National Cabinet meets today (10am). They will be briefed by Treasury Secretary Kennedy, RBA chief Lowe, and APRA chief Byres.
Prime Minister Morrison has flagged changes to JobKeeper will be forthcoming after the review in June, saying that some ‘anomalies and issues’ need to be addressed.
The SMH reports that the review will consider extending the September 27 cut-off with tightened eligibility.
Labor have internal differences over JobKeeper, according to David Crowe in SMH:
shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers’ proposal for extending to universities and foreign state-owned enterprises was not properly costed and didn’t go through normal shadow cabinet processes, prompting friction within Labor.
Fair Work Commission chief Iain Ross has canvassed the deferral of minimum wage increases for some businesses based on Covid-19 impacts. (Australian)
ACCI has urged a deferral until mid-2021; Labor and the ACTU have stated firm opposition to any deferral.
Transport Minister McCormack has said that Virgin Australia should be sold to a private company rather than Qld Govt; colleagues Dutton and Littleproud have been very critical of Qld govt proposal; and the Qld LNP has declared opposition to govt bid. (Australian)
New Zealand govt has announced in their Budget a NZ$50b fund to combat Covid-19.
NZ economy will contract by 4.6% this year, unemployment peak at 9.8% this year, and govt debt (currently 30% GDP) peak at 54% in 2023.
Polling by Australia Institute in Eden Monaro (without using candidate names) finds ALP ahead of Coalition 51.1/48.8. (AFR)
Julia Gillard has been appointed chair of UK-based research investment giant Wellcome Trust, and will use the role to call for an investigation into the Covid-19 outbreak. (ABC)
