November 2023
JobKeeper recipients hit by pay penalty, report finds
The Morrison government’s $89 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy went on for too long and tied workers to lower paying jobs, an independent review has found.
- John Kehoe
October 2023
- Opinion
- The AFR View
JobKeeper worked, but the bill is unpaid
The Albanese government has still not squared up to the fiscal policy challenges left by the pandemic.
- The AFR View
Pay back clause could have undermined JobKeeper
Requiring profitable companies to pay back JobKeeper could have damaged confidence, but the program should only be revived in a severe economic crisis.
- Michael Read and Tom McIlroy
September 2023
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
COVID-19 inquiry must ask the hard questions
Pandemic lockdowns and over-stimulus were responsible for inflation and cost-of-living pressures, so Australia must learn from what policymakers did right and wrong.
- John Kehoe
Qantas anger spreads as customers fume over flight credit rules
Annoyance over Qantas’ handling of flight credits has also spread beyond the pandemic era, with customers increasingly frustrated at other issues.
- Ronald Mizen
April 2023
The JobKeeper lessons we refuse to learn
Nobody at the highest levels of public administration in this country is interested in properly accounting for the biggest peacetime spending program in our history.
- Joe Aston
JobKeeper and ‘excessive’ stimulus to blame for high inflation
Pandemic stimulus dramatically overcompensated for lost income and, along with rock-bottom interest rates, drove inflation 3 percentage points higher, research shows.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Letters: So, how good was JobKeeper?
Don’t forget JobKeeper’s flaws; Liberal stance on climate and Indigenous Voice; emissions curbs: necessity, not ideology; Greens don’t get energy; why we need fast trains.
March 2023
- Opinion
- Opinion
JobKeeper was a big call to make. They got it right
Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg announced JobKeeper three years ago today. For all its flaws, it produced one of the world’s most durable recoveries.
- Steven Hamilton
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
We paid our fair share of company tax, says Qantas
The airline says it isn’t taking from the Australian public with both hands and giving back with none.
- Vanessa Hudson
July 2022
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Letters: Quad alone can’t counter China
The China challenge in the Indo-Pacific, Ukraine war, RBA interest rates, HMAS Otama, weather-dependent energy, Bubs’ success and JobKeeper largesse.
COVID response wasn’t perfect - but it was better than most: Morrison
Former prime minister Scott Morrison says Australia’s relative success fighting the coronavirus was “no fluke” but he paid a political price.
- Updated
- Phillip Coorey
You wouldn’t know it, but Gerry Harvey is being silenced
Harvey’s stifled voice was heard for 23 minutes on Neil Mitchell’s morning radio program.
- Joe Aston
May 2022
Workplace Gender Equality Agency in JobKeeper filibuster
A cynical person might think the agency is running down the clock before Saturday’s election.
- Joe Aston
Scott Morrison crashed the federal budget
How does ScoMo think he can still win an election by bagging Labor about wasteful economic stimulus measures?
- Joe Aston
The cost of JobKeeper was $112,819 for every job saved
A new analysis has found 812,000 jobs were saved out of the 3.6 million workers who qualified for the wage subsidy.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Inflation
No, prime minister, higher inflation was home-grown
Government forecasts are overly optimistic. The CPI peaking at about 6 per cent until mid-2023 is the legacy of the fiscal overcompensation for COVID-19.
- Chris Murphy
March 2022
Sydney Roosters mull JobSaver repayments
Is it any wonder Easts is such a glutton for government cheques with no return address?
- Joe Aston
February 2022
Deloitte’s Chris Richardson strikes yet another position
Richardson’s latest comments on the federal budget are curious given he spent 2021 articulating versions of the contrary.
- Joe Aston
December 2021
Scott Morrison takes credit for a uniquely Australian blunder
The Prime Minister previewed the next excruciating campaign message at the Sydney Institute.
- Michael Roddan
