An outspoken QLD Labor Senator said millions of dollars will start to be ripped out of the Forde and Wright communities, thanks to JobKeeper cuts.
Across Queensland, 667,401 workers receiving JobKeeper are expected to be affected.
Queensland Labor Senator Murray Watt said the Federal Government has the power to reverse these cuts and it should do so immediately.
He said the workers in the electorates of Forde and Wright will lose more than $19,000,000 per fortnight from these cuts.
“Tens of thousands of businesses have been receiving the JobKeeper payment and that is going to be cut,” Senator Watt said.
“That’s going to be a really difficult situation for those workers and for the business owners who have been relying on JobKeeper to keep themselves, their family, and their staff afloat.”
Senator Watt has gathered data from the Analysis of Treasury Data.
This has revealed more than 5,715 local Forde businesses will have their JobKeeper cut with an estimated 21,716 workers now going without.
In the electorate of Wright, more than 5,697 local businesses will have their JobKeeper cut with an estimated 21,649 workers now going without.
Business owner Helena Jaffar is just one local who has been affected by the JobKeeper cut.
Ms Jaffar said from the bushfires last year her business, Helena’s Espresso, was already suffering.
“Now we have to re-evaluate the business and see if it is viable to keep staff on,” she said.
“It is quite a hard decision to make.
“It’s been a real struggle for us.
“We’ve tried to keep things going the best that we can.”
Senator Watt said it’s small local businesses like Helena’s Espresso that have been hit the hardest.
“Prematurely winding back support will cost jobs and hurt the local economy,” he said.
“With unemployment still expected to increase, it makes no sense to be cutting support from the economy, particularly with no jobs plan to replace it.”
Senator Watt said the recession will deepen and the unemployment queues will be longer, because the Federal Government is pulling support from the economy too soon, and they don’t have a plan for jobs.
