Prime Minister Morrison has failed working Australians struggling through ongoing lockdowns, with the piecemeal tinkering to lockdown payments he announced today still leaving insecure workers enduring weeks with no work and no pay unable to afford to pay rent, bills and feed their families.

This payment continues to be entirely inadequate to replace the income that millions of working people have lost due to lockdowns caused by the Federal Government’s failed vaccine rollout.

If the Morrison Government wants to protect working people from the consequences of its incompetent vaccination program it should bring in JobKeeper 2 – a $1500 per fortnight wage subsidy which would provide certainty for all workers, including casual workers, and critically keep them connected to work so they have something to return to when the lockdown is over.

Quotes attributable to ACTU President Michele O’Neil:

“Unfortunately Australian workers can count on more lockdowns as the Morrison Government’s vaccine rollout lurches from one failure to the next.

“To protect workers during this period we need JobKeeper 2 – available for all workers as soon as a lockdown is declared at the full rate of $1500 per fortnight and providing a connection to employment through the lockdown period.

“Working people are being abandoned by the Morrison Government which has walked away from commitments to in-workplace vaccination for frontline aged and disability care workers and has ripped away vital supports for workers going through lockdowns.”