Prime Minister Confirms JobSeeker Extended To March

Scott Morrison WA Borders
Scott Morrison has revealed the JobSeeker will continue to be offered into early next year.

Prime Minister Confirms JobSeeker Extended To March

Scott Morrison has revealed the JobSeeker will continue to be offered into early next year.
Scott Morrison WA Borders
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The subsidy will continue beyond 2020 but will be cut by $100 a fortnight.

Scott Morrison has revealed the JobSeeker will continue to be offered into early next year.

The payment began in March, and gave unemployed Australians an extra $550 a fortnight on top of the welfare payment previously known as Newstart.

It was reduced to $250 in September, with no commitment any subsidy would be offered beyond December.

Today Mr Morrison announced a three-month extension of the payment until March, while cutting it again to $150.

The payment is expected to drop back to $40 a day after March.

“We will be changing the rate of that supplement down to $150 for that period, out to the end of three months, and this will come at a cost to taxpayers of some $3.2 billion over that three month period, not a small measure, a very important measure, to ensure that that support remains,” he said in Canberra.

“I was very clear that when we made the changes to JobKeeper, we would make a later decision on JobSeeker, taking into account what would happen in the labour market and we would go through that process.”

He said JobSeeker could not continue indefinitely.

 “We cannot stay stuck in neutral in this country, we have got to keep moving forward,” he said.

“Our COVID recovery plan is the same, it’s about continually going forward, not taking steps back.”

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston also stressed the extension was a “temporary measure”.

“We will continue to monitor the economic conditions to make sure we strike the right balance between providing elevated levels of support for people who need it but at the same time creating incentives for people to re-engage with the workforce,” she said.

Feature image: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Further Perth news on SoPerth.com.au.