Daniel Andrews cut his holiday short by two days to join state and territory leaders at Saturday’s national cabinet meeting, where the Prime Minister spectacularly backflipped on his casual worker payment policy to extend it until September 30 this year.The $750 payments have cost the federal government $1.9bn over the last two years, and the temporary extension is expected to cost a further $780m.But the states have been left to pick up half of the bill this time around, with Victoria expected to cough up almost $100m alone.One government source said the announcement had cause frustration among senior figures, with the government already facing a hefty debt deal from its existing Covid payments.“It’s not the sort of thing you can turn down because these workers need to be paid,” they said.“But it comes ahead of a time when we will be asking them to pay up on health, major projects and mental health.“Wearing this cost now is far from ideal but those long-term goals above to be considered.”The Premier said the state had no option but to pay half if it wanted to protect its workers – and the wider community – throughout the challenging winter months.Millions of Australians are expected to contract the virus in the second half of winter, the Commonwealth has warned, as Covid hospitalisations continue to rise.“With increasing cases and continued pressure on health systems right across the country, it’s important that people are able to isolate when they have Covid,” Mr Andrews said after the meeting.“We’ll have measures in place to support exactly that.”It’s yet another blow to Victoria’s already dire books – which has the state’s net debt projected to hit $170bn in 2025/26, more than New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined.The Andrews government did not respond to questions from the Sunday Herald Sun about whether it had entered the meeting expecting to co-fund the program’s continuation, or if it was disappointed by having to find another $100m.The payment cut off had been set for June 30 by the former Morrison government, but Mr Albanese defended the ongoing split as “fair”.“This is a fair way going forward,” he said.“All of the states and territories … understand that emergency payments are just that – they can’t continue forever given the fiscal constraints that are on government at all levels, but that this is an appropriate measure going forward.”It’s a major reversal from the Prime Minister’s earlier position that the scheme should lapse over winter as planned.Mr Albanese came under fire this week for saying workers didn’t need pandemic leave because employers are already allowing them to work from home while sick.“Good employers are recognising that people are continuing to work from home while they have Covid and are receiving, therefore, payments through that,” he said, appearing to ignore that many workers aren’t able to work at home.Business groups have welcomed the program’s reinstatement, saying the pandemic leave disaster payments will come as a “welcome relief” for workers left out of pocket.Casual bartender Zane Kosovich said he relied on the payments to cover living expenses. “The majority of the staff I work with, being young bartenders and wait staff, are on casual employee contracts,” he said.“My income would be significantly impacted if I were to contract Covid, as it is my sole source of income. I would spend the majority of my Covid payment on covering my weekly rent and utility expenses along with grocery delivery that I would otherwise be able to get.”Australian Retailers Association’s Fleur Brown said the timing of the removal was “problematic”.“It’s appropriate this safety net remained in place. It will also reduce the risk of infected workers being at work,” she said.
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