with
BRENDAN O’CONNOR MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRY SHADOW MINISTER FOR SCIENCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS
MEMBER FOR GORTON
and
TONY BURKE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MANAGER OF OPPOSITION BUSINESS
MEMBER FOR WATSON
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT UNEMPLOYMENT ESTIMATES FROM TREASURY

The Commonwealth Treasury expects hundreds of thousands of jobs could be saved by the wage subsidies Labor called for and supported in the Parliament.
 
Our goal throughout has been to see those workers maintain a connection with their employer.
 
Expectations for double-digit unemployment are a sobering reminder of the devastating economic impacts of this diabolical health crisis.
 
If these numbers eventuate, something like 1.4 million Australians will be jobless and many of them won’t immediately “snap back” to work.
 
The unemployment rate will be higher than it would be if Josh Frydenberg exercised his powers to give more casual and other workers access to JobKeeper payments.
 
When unemployment spikes in the next few months remember hundreds of thousands of job losses could have been prevented if the Treasurer picked up his pen and included more workers currently left out and left behind. 
 
The release of these figures will be a welcome development but no substitute for a full set of updated economic and budget figures and forecasts which should be released in the next month in lieu of a full Budget.