While it is a given some will be quick to find fault with the "JobKeeper" payment announced on Monday, it will be warmly welcomed by millions of working Australians facing an uncertain future.
As of yesterday, all workers, whether full-time, part-time, casuals who have been on the books for 12 months or more, or sole traders, are guaranteed $1500 a fortnight for the next six months.
It is a flat payment. Workers earning less than $1500 a fortnight prior to the crisis will actually be earning more under this scheme.
The program, which can be topped up by employers if they wish, is open to small and medium enterprises whose turnover has dropped by 30 per cent or more, and all businesses with an annual turnover of more than $1 billion whose turnover has fallen by 50 per cent or more.
The big advantage over the JobSeeker payment is it will maintain the connection between companies and workers.
The most startling aspect is the amount to be spent. This latest round of support, which could cover up to 6 million workers, will cost $130 billion. The government spent $488 billion in the whole of 2018-19.
Workers earning less than $1500 a fortnight prior to the crisis will actually be earning more under this scheme.
This $130 billion is on top of $190 billion in support previously announced by state and federal governments and the Reserve Bank.
Australian taxpayers are stumping up 65 per cent of what the federal government would usually spend on everything, including defence, health, welfare and the rest, to keep businesses in business, workers in jobs, and those who have lost their jobs supported for the next six months.
Not only is the surplus a thing of the past; the nation will be living with deficits for years to come.
But if this massive spend allows this country to weather the crisis in relatively good economic shape, and with a better-than-expected health outcome, nobody will say it was the wrong thing to do.
