Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, said the Greens will move a series of amendments to the government’s industrial relations reforms to outlaw insecure work, by introducing a legal presumption that all employment is permanent and ongoing unless there are compelling, exceptional business reasons to the contrary. 

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.

The Australian Greens have released analysis of ABS data which shows 83,100 workers on JobKeeper in Victoria are casuals in industries now subject to some form of shut down.

“Up to 83,100 workers in Victoria’s hardest hit industries will be forced into unemployment because the government continues to deny them access to JobKeeper,” Greens Leader and Member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt said.

The Morrison government can use the extensive coronavirus crisis powers already granted to it by Parliament to immediately grant paid COVID-19 sick leave to workers across Australia, according to advice obtained by the Australian Greens, without Parliament having to sit. The Treasurer could grant the leave by issuing regulations, similarly to the way the JobKeeper scheme was established. The advice was provided by the Parliamentary Library.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt has responded to reports the government is considering Labor’s proposal to cut JobKeeper payments for people previously earning less than $1,500 a fortnight, slamming the two parties for working together to slash the pay of low-paid workers bringing home less than the weekly minimum wage.

“Labor is sticking the knife into low-paid workers and the Liberals are twisting it,” said Mr Bandt.

“This is the sell-out of the century.

By excluding casuals engaged for less than 12 months, Scott Morrison’s flat wage subsidy will fail to keep Australians employed, and still represents an inferior model to an 80% of wages model proposed by the Greens, Greens Leader Adam Bandt said today.

Mr Bandt said that the 12 month restriction showed little understanding of the nature of work in already hard-hit fields like hospitality, retail and tourism, and meant the policy would leave behind almost a million casual workers.