Category: Australian News

The Economic and Fiscal Update released today shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our nation’s finances as well as the scale of the support that has been provided to prepare our health system and cushion the blow for millions of households and businesses.
The Government has acted swiftly and decisively to provide economic support for workers, households and businesses of around $289 billion or the equivalent of 14.6 per cent of GDP.
This necessary and unprecedented level of economic support, coupled with declines in taxation receipts of $31.7 billion in 2019‑20 and $63.9 billion in 2020‑21, has significantly impacted the budget position.
Payments variations, including in demand driven programs, also increased by $15.7 billion, predominantly as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.
The underlying cash balance is forecast to decrease from balance in 2018-19 to a $85.8 billion deficit in 2019-20 and a $184.5 billion deficit in 2020-21.
Through the Government’s strong fiscal management, Australia entered the COVID-19 crisis in a position of economic and fiscal strength. We returned the budget to balance for the first time in 11 years which underpinned the capacity to respond to this unprecedented shock.
Our fiscal support is targeted, timely and temporary to ensure that it does not undermine the structural integrity of the Budget with all three major credit ratings agencies having now reaffirmed Australia’s AAA credit rating during the pandemic.
The economic support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to have increased the level of real GDP by around ¾ per cent in 2019-20 and around 4¼ per cent in 2020-21. The fiscal measures are also estimated to have lowered the peak of the unemployment rate by around 5 percentage points.
Debt levels have increased significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, however Australia continues to have a low level of debt-to-GDP compared to other countries. Net debt is expected to be $488.2 billion (24.6 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2020 and increase to $677.1 billion (35.7 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2021. Once the economic recovery is established, stronger growth and an improvement in the fiscal position will help to stabilise government debt as a share of the economy.
Despite the support to the economy from the measures the Government has taken, real GDP is forecast to have fallen sharply in the June quarter by 7 per cent. However, the easing of health restrictions in line with the health advice is expected to deliver an increase in economic activity from the September quarter and beyond.
There are some positive early signs in the recovery with indicators suggesting that the unwinding of containment measures in the latter part of the June quarter has led to a noticeable recovery in activity and jobs.
Household consumption is expected to lead the recovery with strong growth in the September quarter, while business and dwelling investment are expected to recover more gradually.
On a calendar-year basis, real GDP is predicted to grow by 2½ per cent in 2021, after a fall of 3¾ per cent in 2020.
Through no fault of their own, as a result of the pandemic around 709,000 jobs were lost across the country in the June quarter.
The unemployment rate is forecast to peak at around 9¼ per cent in the December quarter although labour market conditions are expected to strengthen beyond 2020.
The economic and fiscal outlook remains highly uncertain. The Government will provide forecasts and projections over the forward estimates period and medium term in the 2020-21 Budget, to be delivered on 6 October 2020.
ECONOMIC SUPPORT
The Government’s swift and decisive response, made possible by our strong budget position leading into the crisis, has saved lives and livelihoods and has seen Australia outperform most advanced economies and trading partners in health and economic outcomes in 2020.
This unprecedented economic response has been designed to be temporary and targeted with measures to support individuals, households and businesses through the crisis, without undermining the structural integrity of the budget.
This includes the $85.7 billion JobKeeper Payment, expanded eligibility for income support payments, the Coronavirus Supplement, support payments for households, temporary cash flow support for employers, and increasing and expanding access to the instant asset write-off.
More than 960,000 businesses and not-for-profits and more than 3.5 million individuals have been covered by the JobKeeper Payment. As at 16 July, payments totalled over $30 billion.
On Tuesday, we confirmed the Government’s commitment to the recovery and reopening of the economy with the extension of the JobKeeper Payment and Coronavirus Supplement for those on income support.
The Boosting Cash Flow for Employers measure has provided more than $16 billion in payments to more than 750,000 employers across Australia as at 16 July 2020.
As part of our economic plan we are also investing $2 billion to give hundreds of thousands of Australians access to retraining and upskilling in sectors with job opportunities, as the economy recovers from COVID-19.
This investment includes our $1 billion JobTrainer Fund, jointly funded with the states and territories, to provide up to an additional 340,700 training places to help school leavers and job seekers access short and long courses. We are also expanding and extending the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy which has supported around 83,000 apprentices and trainees, and around 48,000 employers. As at 16 July 2020, payments totalled $377.6 million.
Our HomeBuilder program is assisting the residential construction industry by encouraging the commencement of new home builds and substantial rebuilds this year. Over the month of June, sales of new houses rose by nearly 80 per cent.
Families, farmers, business owners and communities are being supported as they recover from the devastating bushfires of 2019-20 through the $2 billion National Bushfire Recovery Fund.
HEALTH SUPPORT
The Government has committed $9.4 billion to build capacity and capability to support the health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government has prioritised the protection of Australians, including vulnerable groups such as the elderly and those with chronic conditions from COVID-19.
The Government has helped protect the health of Australians through the urgent purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other essential equipment for the National Medical Stockpile. The Government is also investing in finding a vaccine and treatments for COVID-19, as well as better preparing for future pandemics.
The Government has boosted Australia’s testing capacity to meet the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, including by establishing dedicated Medicare-funded pathology tests and dedicated respiratory clinics, with coverage of around 97 per cent of the population.
The Government is also providing $3.7 billion to build our hospital system capacity for the COVID-19 response, including the National Partnership Agreement on COVID-19 to fund half of the costs incurred by the states and territories in diagnosing and treating patients with COVID-19 and minimising the spread of the disease as well as the partnership to harness private hospital capacity.
In addition, over 6.7 million people have downloaded the Government’s COVIDSafe App, which helps support health workers in their contact tracing.
To ensure access to essential health services, the Government has enabled whole-of-population Medicare subsidised telehealth services and provided $619.1 million to support bulk billing and
$54.8 million for additional support to enable GPs to continue to provide essential face-to-face medical services.
The Government has also provided $122.1 million to support the mental health and wellbeing of Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to the National Partnership Agreement on COVID 19, the Government is investing $131.4 billion in Commonwealth funding for Australia’s public hospitals, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous five years, through the 2020-25 National Health Reform Agreement.
The Government is also providing $18.3 billion in new and existing funding over the next five years to ensure quality pharmaceutical services through the Seventh Community Pharmacy Agreement.
The Government will continue to do what it takes to deliver the essential services on which Australians rely and to ensure a strong recovery.
The Economic and Fiscal Update is available via budget.gov.au

Greens Leader Adam Bandt and spokesperson on Family and Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert have responded to today’s announcement that the government has agreed to Labor’s proposal to cut JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments, even as unemployment soars and the Covid outbreak continues in Victoria and NSW.
This is being billed as an extension, but the reality for millions of Australians, many of whom are still under lockdown, is that this is a cut in vital income support.
“Disappointingly, the Liberals have listened to Labor’s call to cut JobKeeper support for low-income earners,” Bandt said.
“These cuts will see push part-time and casual workers closer to poverty. Many casual workers are young, insecure, low-paid and underemployed workers desperately seeking more work & higher wages.
“With JobKeeper, many workers were getting something close to a living wage but the Liberals and Labor are readying to throw these vulnerable workers off a financial cliff.
“It’s deeply disappointing to hear Anthony Albanese describe a living wage for the lowest income earners as ‘waste’. It is the sell-out of the century.
“The ACTU, the Victorian Trades Hall Council and the United Workers Union have all rejected cuts to JobKeeper and the do Greens too. The extended scheme is still $44 billion under budget and there is no excuse for this targeted attack. We should be expanding the payment to all workers who need it, not cutting it.
“The Greens will fight every attempt by the Liberals and Labor to cut support for low income and unemployed workers.”
Senator Rachel Siewert said:
“A temporary arrangement on JobSeeker is a mistake. We are deeply concerned that this payment will take people below the poverty line and the impact this will have on their lives. We have to give the community and businesses confidence for the long haul.”
“The Government recognises the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 by taking Jobkeeper through to March, why haven’t they done the same for Jobseeker?
“We are in a recession. Not only is it cruel to keep people living with uncertainty and in poverty, we need people spending to stimulate our economy.
“Claims that the Jobseeker rate is discouraging people from working is a regression to myths and tropes used to demonise people who are accessing income support.
“It should not be Government policy for those without work to live in poverty. The higher level of Jobseeker has enabled many people to get out of poverty or stay above the poverty line, which is a key barrier to finding and maintaining employment.
“The employment services system was already not fit for purpose before the COVID-19 pandemic and somehow the Prime Minister expects the system to manage with the huge increase in caseload.
“The jobs are simply not there and it is absolutely senseless to deny people adequate support in the midst of a recession,” Siewert said.

The Greens have slammed the Morrison Government‘s decision today to give another $10million of public money to Fox Sports, taking the total amount of corporate welfare under this program to the Murdoch company to $40million.
Greens Spokesperson for Media and Communications Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“Another day, another public hand-out to the Morrison Government’s Murdoch mates.
“Giving tens of millions to Fox Sports while cutting funding to the ABC really is the height of arrogance.
“This is corporate welfare, plain and simple; under this Government corporate welfare to Murdoch is fine, but Australians who have lost their job due to Covid19 get their payments cut.
“This funding program for Murdoch’s Fox Sports says everything about the priorities of the Morrison Government. The Morrison Government is handing out millions of dollars of taxpayer money to a private, corporate broadcaster while slashing funding at the public broadcaster.
“It would be great if the PM genuinely cared about the broadcast of women’s sport, but given taxpayers have to also pay Murdoch for the privilege of watching a broadcast they’ve already funded through this program, that’s obviously not the case.
“Any support for the broadcast of women’s sport should be going to the public broadcasters which fans can watch for no further cost.
“Australians were outraged by the last $30million handed out under this program and will be disgusted the Morrison Government has seen fit to hand out even more cash to Murdoch.
“The ABC has suffered from repeated budget cuts under the Coalition Government, some $783million since 2014, and is now cutting jobs and news services to stay afloat. If there is money to go round for broadcasting, it should go to the ABC and SBS.
“The PM needs to reverse the funding cuts to the ABC. He can easily find the first $10million by taking it back from Murdoch and putting it where it will be the most benefit to broadcasting and promoting women’s sport and where fans can actually watch it without forking out more money.”

Greens Leader Adam Bandt and spokesperson on Family and Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert have responded to today’s announcement that the government has agreed to Labor’s proposal to cut JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments, even as unemployment soars and the Covid outbreak continues in Victoria and NSW.
This is being billed as an extension, but the reality for millions of Australians, many of whom are still under lockdown, is that this is a cut in vital income support.
“Disappointingly, the Liberals have listened to Labor’s call to cut JobKeeper support for low-income earners,” Bandt said.
“These cuts will see push part-time and casual workers closer to poverty. Many casual workers are young, insecure, low-paid and underemployed workers desperately seeking more work & higher wages.
“With JobKeeper, many workers were getting something close to a living wage but the Liberals and Labor are readying to throw these vulnerable workers off a financial cliff.
“It’s deeply disappointing to hear Anthony Albanese describe a living wage for the lowest income earners as ‘waste’. It is the sell-out of the century.
“The ACTU, the Victorian Trades Hall Council and the United Workers Union have all rejected cuts to JobKeeper and the do Greens too. The extended scheme is still $44 billion under budget and there is no excuse for this targeted attack. We should be expanding the payment to all workers who need it, not cutting it.
“The Greens will fight every attempt by the Liberals and Labor to cut support for low income and unemployed workers.”
Senator Rachel Siewert said:
“A temporary arrangement on JobSeeker is a mistake. We are deeply concerned that this payment will take people below the poverty line and the impact this will have on their lives. We have to give the community and businesses confidence for the long haul.”
“The Government recognises the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 by taking Jobkeeper through to March, why haven’t they done the same for Jobseeker?
“We are in a recession. Not only is it cruel to keep people living with uncertainty and in poverty, we need people spending to stimulate our economy.
“Claims that the Jobseeker rate is discouraging people from working is a regression to myths and tropes used to demonise people who are accessing income support.
“It should not be Government policy for those without work to live in poverty. The higher level of Jobseeker has enabled many people to get out of poverty or stay above the poverty line, which is a key barrier to finding and maintaining employment.
“The employment services system was already not fit for purpose before the COVID-19 pandemic and somehow the Prime Minister expects the system to manage with the huge increase in caseload.
“The jobs are simply not there and it is absolutely senseless to deny people adequate support in the midst of a recession,” Siewert said.

The Morrison Government will deliver more support for households and businesses to help Australians through the COVID-19 pandemic and bolster our economic recovery.
The JobKeeper Payment will be extended by six months to 28 March 2021 and the temporary Coronavirus Supplement for those on income support will be extended until 31 December 2020.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the extra assistance would continue supporting hundreds of thousands of Australians who are without work, and offer businesses and their workers a lifeline to not only get through this crisis, but recover on the other side.
“We will have Australian’s backs as we face the ongoing impacts of COVID-19,” the Prime Minister said.
“There is no silver bullet and this is about delivering the support Australians need and the policies our economy requires to reopen, recover and create jobs.
“These supports are a lifeline but our JobMaker plan is also setting Australia up for our country’s recovery. We’re delivering the initiatives and reforms that will help grow our economy and create the jobs we need for the years ahead.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the extension of support recognised Australia’s economic recovery was still in its early stages and a number of businesses and individuals remained significantly affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Government’s focus remains on reopening the economy where it is safe to do so, but the extension of these measures recognises that some parts of the economy will continue to be affected and need continued support,” the Treasurer said.
“Sadly, as a result of this global health pandemic, businesses will close and people will lose their jobs, but that is why we have extended the Coronavirus Supplement and announced a new skills package to help people transition from welfare to work.
“It is also why we are extending the JobKeeper Payment beyond September to help keep businesses in business and Australians in jobs as our economy reopens.”
Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the extension of the Coronavirus supplement would support many Australians who may have found themselves out of work, through no fault of their own.
“The Government has acted decisively to support hundreds of thousands of Australians, many who are receiving income support for the first time,” Minister Ruston said.
“We are extending the Coronavirus Supplement and enhanced eligibility criteria for a further three months to cushion against the economic impact of the pandemic.
“We are also increasing the income free area for JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance (other) to $300 a fortnight to encourage and support recipients to take up job opportunities as businesses reopen.”

JOBKEEPER PAYMENT

The JobKeeper Payment has been instrumental in supporting job retention, maintaining employment links and business cash flow, as well as providing income support to eligible employees.
This extension will provide further support to significantly impacted businesses so more Australians can retain their jobs and continue to earn an income.
The JobKeeper Payment is currently due to finish on 27 September 2020, but will now remain available for eligible employers until 28 March 2021.
As the economy reopens the payment will be tapered in the December and March quarters to encourage businesses to adjust to the new environment, supporting a gradual transition to economic recovery, while ensuring those businesses who most need support continue to receive it. A two-tiered payment will also be introduced from 28 September, to better align the payment with the incomes of employees before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees who were employed for less than 20 hours a week on average in the four weekly pay periods ending before 1 March 2020 will receive the lower payment rate.
JobKeeper Payment rates from 28 September 2020 to 28 March 2021:

Date	Full rate per fortnight	Less than 20hrs worked per fortnight rate
28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021	$1,200	$750
4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021	$1,000	$650

From 28 September 2020, businesses, and not-for-profits will be required to reassess their eligibility by reference to their actual June and September quarter turnovers to demonstrate that they have suffered an ongoing significant decline in turnover. Organisations will need to demonstrate that they have experienced the relevant decline in turnover in both of those quarters to be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment in the December quarter.
Employers will need to again reassess their eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment for the March quarter. Employers will need to demonstrate that they have met the relevant decline in actual turnover in each of the previous three quarters ending on 31 December 2020 to remain eligible for the JobKeeper Payment in the March quarter 2021.
If they do not meet the turnover test in the extension period this does not affect their eligibility prior to 28 September 2020. The continuation of JobKeeper for these businesses will help support the economic recovery and provide them with sufficient time to adjust.
The JobKeeper Payment will continue to remain open to new participants that meet the eligibility requirements.
Also, as the Review recommended, an independent evaluation will be conducted at the conclusion of the program.
The new arrangements for the JobKeeper Payment are expected to cost an additional $16.6 billion.

COVID-19 SUPPLEMENT

The Government will extend the payment period of the temporary Coronavirus Supplement for those on income support from 25 September 2020 to 31 December 2020 to continue to provide elevated assistance while the economy is still in its early stages of recovery.
As the economy reopens, the Coronavirus Supplement will be extended at the rate of $250 per fortnight. The extended Coronavirus Supplement reflects the gradually improving economic and labour market conditions and is designed to ensure there are appropriate incentives for all payment recipients to seek out employment or study opportunities.
Both existing and new income support recipients will continue to be paid the Coronavirus Supplement.
The Government will also ensure income support is appropriately targeted as the economy recovers by reintroducing a range of means testing arrangements.
From 25 September 2020, the assets test and the Liquid Assets Waiting Period will be reintroduced and the JobSeeker Payment partner income test will increase from 25 cents for every dollar of partner income earned over $996 per fortnight to 27 cents for every dollar of partner income earned over $1,165 per fortnight.
The Government will also improve incentives to work by increasing the income free area for JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance (Other) from $106 per fortnight to $300 per fortnight and will simplify the taper rate from a dual taper of 50 cents and 60 cents to a single taper of 60 cents. This will mean recipients are more easily able to calculate the value of every dollar they earn.
These changes will mean individuals will be able to earn up to $300 per fortnight without foregoing any JobSeeker payment or affecting their eligibility for the Coronavirus Supplement.
The expanded criteria for JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance (Other) will continue to provide payment access for permanent employees who are stood down or lose their employment, sole traders, and the self-employed until 31 December 2020.
Reduced waiting times, including the Ordinary Waiting Period, Newly Arrived Resident’s Waiting Period (NARWP) and the Seasonal Work Preclusion Period, will continue to be waived until 31 December 2020.
The new arrangements for the Coronavirus Supplement are expected to cost an additional $3.8 billion.
Further details are available at treasury.gov.au

The Prime Minister must drop his plans to green light major developments and new mines at the expense of the environment, after the devastating assessment of Australia’s environmental trajectory in the just-released interim report into Australia’s federal environment laws, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“Our environment is in crisis and our native wildlife is facing extinction. Unless we change business-as-usual our environment is destined for more destruction. Our wildlife, our beaches, our forests will be gone.
“It’s clearer than ever that we need stronger protections, not weaker laws if we are to save our environment.
”The independent review has declared that Australia’s ‘current environmental trajectory is unsustainable’. The report identifies land-clearing, habitat loss and climate change are destroying our environment and killing our wildlife.
“The outlook is worse than grim. The PM must immediately drop his plans to make approvals for big developers, land clearing and new mines easier – that’s the last thing our environment needs right now.
“Our environment is on a path of destruction, we need National Environmental Standards that reverse this and put a stop to further destruction from big development, land-clearing and mines.
“The Report recommends a ‘strong, independent cop on the beat’ to enforce these rules to save our environment and wildlife.
“It is disappointing Minister Ley has already rejected the recommendation of an independent cop on the beat, signalling her intent to carry on as always, allowing our environment to be destroyed for the profits of their political donors.
“Environmental standards will be worthless if there is no one there to enforce them. This report shows the government can’t be trusted.
“The Report also makes it clear the impacts of projects on climate change must be considered in environmental impact assessments. The Greens have a bill currently before the Parliament for a ‘Climate Trigger’ which would do just that and it should be supported.”

The Morrison Government will help businesses as they move into the recovery phase of the coronavirus crisis by extending the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme which supports small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to get access to the funding they need to adapt and innovate during the coronavirus crisis.
Under the existing Scheme, the Government is providing an unprecedented level of support to SMEs in partnership with 44 approved lenders by guaranteeing 50 per cent of new unsecured loans to SMEs. The Scheme has already seen more than 15,600 businesses accept loans worth $1.5 billion.
The next phase of the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme will help businesses move out of hibernation, successfully adapt to the new COVID-safe economy and invest for the future.
Key changes to the Scheme include:

• Extending the purpose of loans able to be provided beyond working capital, such that a wider range of investment can be funded;
• Permitting secured lending (excluding commercial or residential property);
• Increasing the maximum loan size to $1 million (from $250,000) per borrower;
• Increasing the maximum loan term to five years (from three years); and
• Allowing lenders the discretion to offer a repayment holiday period.

The extended terms of the Scheme will enable lenders to continue supporting Australian small businesses when they need it most. The expanded Scheme will shift from providing access to working capital to helping businesses stay afloat during the crisis to now also enabling them to access more affordable and longer term credit so that they can invest for their future.
The initial phase of the Scheme remains available for new loans issued by eligible lenders until 30 September 2020. The second phase of the Scheme will start on 1 October 2020 and will be available until 30 June 2021.
The Morrison Government will continue to support small businesses as they seek to rebuild, adapt and create jobs on the other side of the coronavirus crisis.

Democracy should not be a victim of the pandemic.
We need a health-first approach if we are to have any chance of effectively eliminating community transmission of this virus. The advice of health experts must be heeded.
For a long time now, the Prime Minister has been telling us that his suppression strategy will see repeated outbreaks in different parts of the country for months or years to come. But if this is the case, then his logic today – that Parliament can’t sit because one part of the country is experiencing an outbreak – could see the nation’s Parliament suspended for weeks and months to come.
Not only is it vital for democracy that Parliament keeps meeting, but it is essential to tackling this pandemic. For example, the pressure of Parliament has seen the government extend financial support to excluded communities. When Parliament doesn’t sit, more people get left behind.
Every other organisation has been asked to work out how to function with health-based restrictions and Parliament should be able to as well. It seems 2020 is the year of  online meetings and working remotely for everyone except Parliamentarians. It is not beyond our wit to work out how to meet in a manner that complies with health requirements. This should have been a key government priority for the last few months, but it appears they would rather cancel Parliament than work out how to have it sit.
If we continue with the Prime Minister’s current suppression strategy, Parliament may not sit again for months or years, as there may always be an outbreak in some part of the country. It is time to discuss what a strategy to eliminate the virus looks like, for the sake of both for our health and our democracy.
It is disappointing the ‘opposition’ has agreed to cancel Parliament. The Greens do not support this approach. It is time to work out how to keep democracy alive while fighting this virus.

Thousands of jobs are set to flow to carpenters, lighting technicians, local actors, set designers, extras, crews and special effects experts with a $400 million incentive to attract film and television productions to Australia, both now and over the next seven years.
Australia’s relative success in managing COVID-19, compared to so many other parts of the world, means we are now in a unique position to attract a longer term pipeline of major screen productions here in Australia.
To help achieve this we are extending our screen incentive over seven years, working together with the tax system, to ensure that studios can commit to multiple productions over multiple years, guaranteeing jobs both now and into the future.
The incentive adds to a strong pipeline of international screen production activity, jobs and investment by boosting the Location Incentive program over the next three years and extending it for four more years to 2026-27.
The additional $400 million will help Australia capitalise on a growing demand to produce films and television series in Australia, attracting an estimated $3 billion in foreign expenditure and creating 8,000 new employment opportunities for Australians each year. This complements projects already supported through the existing program.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the announcement would create thousands of extra jobs across the country and would help back the screen sector’s recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.
“This investment is key to our JobMaker plan to create jobs, boost local business activity, and provide training and skills,” the Prime Minister said.
“Behind these projects are thousands of workers that build and light the stages, that feed, house and cater for the huge cast and crew and that bring the productions to life. This is backing thousands of Australians who make their living working in front of the camera and behind the scenes in the creative economy.”
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts Paul Fletcher said the expanded Location Incentive program was designed to attract back-to-back productions and establish an ongoing pipeline of work for Australia’s screen sector, which will strengthen the local industry and provide certainty for businesses to invest in skills and development.
“The Location Incentive is an economic multiplier. It will sustain the vitality of Australian screen production and support jobs and local businesses,” Minister Fletcher said.
“Through this additional commitment, the Government is telling the world that Australia is a desirable destination for screen production – with great locations, skilled crews, world-class talent, post-production expertise and state of the art facilities.”
The Location Incentive is designed to complement the Morrison Government’s existing Location Offset, providing an effective increase in the tax offset rate from 16.5 per cent to 30 per cent for eligible large budget international productions that film in Australia and are successful through the application process.
To date, the Government has announced funding of $123 million for 10 productions through the existing Location Incentive including Thor: Love and Thunder and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Sydney, Godzilla vs Kong on the Gold Coast, Shantaram and The Alchemyst in Melbourne. These 10 projects are estimated to generate spending of around $1 billion, support 8,500 local jobs over multiple years and engage more than 9,000 Australian businesses.
The expansion of the Location Incentive comes on top of $250 million over the next 12 months to help restart the creative economy, including $50 million for a Temporary Interruption Fund that will support local film and television producers to secure finance and recommence filming for productions that have largely been halted due to the challenges in accessing insurance coverage for COVID-19. It also builds on the Government’s investment of $749 million in the arts and cultural industry in 2019-20 – the largest amount ever provided to the sector.

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the government’s ‘JobTrainer’ scheme is heavy on spin and hugely hypocritical for a government that has overseen the marketisation and disintegration of public vocational education.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This is a government that has systematically gutted public TAFE over many years.
“We have seen the failures of government-subsidised, for-profit vocational education. We should not be going down the same path.
“We need targeted investment to rebuild our entire public TAFE system. The Liberals have overseen years of cuts and marketisation of vocational education to the detriment of staff, students and communities where these institutions played a vital role.
“In real terms, the Liberals have cut more than $2 billion in funding for student places in the last few years, watched training hours collapse, and apprenticeship numbers fall to historic lows.
“We must not allow ‘JobTrainer’ to end up just another windfall for the profit-making private providers at the expense of TAFE.
“Rather than a narrow scheme of selected subsidised short courses, what we need right now is an unprecedented investment to rebuild TAFE and make it genuinely fee-free. This is a time to set ourselves up for a strong and sustainable future for all,” she said.