Safeguards to protect workers from being sacked so bosses can benefit from hiring young workers have been rejected in the lower house by the Morrison government, to the fury of Labor and the Greens.
The JobMaker hiring credit legislation will head back to the Senate, with the Morrison government using its numbers in the House of Representatives to reject changes agreed to by the upper house.
The changes disqualified companies from the scheme if found to have sacked a worker in order to get the payment, and aimed to increase transparency by legislating reporting requirements.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese accused the government of not being “fair dinkum” about creating jobs.
“If this legislation is seriously about additional employment rather than about replacing existing workers, they have got support this amendment,” he told parliament.
“Maybe when you have got the Greens and One Nation voting together, it might be pause for thought.
“We’re trying to fix it in the interest of working families.”
The changes were agreed to across the political divide in the Senate, with Labor, the Greens, One Nation and independent Rex Patrick voting for it.
The hiring credit legislation doesn’t provide specific detail on the scheme, instead giving Treasurer Josh Frydenberg power to make rules for the $4 billion plan.
Employers that take on jobless people aged under 30 will receive $200 a week, while those who hire people aged between 30 and 35 will receive regular payments of $100.
It’s expected to create about 45,000 new jobs, despite the budget saying it would “support” 450,000.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said the amendments gave workers protection, pointing to its broad support.
He was dismayed government MPs didn’t make a speech in parliament to explain why the amendments weren’t needed.
The government instead provided written reasons for rejecting the changes.
They argue the explicit protections are unnecessary as the credit isn’t available for workers who do not increase their headcount and payroll.
The government insists the scheme’s rules will require companies to keep records to back up their claims, and that Fair Work protections apply to employees.
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