Coronavirus Australia: Treasurer’s excuse for $60 billion JobKeeper stuff up

It turns out that demand for the JobKeeper scheme is exactly half what was expected. As cock-ups go, it was an accounting error for the ages.Bad news? Only three million workers are getting paid the $1500 a fortnight wage subsidy.

“If they can’t get this basic maths right how can we expect them to get the recovery right?’’ he said.Treasury officials and economists are not psychics, even if some of their predictions suggest you would be better off calling an astrologer for an economic forecast.Remember, Treasury came up with the six million jobs figure in March, when it was expected the states might embrace even tougher lockdowns including shutting down construction sites.

The ATO told the Treasurer that a reporting error in the estimates of the number of employees likely to access the JobKeeper program was to blame.For example, instead of putting a ‘1’ in the form they put the 1500 - the amount of JobKeeper they expected to secure.It’s not an explanation for why Treasury did not correctly forecast how many workers would be eligible for JobKeeper in the first place.

It will increase the pressure on the PM to extend the scheme to more casuals and even Australian workers working for overseas companies.

samanthamaiden Now bottom line to the common man.. people who are not eligible for jobkeeper allowance will hv to pay more in taxes to adjust to the bungle..

samanthamaiden Spectators beaker 🗣 No leader can please everyone, especially those who just seek faults during crisis!

samanthamaiden What a joke A stuff up would be if they under budgeted for $60b. Typical liberal political crap. In unprecedented times all Australian governments (state and federal) are doing a pretty good job considering

samanthamaiden I’m glad there’s an error....Those people who decided to become lazy and take the money instead of taking a job that was actually offered to them...if only the error was on them...

samanthamaiden Trouble is they're so used to rorting they can't recognize it as they think rorting and corruption ok !!

samanthamaiden Yet Labor backed the measures at the time but said the government had underestimated the numbers. Go figure!

samanthamaiden Sounds like a whole lot of B S to me. Just why though🧐🧐🧐

samanthamaiden Better the error was overstating and not the other way. Us tax payers have just been spared a huge debt.

samanthamaiden Maiden hey the one that told us we were stupid for saying 6.1 mill was bullshit, is that the same Maiden ?

samanthamaiden really, and no one checking applications for eligibility noticed the 1500 rather than 1 at the time ? Sorry doesnt pass the pub test, release the applications & show it was 'a business error' Ahhh No.

samanthamaiden I don't believe the LNP. In March ScottMorrisonMP said it would help 6.5 million and cost 130 billion......this BEFORE most employers would've filled out the forms! This is another lie, to go along with all the others

samanthamaiden Constantly stuffing up then getting caught trying and failing to lie their way out of their stuff ups, always someone else's fault, now trying to throw businesses under the bus. Remember the lazy dumb liars at school saying 'Dog ate my homework'? - this is the LiberalAus

samanthamaiden JUST IN, Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos supports JoshFrydenberg 'handled absolutely perfectly' auspol SkyNewsAust 7NewsMelbourne 9NewsMelb Politics_SMHAGE

samanthamaiden Does not it mean the Government has $60B it thought it had spent to help Aussies survive Covid 19

samanthamaiden

samanthamaiden It would have been an easy error for the ATO to pick up, their computer system knows everything about everybody, the taxman always is in charge, alarm bells would have sounded, like the robot in Lost in Space, Warning, Warning Josh Frydenberg !!!!

samanthamaiden It’s $60 billion that Australian taxpayers dont have to pay back, it’s brilliant news for the country and will help us bounce back quicker and a debt our children won’t be paying off - come on Aussie come on

samanthamaiden The altleft media like this one and the ABC can’t wrap their heads around this (obviously economics isn’t their strong point) and spin in completely different then what it is. But I guess that’s how communist think at the end of the day when it comes to money

samanthamaiden Maybe they could use the extra $60bill where it should have been used in the first place. First for the person who had to stay at work so his/ her taxes could pay for the bill and second to the self funded retiree who worked for 40 to 50 years paying taxes.

samanthamaiden justinsmythe007 Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham flagged more assistance on Friday for tourist operators hits hard by international border closures.

samanthamaiden Are you suggesting $60B isn’t enough! Out of 910,000, only 1,000 businesses made a error on the application.

samanthamaiden what ever school he went to ill be sure not to send my kids there,the guy cant count lol

samanthamaiden Why is this a bad thing? Govt has saved money. Doesn’t mean they need to spend the rest. All the stimulus does is avert a hard landing, so eventually it will go down the pan.

samanthamaiden I guess when the public grew bored of the media’s coronavirus fear mongering they needed something else to whine about.

samanthamaiden 'Blessed are the Auditors, for they shall save the nation'

samanthamaiden It’s always better to overestimate a stuff up would of been $60billion short good job 👍

samanthamaiden Not borrowing & paying back $60 Billion plus interest is a good thing.

samanthamaiden Wouldn't a 1500 employee business be quite big in $ sense? Doesn't ATO have records of employees being employed by businesses? Or the system is being rorted to quite an extent 😂

samanthamaiden

samanthamaiden Not the governments fault and is good news for all. Now how about a hatchet job on your friend Dan.

samanthamaiden 🤔emmmm,,, Maybe it wasn’t stuff up ?! Maybe the money was hidden to vanish somewhere?!!!! ConspiracyTheory fans

samanthamaiden The excuse doesn't add up. 1,500 x ,1,000 equals $13 billion, not $60 billion

samanthamaiden Of course the old maiden will have a negative piece on it

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'Significant error': Treasury reveals much lower JobKeeper useThe Federal Treasury has admitted a 'significant error' in the Morrison government's JobKeeper application form has greatly inflated the number of people using the scheme and its total cost by $60 billion | swrighteconomy swrighteconomy swrighteconomy That's a hell of an error swrighteconomy Just like the Dead Zone Plague, lockdown etc, Even the HQC (but not the zinc)
Source: smh - 🏆 6. / 80 Read more »

'Significant error': Treasury reveals much lower JobKeeper useBREAKING: The Federal Treasury has admitted a 'significant error' has greatly inflated the number of people using JobKeeper and its cost. The $130 billion program is likely to cost $70 billion and cover 3.5 million workers, rather than more than 6 million. How convenient The superior economic managers. Maybe they can afford to inlude university staff and the arts.
Source: theage - 🏆 8. / 77 Read more »

'Misunderstood question' caused $60 billion JobKeeper estimate blunderA confusing question on the JobKeeper scheme enrolment form led the Australian Tax Office to overestimate the cost of the scheme by $60 billion and its coverage by 2.5 million workers. 9News How did a form not received by employers until late April cause the government to overestimate the cost of the scheme in late March? How is it a blunder? An over estimation is smart, better than under estimating. But then there would be no pleasing you, as you would have reported the blunder either way. Terrible reporting. This is a positive time. There is funds there now that can be allocated to other areas.
Source: 9NewsAUS - 🏆 10. / 72 Read more »

Budget bottom line to benefit from JobKeeper bungle, but economists say the money could be better spentThe JobKeeper bungle now means the Federal Government is essentially $60 billion richer, which is good news for the budget's bottom line. “...An error between the number of employees businesses estimated would be covered by the scheme and the actual amount currently receiving the payment...” NOT CORRECT. auspol Try reporting facts, the Govt announced the $130b in March, before any business applied. Report the facts.
Source: abcnews - 🏆 5. / 83 Read more »

JobKeeper mistake ‘is actually good news for Australian taxpayers’: Frydenberg | Sky News AustraliaSky News host Chris Kenny says “staggering developments” have emerged following the Treasury’s announcement of a 'massive' $60 billion JobKeeper mistake which he discussed in an exclusive interview with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. \n\nA significant reporting error has led Treasury to dramatically revise its projections for the Morrison government's JobKeeper program. \n\nThe scheme, which sees the government pay $1,500 fortnightly in affected workers' wages, was originally expected to cover around 6.5 million employees at a cost of $130 billion. \n\nBut late Thursday, the Treasury and Australian Tax Office were forced to admit to the Morrison government those projections were wrong.\n\nAs a result, Treasury's revised estimate of the cost of the JobKeeper program is now just $70 billion which is $60 billion less than the original forecast. \n\nTreasury now expects the number of employees likely to be covered under JobKeeper program to be around 3.5 million, around 3 million less than forecast.\n\nTreasurer Josh Frydenberg said the “reality is” this was an “unintentional error by a thousand businesses”.\n\nHe said the initial forecast done by Treasury was done at a time when the number of coronavirus cases were on the rise in the nation but said this result “is good news for the Australian taxpayer”. \n\n“It’s good news that the Australian economy hasn’t deteriorated in the way Treasury initially predicted”. \n\n“Nobody should be seeking to blame Treasury or the ATO, we should just be accepting that this is a mistake, it was an unintentional one”. \n\nMr Kenny said the whole “massive” mistake has raised “a range of questions” over the government’s budget which now faces $60 billon less debt than expected. \n\nHowever, “the good news was that it means we’re $60 billion better off than we thought,” Mr Kenny said. \n\nImage: News Corp Australia JoshFrydenberg Great news our treasure made such a monumental error, more like lucky it wasn’t the other way around & we were found to be shortchanged. Fact is liberals are bad economic managers & Frydenberg is the worst JoshFrydenberg Labors fault as usual JoshFrydenberg Did Kenny the Coward ask any tough questions or just hand out his standard platitudes? Frydenberg is incompetent and should resign. If he does not do that, he should be sacked! Like pockets in a singlet.
Source: SkyNewsAust - 🏆 7. / 78 Read more »

This is a costings blunder made in political heavenPrime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have $60 billion up their sleeves thanks to an incredible – and probably historic – maths error in the JobKeeper program | CroweDM CroweDM At least it’s good news. Whichever way people may spin it. CroweDM ScottyFromMarketing CroweDM Either deliberately mean, despite their generous announcements, or a massive $60 bill stuff up. Better economic managers right here. LNPfail
Source: smh - 🏆 6. / 80 Read more »