No Excuse: Govt must fund casuals, arts and entertainment, after JobKeeper revised down

The Australian Greens MPs

Greens Spokesperson for the Arts Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is calling on Treasurer Frydenberg to immediately extend JobKeeper to workers who have so far been left out.

“The massive revision on JobKeeper numbers today leaves the Government with no excuse not to extend the program to casuals, migrant workers and workers in the arts and entertainment industry who have been excluded from the program,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

“There is now $60billion already budgeted for JobKeeper that can go to saving more jobs.

“The arts and entertainment industry has been one of the hardest hit by coronavirus restrictions and will be one of the last to recover, yet the government has left many artists and creatives without support due to the nature of the work.

“The arts and entertainment industry needs a tailored package to save it and the government clearly has the financial capacity to do it.

“The Greens have pitched a $2.3billion package to help the arts and entertainment industry recover. The Creative Australia policy includes funding to get our artists, musicians, writers, creators, and crews back producing content for our screens, theatres, live music venues, festivals and galleries.

“This isn’t just an investment in arts and entertainment but our tourism and hospitality industries too. It’s good for jobs and our social fabric.

“We know the Government has the money to do it, there’s absolutely no excuse now not to.”

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