New numbers reveal that almost 16,860 workers in Burt could be worse off and up to $15,021,413 will be ripped out of the local Burt economy every fortnight if the Morrison Government goes ahead with its cuts to JobKeeper at the end of September.

With nearly one million Australians unemployed and that number expected to increase, it makes no sense for the Morrison Government to be withdrawing support without a comprehensive jobs plan to replace it.

Labor’s Shadow Minister Assisting for Small and Family Business and local Labor MP Matt Keogh has warned that Morrison’s planned JobKeeper cuts on 28 September will make the recession worse.

“Scott Morrison should reconsider his cuts to JobKeeper which are coming at the worst possible time for many workers, businesses and communities who are relying on it,” Mr Keogh said

From Monday 28 September, cuts and changes to the JobKeeper scheme will see more than 4,430 local businesses receive decreased financial support and many will lose this payment altogether.

The premature withdrawal of JobKeeper support follows the Morrison Government’s decision to exclude millions of workers from the program, including over a million casual workers.  

In recent days, concerns around compliance with JobKeeper’s rules by some businesses have surfaced, with 8,000 tip-offs reported to the Australian Tax Office – many concerning deliberate underpayments of the wage subsidies.

“JobKeeper’s potential to do so much good and help protect Australians in the depths of this recession is being compromised by Scott Morrison’s botched implementation, poor compliance enforcement, and premature cuts,” said Labor’s Matt Keogh.

“The recession will be deeper and the unemployment queues will be longer because Scott Morrison is pulling support from the economy too soon and because he doesn’t have a plan for jobs.”

Many local households and businesses are already doing it incredibly tough.

At the same time the Government is set to wind back JobSeeker payments from this week.

The Coronavirus pandemic has seen the number of locals relying on unemployment payments rise more than 167 per cent.

“Local businesses, shops and cafes will all suffer and their workers will be put at risk if people have their incomes cut because of these Morrison Government changes.”

 “Our community needs and deserves a comprehensive jobs plan to set us up for the recovery and the future.”