Australian Treasurer Defends Delayed Extention of COVID-19 Payment

Then-Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers speaks to media during a doorstop in the Press Gallery at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on May 13, 2021. Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has brushed off criticism the government was too slow to act in reinstating the pandemic leave payments in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases.

The $750 pandemic isolation payment, which ended on June 30, was extended to the end of September following a national cabinet meeting on Saturday.