with
BRENDAN O’CONNOR MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRY
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SCIENCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS
MEMBER FOR GORTON

New ABS data today confirms that around 750,000 payroll jobs have been lost since the outbreak of Coronavirus.

The devastation of the labour market is being made even worse by the Morrison Government’s botched roll-out of vital support programs like JobKeeper.
 
Since the outbreak of the virus, the biggest job losses have been concentrated in hospitality and the arts, with young Australians and women hardest hit.

Today’s Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia by the ABS shows that since 14 March:

• The Australian economy shed 750,000 payroll jobs, and total wages paid has fallen 8.3 per cent.
• Payrolls jobs for women declined by 8 per cent and male payroll jobs decreased by 6.3 per cent.
• Payroll jobs in the accommodation and food services sector decreased by 29.1 per cent and fell by 26.3 per cent in the arts and recreation industries.
• Payroll jobs worked by people aged under 20 decreased by 16.5 per cent.

 
These figures come as the Reserve Bank warns that the downturn is “likely to have long-lasting effects on the economy.”

Too many Australians are left out and left behind, some accidentally but many deliberately.

Support could be better targeted, or tapered, but it shouldn’t just “snap back” on an arbitrary timeline which doesn’t reflect the reality in workplaces and communities.
 
The less done to protect jobs and support vulnerable workers, business and communities in the coming months, the harder and longer the recovery will be.
 
Having introduced support for the economy too narrowly and too slowly, Australians can't afford for the Government to withdraw that support too quickly or too bluntly.
 
Australians have worked together to combat the virus, but more work must be done by the Morrison Government to ensure the hardest-hit Australians are not left out and left behind in the recovery.
 
TUESDAY, 16 MAY 2020