Pandemic Wage Subsidy Ends in Australia as Brisbane Goes into New COVID Lockdown
Voice of America
SYDNEY - Australia’s multi-billion-dollar wage subsidy credited with saving hundreds of thousands of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. A cluster of infections has forced the Queensland city of Brisbane into a snap three-day lockdown.
The U.S. $53 billion JobKeeper program was the biggest economic package in Australian history. It guaranteed workers a paycheck even when businesses were forced to close during lockdowns. In Canberra, the government has said with the recovery underway, it is time for the economy to support itself. Senior officials have said JobKeeper would be replaced by targeted stimulus programs, the first stage of which will be an expansion of the scheme to pay part of the wages of apprentices.
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