Jobseeker rate will be extended into 2021 “if required”
Ruston says that the government is willing to maintain the current rate of jobseeker if unemployment continues to be high past 31 December.
The ABC’s Jane Norman asks: “The prime minister said he is leaning heavily towards the idea of maintaining the jobseeker payment at a higher rate after December 31. What does he mean by that?”
Ruston says:
Clearly the prime minister has been absolutely transparent with the Australian public that if additional supports are needed post-1 January that they will be provided, and so I think that you can read into the comments that you’ve just mentioned that that’s exactly what we will do.
If those ongoing supports are required and at the elevated level post 1 January, that’s what will happen.
But we need to make sure we provide the right incentive between supporting people who find themselves out of work with a higher level of payment, but putting incentives for them to go out and put their toe in the water.
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Nearly eight in 10 Australians believe vaccines prevent infectious diseases and will access a new Covid-19 vaccine if it is available and properly tested, a ChildFund Australia survey has shown.
Essential Report polling for ChildFund Australia shows 79% of Australians believe vaccines are effective in preventing infectious diseases, and 78% would take a Covid-19 vaccine once properly tested and released.
But Australians are also strongly supportive of the Australian government helping neighbouring countries roll out an immunisation program. Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents believe there should be a fair global allocation system for the Covid-19 vaccine to assist people in poor countries.
Australia has made a $123m investment towards the global vaccines facility Covax, for access to a vaccine, once one is developed.
Australia has also committed $80m to the Covax Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a finance facility designed to ensure equitable access for poorer countries to Covid-19 vaccines as well.
ChildFund Australia chief executive Margaret Sheehan no country should be left behind in the rollout of a vaccine once it has been thoroughly tested and released
In Australia, we have entirely eradicated infectious diseases such as polio, and many children have been vaccinated against other life-threatening illnesses such as measles. This is a testament to the effectiveness of large-scale vaccination programs implemented over many years.
Unfortunately, in countries like Papua New Guinea, low rates of vaccination due to over-stretched and under-resourced health systems means the lives of children are still at risk of preventable diseases.
Ongoing financial and on-the-ground support is needed to ensure children can access immunisation programs that save lives.
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A man who had been deported to New Zealand, and who was in isolation at a government-run quarantine hotel, is under investigation by the police after he tied bed sheets together to escape the facility from a fourth floor window.
All travellers returning to the country – only New Zealanders and their families, plus others with special exemptions are allowed to pass through its borders – must spend two weeks in mandatory isolation, during which they are tested twice for Covid-19.
Suspicion was aroused when security staff at an Auckland quarantine hotel found a number of sheets tied together hanging out of a window on Monday morning, New Zealand government officials said in a news release on Monday evening.
A few minutes after the sheets were found, the man who had fled the room presented himself at the front gate of the hotel. It was not known how long he had been missing from the facility.
He is in police custody, said air commodore Darryn Webb. The man had been deported from Australia and had spent 12 days in managed isolation, testing negative for Covid-19 twice.
The deportation of New Zealanders accused of crimes or criminal associations from Australia has been a bone of contention between the two countries. Australia’s deportation programme briefly halted during Covid-19 before resuming in July, with extra security personnel stationed at the facilities where deportees would complete their isolation.
Webb said the health risk to the public from the case was low, adding that of 55,000 people staying in managed isolation, 13 had absconded.
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Christian Porter will intervene in wharfie dispute
Paul Karp has received this statement from the attorney general, in response to questions over the Patrick Terminals’ planned strike action:
For a union to be attempting to hold the national economy to ransom to leverage its push for a six per cent annual pay rise is simply unforgivable, especially at a time when we are in the grip of a global health and economic crisis.
The MUA’s action is also a slap in the face to the million Australians currently out of work who must be amazed by the apparent indifference of the union’s leadership to their plight.
Equally concerning is the impact on the supply of critical goods, including vital pharmaceuticals needed to treat acute issues such as cancer, heart disease, cholesterol, and diabetes.
More broadly, our farmers who have had their first decent year in recent memory are now reporting problems getting their products to overseas markets, as well as significantly increased costs linked to the delays at Port Botany, or the need to send freight via road to ports at Melbourne or Brisbane.
Many other industry sectors have also begun to report supply chain problems which are directly linked to the MUA action.
Given this threat to our economic recovery, I can confirm that the Government will intervene in support of Patrick Terminals’ application to the Fair Work Commission for the MUA to immediately halt its action.
It is vital that we see a quick resolution to this dispute.
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AAP has taken a look at the budget promises which have been made so far.
The budget will be handed down next Tuesday:
Promises are beginning to ramp up just a week out from the federal budget, led by a further funding injection for the ailing aviation sector.
The Morrison government is extending two programs put in place for the industry when coronavirus crippled air travel both domestically and abroad.
Flights between key capital cities and regional routes will now be subsidised into next year.
The extension comes after the government pledged $250m for regional tourism.
“It’s going to be a jobs and infrastructure and manufacturing budget,” deputy prime minster Michael McCormack told reporters on Monday.
“It is going to be a budget which is going to highlight the value of regional Australia.”
Meanwhile, social services minister Anne Ruston announced funding for another 40 shelters for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
“When women make the decision to leave it is vital that they have somewhere safe to go,” Senator Ruston said.
About half of the housing projects will be located in regional and remote communities.
Still, hundreds of charities and other organisations have written an open letter to prime minister Scott Morrison calling for a significant investment in social housing.
They want to see 30,000 new dwellings over the next four years to create jobs and reduce homelessness.
“Housing is a fundamental need and our national response must rise above state boundaries or party politics,” the groups wrote.
Morrison has previously argued social housing is the responsibility of the states.
Josh Frydenberg is set to hand down a whopping budget deficit for 2020/21 on 6 October.
Deloitte Access Economics is expecting a deficit of $198.5bn following on from the confirmed $85.3bn record shortfall for 2019/20.
Its partner and economist Chris Richardson expects smaller deficits of $45bn in 2021/22 and $25.6bn in 2022/23.
“The budget is badly bent, but it’s not broken,” Richardson said.
His figures do not take into account any new policies the government may announce on budget night.
But he says if the economy gets better, then the budget will too.
The treasurer responded to the report by saying the government was focused on bringing hundreds of thousands of people back to work, which would underpin a stronger economy in the medium term.
But opposition finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher is worried about some decisions the government is already taking, such as cutting jobkeeper wage subsidies and the jobseeker dole supplement.
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