Canberra; 30 March 2020 (UMM): Eight days since the second stimulus package was announced, Australian PM Scott Morrison announced a third stimulus package to the tune of $130 billion to save “hibernating” businesses forced to close their doors during lockdown, and their employees.
Package includes a $1,500 per fortnight payment to employers, so that they can maintain their employees during this hibernation period.
“We want to keep the engine of our economy running through this crisis. It may run on idle for a time, but it must continue to run our plan will see our businesses, large and small, right across our entire economy,” the Prime Minister said today.
According to Yahoo Finance AU, this latest package follows the government’s two previous stimulus packages: the first $17.6 billion package aimed at retirees and the unemployed; and the second $66 billion lifebelt aimed at small businesses and those who lost their jobs due to the virus.
From today, employers and sole traders will be able to apply to the Australian Tax Office to receive the $1,500 per fortnight from the government for the staff members on their books.
The payments will be backdated to today, and flow from the first week of May. To be eligible, the turnover of the business or need to have fallen by 30 per cent or more, or in the case of a business with an annual turnover of more than $1 billion, by 50 per cent, or more, reported Yahoo Finance AU.
“We will pay employees to pay their employees, and make sure they do to keep them in the businesses that employ them and to ensure that I can get ready together to bounce back on the other side,” Morrison said.
It’s a flat payment available to full-time workers, part-time workers and sole traders, which Morrison said was the equivalent of 70 per cent of the median wage.
Only casuals who have been with their employer for 12 months or more will be eligible for the payment.
If your partner’s income exceeded $48,000 per year, you were previously ineligible to apply for the JobSeeker payment, which is $550 per fortnight.
Today, the Prime Minister announced this partner income threshold has been extended to $79,762 per annum reported Yahoo Finance AU.
