Too many workers don’t have leave entitlements to allow them to economically survive a diagnosis of COVID-19. Frontline staff in people-facing industries are among the most vulnerable, given the required interactions with hundreds of people a day, but often have few legal protections should one of these interactions make them sick.

Greens MPs are moving across the country to extend workers compensation coverage to workers who contract or are suspected to have contracted COVID-19.

The Greens have said that today’s Depression-era job queues follow the Morrison Government’s failure to link its billions in stimulus payments to wage and job subsidies, urging the Government to reconsider its cancelling of Parliament so that the mess can be fixed up.

“The Greens pushed for a jobs and wages guarantee, because we know that every job we save now is a job we don’t need to recreate after this crisis is over,” said Greens Leader Adam Bandt.

The stimulus package outlined by the Prime Minister this morning falls far short of what the experts say is needed to weather the economic storm caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and does little to stem the crisis facing people on Newstart & Youth Allowance as well as the 3.5 million casual workers in Australia, said Leader of The Australian Greens Adam Bandt, MP.

The Greens will move to expand the package when it reaches the Senate to lift Newstart & Youth Allowance as well as provide 14 days’ paid coronavirus sick leave to all workers, including casual workers.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP said that when parliament resumes, the Greens will introduce legislation to provide 14 days’ paid sick leave to all workers affected by the coronavirus. The ACTU has called for 2 weeks paid sick leave for workers affected by the virus.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP and Greens Community Services spokesperson Rachel Siewert have called on the government to extend the Disaster Recovery Allowance to those affected by the coronavirus, especially those without sick leave.

The Greens have also called for any government stimulus to be targeted to support low-income Australians, support coronavirus resilience and be a more effective response to the threat of recession.

Lines from Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP:

It has long been Greens policy to have federal laws on industrial manslaughter and to have them in the Crimes Act so that employers can be held accountable for the tragic loss of hundreds of lives on worksites around Australia. The current patchwork, really, of state and territory laws does not protect workers. I sat on this inquiry, and we heard devastating stories. In many cases the inquest takes so long that the statute of limitations expires, so no-one is held accountable. The system is definitely failing.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said today’s jobs figures reveal a jobs crisis in Australia, especially amongst young people, and underscore the need for urgent government intervention to provide meaningful, secure work in a climate-challenged economy.

“These figures reveal a government with no plan to create meaningful work for young people in a climate-challenged economy,” said Mr Bandt.

“Nearly one in three young people either doesn’t have a job or doesn’t have enough hours of work. It’s a national scandal.”

The Greens are calling for a Royal Commission to fully investigate the extent of wage theft and below-award payment in Australia following reports today that Coles underpaid its staff by almost $20 million dollars, said Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP.

"Once again, we've seen that failings in our industrial laws are allowing some of Australia's biggest companies to pay workers at below award rates," said Mr Bandt.