As the Australian Labor Party pushes to maintain the government’s pandemic wage subsidy scheme, JobKeeper, with crossbench support, New South Wales Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has introduced a bill to Parliament to guarantee 14 days of paid COVID-19 leave to all permanent, part-time, casual, and gig economy workers.
Faruqi argued that JobKeeper—which provides $1500 per employee per fortnight to businesses—leaves many people in precarious work, casual employment, or on a temporary working visa in the lurch without paid leave to rely on should they contract COVID-19.
