18th Feb 2021, 12:31 PM – Senate Motions - Jobseeker Payment - Extend for tourism industry

The majority voted in favour of motion no. 1007, which means it succeeded. While motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own, they are politically influential because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) 1.5 million workers including 40,000 travel agents are still reliant on the JobKeeper wage subsidy,

(ii) the COVID-19 recovery is patchy and some sectors are still hurting due to lockdowns and international border closures,

(iii) JobKeeper is set to be withdrawn on 28 March 2021 but the Government has not announced further support for sectors still affected by COVID-19,

(iv) the tourism sector is one of the worst affected sectors, and

(v) without support beyond March, 60% of tourism-related businesses and 90% of travel agencies could collapse;

(b) expresses its appreciation for travel agents, like Lisa and her team at Capital Travel Manuka, who have been working for next to nothing to help Australians change travel plans, return home after being stranded overseas and claim $4 billion in refunds;

(c) condemns the Morrison Government for:

(i) failing to create a plan for secure, well-paid jobs to replace JobKeeper in sectors that need ongoing support. and

(ii) ignoring the pleas for help from businesses in sectors that will not fully recover until the reopening of international borders; and

(d) calls on the Morrison Government to extend JobKeeper beyond March for businesses still adversely impacted by international border closures.