The separate increase in the COVID-19 Disaster Payment will raise the rate of income support for workers who lose hours but expect to go back to their employer once the lockdown ends,giving them a way to cover living expenses without needing the JobSeeker unemployment benefit.
The rate will rise from $500 to $600 a week for people who were working more than 20 hours a week before the lockdown and from $325 to $375 a week for those who were working between eight and 20 hours.
The higher disaster payments will apply from the fourth week of a lockdown in a “hotspot” defined by the federal government,an area that currently covers Greater Sydney. The NSW government will cover the cost of extending the payment to people who lose work outside designated hotspots.
The federal government estimates the new small business payment,funded equally with the NSW government,will support up to 500,000 entities employing more than 3 million people.
Mr Morrison said the total package would cost about $500 million a week,split between the two levels of government,and added to $52.4 billion in federal support paid to households and employers in NSW during the pandemic so far.
Loading
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg,who strongly criticised the Victorian government for its lockdowns last year,said the situation in NSW was “chalk and cheese” because of the higher number of deaths in the southern state.
“I don’t think you can compare the situation in NSW to the situation in Victoria,” he told Sky News.
The federal and NSW governments also announced $17.4 million for mental health services to be delivered across the state through Lifeline,Headspace and Kids Helpline.
More information will be posted on the Services Australia website as well as the Service NSW site over the coming days.
In a bid to head off any concerns Sydneysiders were receiving benefits denied to those outside NSW,Mr Morrison said the new payment schemes would flow in other states and territories if needed.
“We have followed the same arrangements here in NSW that were put in place for Victoria,” he said. “Thankfully that lockdown was only in effect for two weeks but clearly here in NSW the situation has taken a very different turn.”
Speaking from Kirribilli House in Sydney,where he is in lockdown,Mr Morrison said the payment rates were similar to those in the final stages of the federal government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme,which he estimated had paid out $13.4 billion to Victorians.
The package was welcomed by the Business Council of Australia,the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Australian Industry Group,which said the spending would protect the national economy.
Labor treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers questioned how the federal government could check to make sure companies weren’t laying off staff.
“Today’s belated announcement by the PM and Treasurer proves they were too quick to cut JobKeeper and too slow to roll out the vaccines,and Australian workers and small businesses are paying the price for those failures,” he said.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up here.