Rebuffing a push to cut isolation periods from seven to five days, the Prime Minister instead said reducing the prevalence of insecure jobs would be on the jobs summit agenda.
Anthony Albanese has rejected calls to reduce from seven days to five the isolation period for people with COVID-19, and said reducing the prevalence of workers without sick leave required a long-term solution to be thrashed outAfter the government backed down last week and extended COVID-19 relief payments for casuals and people without sick leave for another three months, Mr Albanese said a more enduring solution would be to reduce the prevalence of casuals in the workforce.
“It’s also the fact that how do you get a mortgage if you don’t have secure work? How do you plan to have a child or another child, if you don’t have a secure income? It’s something that is a growing problem in our society.”Mr Albanese announced on Saturday the $750 payment, which expired on June 30, would be extended until September, after facing intense pressure from state premiers, health authorities and unions to restore the payment.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has called for a debate at national cabinet on whether the isolation period should be reduced after winter, or scrapped altogether. “But given the increased spread of the COVID virus in recent times that we’ll see continuing, it’s expected to peak over coming weeks, now’s not the time to change those provisions which are there,” Mr Albanese told FiveAA radio.
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