Waleed Aly has grilled Australia’s finance minister for cutting off $750 Covid disaster support payments when vaccination rates in each state reaches 80 per cent.
The move was brought in by the Morrison government to force paranoid premiers to do away with crippling lockdowns which have decimated the economy.
The Project host told Simon Birmingham it’s ‘mean’ to deny desperate Australians the emergency funds if they are ordered into lockdown.
But the minister insists that when vaccination rates hit the targets set out by national cabinet, Australia will be able to manage the virus ‘just like the flu or any other infectious disease’.
The move to end Covid support payments was brought in by the Morrison government to force paranoid premiers to do away with crippling lockdowns which have decimated the economy. Pictured: A queue forms outside Centrelink on March 23, 2020
He said there may be a need for ‘highly targeted, very specific lockdowns’ but not the ‘enduring and long-term’ stay-at-home orders Australians have become accustomed to since the pandemic began.
But the Channel Ten star said that’s all the more reason to keep the payments in place.
‘So the lockdowns would be rare, but they still might happen, which means that it probably won’t cost you very much,’ Aly said.
‘It just kind of seems a bit mean to deny people access to that money when the ones who are in lockdown – even if there aren’t many of them – will really, really need it.
‘And then in the meantime, you’ve got other businesses under restriction so they can’t operate at full capacity, which means hours and things like that will be lost.
‘I just don’t get it. Why is it that you just don’t want to help these people who will need that help?’
Over the course of the pandemic about 2.18 million Australians have received the payments. Pictured: A worker at a Byron Bay café
The Project host Waleed Aly (left) told Simon Birmingham (right) it’s ‘mean’ to deny desperate Australians emergency funds if they are ordered into lockdown
Currently the support amount is $750 a week for those who have lost more than 20 hours of work and $450 for those who lost less than 20 hours compared to the same period in 2019.
Over the course of the pandemic about 2.18 million Australians have received the payments, but with the generous scheme adding up to about $1billion each week, the Morrison government announced on Tuesday it will scrap the handout during October.
Mr Birmingham said it’s now time for the ‘extraordinary measures’ to be wound back.
‘As a country, we still have a range of different business supports that we put in at the last budget that are enduring, such as the loss carry-back arrangements.
‘We still have arrangements in terms of support for individuals, be it those who may be forced to isolate or, of course, the usual safety net measures.’
The generous subsidy scheme is costing Australia about $1billion each week. Pictured: a Melbourne hairdresser on October 19, 2020
Birmingham insists that when vaccination rates hit the targets set out by national cabinet, the Australia will be able to manage the virus ‘just like the flu or any other infectious disease’. Pictured: A Perth pub in February 2021
The finance minister also tried to fend off suggestions from host Carrie Bickmore the end to the payments is about ‘pressuring the states to not have lockdowns’.
‘We have to be able to get back to a point where people can live their lives, run their businesses, where we’re not spending a further billion dollars plus a week in terms of economic supports that is all borrowed money on the future,’ he said.
‘Right now, vaccinations are proving to be highly effective at protecting people, stopping them from getting critically ill and stopping them from going into hospital.
‘And that means that we can have the confidence that these very high rates of vaccination we’re getting as a nation that are going to push clearly way past 80 per cent.’
The finance minister tried to fend off suggestions the end to the payments is about ‘pressuring the states to not have lockdowns’. Pictured: Melbourne diners prior to lockdown
Mr Birmingham said it’s now time for the ‘extraordinary measures’ to be wound back. Pictured: A pub in Sydney’s Bondi Beach prior to lockdown
Under the new rules, when 70 per cent of the population in each state are double-jabbed – expected to come in October – workers will need to reapply for each week their area remains a Commonwealth designated hotspot.
Once the 80 per cent milestone is reached, people who have lost more than eight hours of work will get a reduced $450 payment for one week.
Those who are on a $200 support payment will see that halved to $100.
In the second week after the 80 per cent rate is hit, the payment will be further reduced to $320 for those who have lost more than eight hours and stopped for those on the lower payment.
After two weeks the funding taps will be turned off regardless of whether state and territory leaders continue to order lockdowns – meaning any workers shut out of their jobs under ongoing restrictions won’t receive a penny from the federal government.
Support payments for business will also be phased out.
The announcement leaves workers and businesses already teetering on the financial edge after 18 months of intermittent lockdowns exposed to toppling over if premiers and chief health officers order another.
At two weeks after 80 per cent double vaccination is reached the payments will stop (pictured, Centrelink queues on the Gold Coast at the start of the pandemic)