Greens lead Senate push to block JobKeeper rate cut, hit out on income tax
WA Today
September 26, 2020

Greens leader Adam Bandt will urge crossbenchers and the Labor opposition to help overturn planned changes to the federal government's wage subsidy scheme, seizing on modelling which shows it would cost less to JobKeeper at its current rate than to bring forward income tax cuts.

Mr Bandt has seized on Parliamentary Budget Office-backed analysis showing it would cost $11.3 billion to keep the wage subsidy at the higher rate until March next year.

In contrast, the independent costing shows that bringing forward the government's scheduled personal income tax cuts by two years to July 2020 would cost the budget $27.7 billion, and that bringing the cuts forward by one year to July 2021 would cost $14.14 billion.


Greens leader Adam Bandt says cutting wage subsidies in favour of tax cuts is "trickle-down brutality".

Mr Bandt argued that rather than tax cuts, the better economic stimulus was to ensure low and middle income earners were able to keep themselves homed and fed during a recession.



The JobKeeper wage subsidy faces changes from Monday, when it will be extended at reduced rates for six months.   

Payments for full-time staff are being cut from $1500 to $1200 a fortnight, while people who usually worked less than 20 hours a week before the coronavirus pandemic will receive $750.

Mr Bandt said the Senate could stop the JobKeeper changes and his party would move to disallow the cuts when Parliament resumes and returning the payment to its original rate.

"This is trickle-down brutality," Mr Bandt said. "If the money is there to give millionaires an early tax cut, then the money's there to keep JobKeeper going in the middle of a recession."

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has hinted that legislated tax cuts, scheduled to be introduced from 1 July 2022, could be brought forward in next month's budget.

The next phase of the tax cuts will see the top threshold of the 19 per cent income tax bracket increased from $41,000 to $45,000, and the top threshold for the 32.5 per cent tax bracket raised from $90,000 to $120,000.

From July 2024, the 32.5 per cent and 37 per cent tax brackets will be abolished, with a 19 per cent tax rate for those earning between $18,201 and $45,000, 30 per cent for incomes between $45,000 and $200,000, and 45 per cent as the highest rate for incomes above $200,000.

Mr Frydenberg said on Friday the government was providing additional extended support for JobSeeker, the unemployment benefit, and JobKeeper.

"The economy needs to transition. We want to encourage labour market mobility and get more people into a job. In the budget you will see a number of initiatives and programs that are designed to do exactly that," Mr Frydenberg said.

Mr Bandt said with many businesses struggling, unemployment still "through the roof" and Victoria in lockdown, many could not afford to cut JobKeeper.


"Cutting JobKeeper now to fund a tax cut for multi-millionaires next year is savagely unfair and economically illiterate," he said.

"Scott Morrison is yet to explain how he expects Victoria's almost two million JobKeeper and JobSeeker recipients to survive. 

The cost of living won't drop by $300 on Monday and many callers to my office have said they will be forced to skip meals and take on extra debt just to keep a roof over their heads.