Australia pursues "wage subsidies" to counter the economic fallout
- To commit A$130 billion in over six months to support jobs
- To aid businesses with A$1,500 payments per employee
- Payments will flow from the first week of May and will be backdated to today
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and treasurer Josh Frydenberg are announcing the measures now in Canberra. They are saying that the 'crisis calls for unprecedented action and that the weeks ahead will be tougher for the economy'.
The way they are framing the package is not exactly the kind of wage subsidies offered up by the UK and but instead it is sort of a "hibernation package" as businesses are shut for the time being amid lockdown and containment efforts across the country.
They are also announcing that renters/tenants will have six-month moratoriums on evictions.
