2nd Sep 2020, 4:09 PM – Senate Motions - Employment - National jobs plan

A small majority voted in favour of motion No. 778, introduced by ACT Labor Party member Katy Gallagher, also the Shadow Minister for Finance. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own but are significant because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) acknowledges the significant fiscal interventions in response to COVID-19, which have been supported by the entire Parliament;

(b) notes that the National Accounts confirm Australia is in a recession;

(c) further notes that:

(i) unemployment is at 7.5%, with over a million Australians out of work for the first time in history,

(ii) the Treasurer has acknowledged that the unemployment rate is expected to increase to 10% in the December quarter,

(iii) the Government announced it would reduce the rate of JobKeeper and the Coronavirus Supplement on 21 July 2020,

(iv) the Government announced that the Coronavirus Supplement will end on 31 December 2020 and JobKeeper will end on 28 March 2021, and

(v) a further 400,000 Australians are expected to lose their jobs by the end of this year; and

(d) calls on the Morrison Government to immediately outline a comprehensive jobs plan for Australian workers, including the 400,000 Australians the Treasurer has acknowledged are expected to lose their jobs by Christmas amidst the first recession in Australia in 29 years.