Labor would welcome "a change in heart" from the government if the Treasurer decides to include the casuals left out of the government’s $130 billion JobKeeper package.
Approximately 1.1 million casuals will miss out on the fortnightly $1,500 payments designed to keep workers linked to their employers during the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
To qualify for the JobKeeper program, a worker must be full-time or part-time, a sole trader or a not-for-profit employee or be a casual working for the same employer for 12 months.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government “had to draw the line somewhere” and casuals who are not eligible for the JobKeeper allowance can access generous welfare payments including rental assistance.
Shadow Finance Minister Jim Chalmers said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg could include most of those casuals “with the stroke of a pen.”
What’s been missed is the treasurer has the power to include some of those workers who have been excluded from the JobKeeper scheme,” he said.
"In choosing not to exercise that power, he is choosing the unemployment cues to be longer.”
Image: Getty
