliament as soon as possible so that we can get this relief through the Parliament and into the hands of workers and businesses, and circulating in an economy which desperately needs support right now. We are ready, willing and able to expedite the passage of any good measures which do the right thing by workers and businesses, in the Parliament. We're ready to expedite those measures through the Parliament as soon as possible. Over to you.
JOURNALIST: We understand the wage subsidy will be around $1,500 per fortnight, per worker. Is that sufficient?
CHALMERS: We need to make sure that the wage subsidies are sufficient to prevent some of these mass layoffs that we've seen in recent weeks. $1,500 a fortnight has been speculated on. $1,500 a fortnight is less than half of full-time ordinary earnings. We're also very concerned that if the Government only focuses on full-time workers then that will leave millions of workers out in the cold and it will disproportionately affect women workers who are disproportionately part-time workers. We call on the Government to make sure that these wage subsidies are conditional on people staying in work, that they are broad enough so that more workers can access them, and that they are sufficient enough to prevent the kinds of mass lay-offs we have seen. We don't want to see women disproportionately impacted in a bad way and we don't want to see the wage subsidy too small to make a genuine difference.
JOURNALIST: How does it compare to the UK where they're offering 80 per cent of a worker's wage?
CHALMERS: If it's $1,500 then that's less than half of full-time ordinary earnings. There are different regimes right around the world, the U.K. as you mentioned, New Zealand and other jurisdictions as well. If the Government thinks they have a better way of implementing a wage subsidy, we'll hear that later on this afternoon. But again, we need to make sure it's conditional, we need to make sure it's sufficient and we need to make sure it's broad enough to capture millions of workers who have been adversely affected by this health crisis.
JOURNALIST: Are you worried this will create two classes of stood-down workers? So, those given wage subsidies and those on Centrelink?CHALMERS: Let's see what the Government announces later today. We've made our views abundantly clear now for more than a week. For more than a week now, Labor, the unions, big sections of the business community and others in Australian society have made the point that the welcome assistance which has been provided so far or is about to be provided won't be enough to maintain the link between employers and their workers. We stand ready to be supportive of any good steps which are taken in this regard. We've said that to be effective, wage subsidies do have to be conditional, they do have to be broad and they do have to be sufficient as well.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned the absence of a childcare plan before. Childcare centres are saying that they're on the brink of closure because people are cancelling enrolments. Should the Government directly fund them so that they can stay open and [inaudible]?
CHALMERS: The Government's third package of measures for the economy is an opportunity for them to come forward with a proper plan for childcare and childcare workers. One of the most impacted parts of our economy will be the childcare sector. It's not hard to imagine the impact of what is happening here to childcare providers and childcare workers. My colleague Amanda Rishworth has been saying for some time now that the situation is urgent in childcare. It needs to be fixed as a matter of priority. If the Government takes steps in that regard, we'll support them.
JOURNALIST: An Australian company has signed a deal to bring rapid testing kits to Australia from April. How important do you think widespread testing should be for shaping the country's response to Coronavirus going forward?
CHALMERS: It is absolutely crucial that more people can get tested for this virus. As Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese have said repeatedly we need to make sure that everybody who needs a test, gets one. If the Government has made steps in that regard to bring on additional steps, then those steps are welcome. This is an urgent situation. We can't have people turned away for testing because tests are unavailable. We need to make sure that the criteria for testing is sufficiently broad and that that need can be met by having enough tests in the system.
ENDS
