O75 Public Administration

Unions warn huge chunk of casual workforce could miss out on coronavirus wage subsidy

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Original article by Euan Black
The New Daily – Page: Online : 31-Mar-20

Full-time and part-time workers will be eligible for the JobKeeper wage subsidy, as will casual workers who have been with the same employer for at least 12 months. However, ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the wage subsidy should be available to all casual workers, adding that it should be increased to $1,375 per week rather than $1,500 per fortnight. Gerard Dwyer, the national president of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association, also supports extending the payment to all casual workers, as well as visa workers.

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ACTU, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION

Federal Government offers $130b in coronavirus wage subsidies for businesses to pay workers

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Original article by Brett Worthington
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 31-Mar-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison expects about six million Australians to access the federal government’s JobKeeper payment. He says there will be a legal obligation on employers to pass the full wage subsidy of up to $1,500 per fortnight on to employees. Morrison adds that unlike the UK wage subsidy, it is aimed at keeping people in jobs rather than targeting workers who have been stood down. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the subsidy equates to about 70 per cent of the median wage and around 100 per cent of the median wage for sectors that have been impacted the most by the coronavirus pandemic.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

$1.1bn boost for GPs, Medicare

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 30-Mar-20

The federal government has announced a $1.1 billion package aimed at dealing with the secondary impact of the health and economic crisis. The package comprises $669 million to be spent on Medicare support at home, $200 million for vulnerable Australians, $150 million for domestic violence support and $74 million for mental health support. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the package aims to help the many Australians who are currently enduring hardship.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Honest, genuine and community-minded leaders focused on the public interest score highest for Trust

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Mar-20

A special Roy Morgan survey on ‘Trust’ and ‘Distrust’ of government and business leaders conducted in March shows that being honest and genuine is the most valued trait for leaders with a high level of Trust. This trait was mentioned by 27% of respondents in relation to political leaders and 30% for business leaders, according to the survey of 974 Australians aged 14+. Another personality trait to rate highly was being community-minded and with a focus on the public interest, mentioned by 15% of respondents for political leaders and 12% for business leaders. In contrast, the traits that drive ‘Distrust’ include being dishonest/doesn’t tell the truth/dodgy (mentioned by 26% as a key reason to ‘Distrust’ political leaders and 27% for business leaders). Another key driver of ‘Distrust’ which is particularly evident for business leaders with high ‘Distrust’ is Focusing on their own interests/having their own agenda/being selfish (mentioned by 33%). This was also the second largest trait driving ‘Distrust’ in political leaders at 19%.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Business loan relief in bailout expansion

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Mar-20

The major banks will announce on 30 March that companies with loans totalling up to $10 million will be able to defer payments for six months in order to help save jobs during the coronavirus crisis. It is understood that the federal government will expand its 50 per cent loan guarantee for to small and medium enterprises to big business, while the Australian Banking Association will build on its previously announced small business support package with additional assistance measures.

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AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION

‘This is radical’: Gatherings in Australia reduced to two people in bid to slow coronavirus spread

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Original article by Biwa Kwan
sbs.com.au – Page: Online : 30-Mar-20

Skate parks and public playgrounds will be closed as the federal government moves to cut the size of gatherings to two people as part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The restrictions will not apply to schools, households or workplaces, while the number of people that can gather at funerals and weddings remains at 10 and five respectively. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it will be up to the states and territories to enforce the two-person rule; he also said that shopping should be about just getting what people need and then going home, rather than an excuse to browse or have long conversations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

When the COVID-19 crisis ends, we still have a distrust epidemic to deal with

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Mar-20

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed deep fissures of distrust in Australia, accelerating a risk that research firm Roy Morgan has been warning about for some time. "We interview more than 50,000 Australians every year, in person, at length, and have done so for decades," says Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine. "We’ve seen countless trends come and go and deeper changes take root. But in 2017 we realised something new was happening. Something was corroding the way people felt about the companies they interacted with, the sports they followed, the communities they lived in." It clearly involved trust, "but we’ve been measuring trust for a long time and those measures weren’t capturing it," she says. The breakthrough was realising that the issue wasn’t low trust levels, or even an absence of trust: "That’s a problem, but it doesn’t produce the societal cracks we were observing". The culprit was much more potent and damaging: active distrust. "Distrust poses a very real, material risk to brands, communities and even nations," says Levine. Levine and her team developed a rigorous measure for distrust: the Roy Morgan Risk Monitor. They now measure both trust and distrust across and within 25 key industries, and also assess trust and distrust in key public political and business leaders. The results are disturbing. The latest findings on Australians’ distrust for our Prime Minister and government should ring loud alarm bells as the country faces its biggest challenge since World War II.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Lockdown a blunt instrument with no guarantees

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Original article by Nick Cater
The Australian – Page: 10 : 30-Mar-20

A coronavirus lockdown separates people from jobs and businesses from customers to a far greater extent than intended. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of lockdowns remains uncertain, with the death toll in European countries that have imposed such measures continuing to rise. It is hard to imagine that an Italian-style nationwide lockdown would reduce the spread fast enough to stop Australia’s medical services being swamped. A poll on the weekend by Roy Morgan demonstrates that voluntary self-isolation is a feasible strategy, avoiding the need for the authoritarian approach some appear to prefer. In the poll, 84 per cent of those over 65 years of age said they were already self-isolating. Nobody knows if a full lockdown will end the pandemic or how long these draconian measures will have to stay in place. We do know, however, that such measures will come at an enormous cost to employment, welfare and families. It seems the total lockdown strategy would damage the economy beyond all recognition if kept in place for very long. The price would be paid not just in jobs and wages, but in loneliness, mental illness, family violence and perhaps even suicide. In a situation like this, the least-worse solution will always be the one that takes account of the welfare of people.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Six-month moratorium on eviction of renters in Australia amid coronavirus fallout

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Original article by
sbs.com.au – Page: Online : 30-Mar-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the states and territories will impose a six-month moratorium on renters being evicted on account of financial distress resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. He says landlords need to work with their tenants and banks to come up with agreements that are of benefit to all parties. The moratorium proposal is part of the notion of ‘hibernating’ businesses until the worst of the pandemic is over.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Scott Morrison offers coronavirus wage guarantee for those who have lost jobs, but details still to come

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Original article by Amy Remeikis
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 30-Mar-20

The federal government is set to announce details of a wage guarantee in coming days. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the wage subsidy will be in addition to the coronavirus stimulus measures that have already been announced, and it will provide income support for people who have been stood down or laid off by businesses that have closed due to the pandemic. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the wage guarantee should be backdated and it should apply to all workers, including casuals and temporary visa holders, as well as businesses of all sizes.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ACTU