Prime Minister Scott Morrison has outlined a three-step plan to restore up to 850,000 jobs in Australia in the coming months, following the impact of COVID-19.
With Australia’s economic lifelines including the JobKeeper and JobSeeker schemes and many other programs to get Australia through the worst of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic now in place, the three-step plan identifies a clear framework to reopen the economy and society.
“The next step beyond this will be to build the confidence and momentum that will see our economy get back up and running and get Australians back up on their feet and moving ahead with confidence,” Morrison said.
“And then we can reset our economy for growth in the years ahead in this new environment. So we can deliver the jobs, guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on, keep Australians safe, and take care of this amazing country that we have the great responsibility of looking after.
“Three steps, moved at the pace of states and territories, will get us back where we need to be as quickly as we can. A plan that, according to Treasury, can see some 850,000 jobs restored in the months ahead.”
The three-step plan which the government aims to roll out by July involves:
Step One: Allowing gatherings up to 10 people and five guests in a home. Working from home, is still encouraged, if it works for the employee and employer. Intrastate recreational travel will start again.
Step Two: Allowing larger size gatherings of up to 20 people, including more retail openings on sector-based COVID-safe plans.
Step Three: Allowing gatherings up to 100 people with most workers, by then, to be back in the workplace. Interstate travel will likely resume as well.
The pace of the roll-out has been left up to state and territory governments.
“As businesses are able to reopen and get on their feet, then I’m looking forward, as I’m sure they are, to getting staff back on the floor, lifting their wages again from their stand down arrangements and to be able to take that enterprise forward again,” Morrison said.
“One of the things I’m very hopeful of is that because of the support we put in place, it basically allowed businesses to go through this incredibly difficult time with the loss of trade and not having businesses collapse. Now, there will be some, sadly, who will have collapsed, but… [most go the others] can get back up to what they were doing before.
“Building [businesses] back up again and getting the confidence to do what they do is important. That’s why we’ve set out this plan so they know where we’re heading and when we want to get there. They can plan around that.”
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