EMPLOYMENT SUBSIDIES – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

COVID testing firm kept $12m in JobKeeper cash amid soaring profits

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Original article by Clay Lucas
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 11-Nov-21

Pathological group Australian Clinical Labs has been a beneficiary of both the federal government’s COVID-19 testing program and the JobKeeper wage subsidy. The company’s revenue increased by 29 per cent in 2020-21, while its after-tax profit rose from $11.7m to $88.7m. Australian Clinical Labs received JobKeeper payments totalling $34.3m over the last two financial years, but it repaid just $21.9m. Australian Clinical Labs’ annual report for 2020 notes that revenue fell sharply in the months immediately following the onset of the pandemic in March of that year, making the firm eligible for JobKeeper. The company also receives a government subsidy for every COVID-19 test it performs.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CLINICAL LABS LIMITED – ASX ACL

Senate backs inquiry into whether tax commissioner should release JobKeeper details

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Original article by Daniel Hurst
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 20-Oct-21

Tax commissioner Chris Jordan will come under scrutiny by the Senate’s privileges committee over his refusal to disclose the details of companies with annual turnover of more than $10m that received JobKeeper payments. Jordan had contended that doing so would not be in the public interest, but the Senate has voted 25-21 to hold an inquiry into whether he had disobeyed a lawful order of the upper house. Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar has criticised Labor for supporting the motion, which was put forward by independent senator Rex Patrick. Jordan could potentially face jail if he is found to be in contempt of the Senate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM to end money for lockdowns

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Sep-21

The federal government’s temporary COVID-19 Disaster Payment will be phased out when the states and territories have achieved the vaccination rates that were agreed upon in the national plan to reopen the economy. The income support payments will be completely withdrawn two weeks after 80 per cent of the eligible population of a given jurisdiction has been fully vaccinated. States and territories that opt to set higher vaccination targets than the national plan will be required to implement their own income support programs. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the coronavirus cannot be eliminated, so Australia must learn to live with it.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Labor exposed by $20m handout

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Original article by Alice Workman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Sep-21

Transport and tourism operator SeaLink received more than $20m worth of JobKeeper payments in total. This includes some $11.9m in 2020-21, when the company booked a profit of $37.8m and its revenue topped $1bn for the first time. SeaLink CEO Clint Feuerherdt is the husband of Labor senator Marielle Smith, which has attracted criticism amongst some members of the party’s ranks. One Labor MP has noted that the party would be "screaming the place down" if a Liberal politician’s partner had received JobKeeper payments under these circumstances.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SEALINK TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SLK

$4.6bn in JobKeeper went to businesses that increased their turnover at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic

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Original article by Dan Conifer
abc.net au – Page: Online : 23-Jul-21

The Parliamentary Budget Office has reported that 157,650 employers saw their turnover increase between April and June 2020, when compared to the same period in 2019. These employers received a combined $4.6 billion in JobKeeper payments during this period, and Labor MP Andrew Leigh says the figures show how much of taxpayers’ money was wasted on the wage subsidy scheme; he contends that these companies should return their JobKeeper payments.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Jobs defy wage subsidy’s demise

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Original article by Patrick Commins, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 21-May-21

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the latest jobs data shows that the federal government was justified in ending the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme in late March. New figures show that about 31,000 jobs were cut in April, well below forecasts that between 100,000 and 150,000 jobs would be lost when JobKeeper ended. The figures also show that 132,000 people have moved off income support since March. ACTU secretary Sally McManus has welcomed the slight fall in the official unemployment rate, but she says many workers are underemployed or in multiple jobs that are insecure and unreliable. Labor’s deputy leader Richard Marles notes that 1.8 million Australians are still looking for work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

JobKeeper aid helped prevent 500 suicides

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 28-Apr-21

Ian Hickie, the joint director of Sydney University’s Brain and Mind Centre, says the best thing the federal government can do to reduce mental health stress and preventable suicide is to maintain economic and jobs growth. The centre’s latest modelling suggests that COVID-19 support measures such as the JobKeeper wage subsidy will prevent 469 suicide deaths and 4,226 hospitalisations for self- harm between 2020 and 2025. It is also likely to avert more than 51,000 mental health presentations at hospitals’ emergency departments over the same period.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. BRAIN AND MIND RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Treasurer warns of subsidy dangers

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 29-Mar-21

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government will continue to provide economic stimulus following the end of the JobKeeper scheme on 28 March. He has flagged further targeted support for sectors that have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and says the wage subsidy scheme had ‘stemmed the tide’ of coronavirus-induced job losses. However, he cautions that fiscal discipline is also necessary to prevent higher taxes and higher debt in the future. Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says JobKeeper should have been extended in a "responsible, temporary, and targeted fashion", and he has warned that the Coalition will be responsible for any job losses in coming weeks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ALP cries JobTaker as wage subsidy gets over the line

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 12-Nov-20

The Senate has voted 30-28 to pass the federal government’s JobMaker bill without any amendments, after One Nation and Centre Alliance agreed to back the legislation. One Nation had previously indicated that it would support an amendment proposed by Labor that was designed to prevent employers from sacking existing staff and hiring younger workers in order to qualify for the subsidy. One Nation has rejected suggestions that it made a ‘side deal’ with the government.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor looks to amend JobMaker subsidy over concerns older workers could be sacked

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Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Nov-20

Labor has yet to decide whether to support the federal government’s JobMaker hiring credit scheme, which will be debated in the Senate on 9 November. However, senior Labor sources have indicated that the Opposition will seek amendments to the draft legislation to ensure that employers cannot sack older staff and replace them with workers under the age of 35 in order to qualify for the subsidy. The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has called for labour hire firms to be excluded from the scheme, arguing that they could exploit loopholes in the draft legislation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION