The ALP's attempts to make political capital out of the unexpected shortfall in the take up of JobKeeper are, while both understandable and predictable, at serious risk of actually being counter-productive.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It would make far more sense, right here and right now, to welcome the windfall, and to continue to lobby for the scheme's scope and term to be extended in order to accelerate the economic recovery.
Labor has already said the scheme should be broadened to those workers, including some casuals, who have missed out. As well as keeping people connected to their employment, the money also plays and important role by injecting cash into the economy.
While obviously rocked by the initial revelation on Friday, Mr Frydenberg counter punched to good effect over the weekend.
He now says the prediction 6.5 million workers would claim the supplement at a cost of $130 billion was accurate when it was made in late March.
"On March 23 the number of coronavirus cases had increased by 22 per cent," he said. "(On March 24) the national cabinet announced new social distancing arrangements with Treasury seeing a scenario where GDP fell by 10 to 12 per cent in the June quarter - a number that could double ... if we moved to an eight-week lockdown akin to that in Europe. That was the cliff we were standing on."
Mr Frydenberg argues, quite cogently, that Australia's social distancing measures were effective beyond anybody's wildest hopes and dreams.
"Australia has made great progress in flattening the curve and reducing the increase in daily cases down to below 0.5 per cent for 35 consecutive days".
He said this, in turn, minimised the economic impact of the catastrophe which "did not reach the depths we initially feared".
The reality is it will be many months before anyone can say with some accuracy whether the Treasurer's analysis, or the ALP's references to a financial black hole that could be seen from outer space, is actually correct.
Given the ATO's relatively straightforward explanation of how it came to overestimate the number of JobKeeper claims, the whole affair is now on the verge of collapsing into the usual blame game Canberra does so well.
Australia does not want that right now.
The real issue is that there are flaws with JobKeeper. Vast numbers of workers are believed to have fallen through the cracks.
The scheme was put together and rolled out in record time to cope with an emerging catastrophe the likes of which this country had never seen. It was always likely that refinements would need to be made as the situation evolved.
A priceless opportunity now exists to revisit JobKeeper to ensure that those who have missed out are given the same hand up as everybody else, without having to spend more than originally forecast.
There is almost universal acknowledgement the economic stimulus created by strong levels of income support would actually save money further down the track.
This time last week Mr Morrison and Mr Frydenberg were ready, willing and able to spend $130 billion on JobKeeper. What has actually changed since then?
This is no time for the government to revert to economic Darwinism.
This crisis still has a long way to run. There are grave fears that a very high number of smaller Australian businesses won't be "coming back" once we reach the other side.
READ MORE:
Spending what the government was originally prepared to spend to maximise the odds for a rapid, and widespread, economic recovery would be an excellent use of the unexpended funds.
The Coalition has a once-only chance to revisit the JobKeeper program and to make sure it works for all Australians.
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here.