With JobKeeper payments set to drop from Monday 28 September, the Australian Greens have today released Parliamentary Budget Office-backed analysis showing it would cost less to continue JobKeeper at its current rate through to March 2021 than to bring forward tax cuts for high income earners by even one year, as is reportedly being considered in the upcoming Budget. 

Responding to today’s devastating job figures that see youth unemployment at a 23 year high, Greens Leader, Adam Bandt MP, called on the government to implement a youth Jobs Guarantee and an investment plan, saying young people are giving up and losing hope.

“Young people are dropping out, giving up and losing hope,” said Mr Bandt.

“We are on the verge of creating a lost generation and Scott Morrison has no plan to fix it.

With the Liberals needing Senate support for their plans to slash JobKeeper payments to low-income earners, the Australian Greens have described Labor’s approach to JobKeeper cuts as two-faced, urging Labor to stop playing double games and instead fully abandon the opposition's plans to support the Liberals' cuts.

Australian Greens Youth spokesperson, and Australia's youngest Senator, Jordon Steele-John has called for greater engagement with young people to help shape our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today is International Youth Day and the theme for 2020 is Youth Engagement for Global Action, which seeks to highlight the need for greater engagement with young people to enhance formal institutional politics and process at the local, national and global level.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt says today's announcement that the government will expand JobKeeper suggests lessons have not been learned from the first round of JobKeeper, meaning millions in need will continue to miss out.

“The Government has shown today how easy it is to expand eligibility,” Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, said today.

“While we welcome an expansion, this was surely an opportunity to fill the gaps that see millions of workers unfairly missing out on JobKeeper.

Unemployed people in Eden-Monaro would have meaningful work under The Greens’ plan to recover from the coronavirus economic shock in a visionary plan that would also address the climate crisis.

The Greens say this election is a chance to send a message to Canberra about tackling climate change and providing decent jobs, especially for young people.

The 5670 local jobs provided by the Invest to Recover plan would assist the post-pandemic recovery, while also providing long-term employment for the next generation.

Young people will be guaranteed a job, secure income, and free education under a new Greens recovery plan to build ‘a better normal’ and restart the economy after the coronavirus economic shock.

The vision for a debt-financed recovery reaffirms the government’s role in responding to the crisis, and rejects the austerity approaches offered by the Liberal and Labor parties, charting a course for a government-led recovery that extends Australia’s social services, instead of slashing funding for education, healthcare, and the environment.

 Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP and Housing Spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi have today launched a bold plan to build 500,000 new homes, create 40,000 new jobs and 4,000 new apprenticeships, and push back the risk of recession nationally.

With construction having fallen 7.4% over the year, and with nearly one in three young people struggling to find work, this project will inject crucially needed stimulus into the economy while putting homes into reach for young families.