Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny: The $60 billion question

Abstract

With the government’s JobKeeper scheme set to cost $60 billion less than originally forecasted, this week on Democracy Sausage we look at what the government might do with its bonus billions. It was blamed on everything from employers filling out forms incorrectly to the ‘health miracle’ of Australia’s coronavirus response, but the $60 billion budget underspend on JobKeeper raises big questions for the government. So with less stimulus money swashing around in the economy than planned, should the government look at supporting sectors of the economy that are struggling? From the university sector, to employers who didn’t meet the 30 per cent turnover drop, to the nation’s growing unemployed – where should the budget billions be spent? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Professor Mark Kenny crunches the numbers with Peter Burn of Ai Group and The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s Chief Political Correspondent David Crowe. Show more