4 years ago
JobKeeper and JobSeeker
KATE THWAITES MP
KATE THWAITES, MEMBER FOR JAGAJAGA: Well good morning. Well like many MP’s I’ve spent the last couple of months in my electorate talking to people who don’t normally call their MP’s office. And these are people who are in quite desperate circumstances.
They’re people who thought they’d get the JobKeeper payment but at the last minute their employer told them they couldn’t arrange a loan for bridging finance and they missed out and now they don’t know how they’re going to make their mortgage payments.
They’re people who, not through their choice but how we’ve organised a world of work, are casuals, they’re people who have worked for a long time in the arts industry. These are people who are still struggling. They are not ready to snap back. And I’m concerned that there are reports that the Liberals are talking about already taking away JobKeeper and JobSeeker. People need those payments. These people are still suffering. We’ve got to support them all the way through this crisis.
JOURNALIST: Mathias Cormann has this morning committed to a six month program of JobKeeper. Where does that sort of play into these people who are on JobKeeper or are using JobKeeper?
THWAITES: I think there’s a number of people who, as I’ve just explained, have missed out on JobKeeper and those people are still living in a world of uncertainty. So it’s great if the Government is committing to keep JobKeeper but they need to extend it to all those people who through no fault of their own are still missing out and who are still struggling to think ‘how am I going to pay my mortgage, what am I going to feed my kids, what does my future look like?’
JOURNALIST: There is JobSeeker as well which I anticipate they’re on, is that not enough or?
THWAITES: Again the confusion around how the system has been set up by the Government, means a lot of people are still waiting for their Jobseeker payment and of course we’ve also heard from the Government that they might cut back the JobSeeker payment. Now again, that’s no certainty for people to know ‘how am I going to pay my mortgage into the future, what does my future look like?’
ENDS
They’re people who thought they’d get the JobKeeper payment but at the last minute their employer told them they couldn’t arrange a loan for bridging finance and they missed out and now they don’t know how they’re going to make their mortgage payments.
They’re people who, not through their choice but how we’ve organised a world of work, are casuals, they’re people who have worked for a long time in the arts industry. These are people who are still struggling. They are not ready to snap back. And I’m concerned that there are reports that the Liberals are talking about already taking away JobKeeper and JobSeeker. People need those payments. These people are still suffering. We’ve got to support them all the way through this crisis.
JOURNALIST: Mathias Cormann has this morning committed to a six month program of JobKeeper. Where does that sort of play into these people who are on JobKeeper or are using JobKeeper?
THWAITES: I think there’s a number of people who, as I’ve just explained, have missed out on JobKeeper and those people are still living in a world of uncertainty. So it’s great if the Government is committing to keep JobKeeper but they need to extend it to all those people who through no fault of their own are still missing out and who are still struggling to think ‘how am I going to pay my mortgage, what am I going to feed my kids, what does my future look like?’
JOURNALIST: There is JobSeeker as well which I anticipate they’re on, is that not enough or?
THWAITES: Again the confusion around how the system has been set up by the Government, means a lot of people are still waiting for their Jobseeker payment and of course we’ve also heard from the Government that they might cut back the JobSeeker payment. Now again, that’s no certainty for people to know ‘how am I going to pay my mortgage into the future, what does my future look like?’
ENDS