RICHARD MARLES MP
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
SHADOW MINISTER FOR NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION, EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS AND SMALL BUSINESS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SCIENCE
MEMBER FOR CORIO

JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN


SUPPORT CUT AS UNEMPLOYMENT RISES
 

Australians are paying a heavy price for Scott Morrison’s mistakes, with the ABS confirming 138,000 Australians lost their jobs in September and there were more Australians out of work than in August.

During the month of September, lockdowns continued across the south east corner of Australia, seeing a 0.1 per cent increase in the headline unemployment rate from 4.5 per cent to 4.6 per cent.

Over 300,000 people have stopped looking for work in the past three months.

The number of those employed but on zero hours was close to one million, and nearly two million Australian are still looking for work or more work, with an underemployment rate of 9.2 per cent.

When we include those who find themselves unemployed, those who fell out of the jobs markets altogether and those who are employed but working zero hours, this is an effective rate of nearly 14 per cent.

And for those states and territories which have been in extended lockdowns and felt the economic brunt, the numbers are hard reading:

• Across New South Wales, 24,800 workers lost their jobs, underemployment remained higher than the national average at 10.2 per cent and the participation rate fell by 0.6 per cent.
• In Victoria, 122,800 workers lost their jobs, unemployment went up by 0.7 per cent to 4.8 per cent, underemployment also went up by 0.9 per cent to 10 per cent and participation dropped by 1.9 per cent.
• Across the ACT, 7,400 workers lost their jobs, unemployment went up by 0.5 per cent to 4.1 per cent, underemployment increased by 1.4 per cent and participation also dropped by 1.9 per cent.

These only provide a small snapshot of the pain which so many working Australians and businesses are going through right now.

The Morrison-Joyce Government confirmed just two weeks ago that they would remove critical support for accessing the COVID Disaster payment and the critical support for business, tying the end of critical support to the vaccine targets and proving once again how tone deaf this Government is to the cries of working Australians and small business. 

As Labor has cautioned, critical support to those areas most affected by COVID and the necessary lockdowns should not be ripped away too soon.

The National Plan confirms some restrictions which will impact the economy will remain in place, even when these various vaccine targets are reached, it won’t be business as usual for many businesses and workers for some time yet.

Australians can’t afford for Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg to make the same mistake twice by cutting help too quickly. 

THURSDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2021