Foreign nationals working in Australia that have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have been asked to go home.
Australia’s Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg disclosed this on national broadcaster ABC’s Insiders morning programme on Sunday in the country.
According to him, “If there is no work for them, they can go back to their home country, that is an option for them.”
READ ALSO: Deaths to Coronavirus: U.S overtakes Italy, now world’s highest
When asked if the government would extend its 130-billion-dollar (65 billion U.S. dollars) programme subsidising employers to keep on workers during the economic freeze to include foreign workers and more casual workers, he said, “Government spending of a total of 320 billion dollars (203 billion U.S. dollars) on keeping jobs and supporting jobless workers was a significant hit to the public purse and “the line had to be drawn somewhere.”
He did not have advice on how foreign workers could get home with hardly any planes flying.
Frydenberg said there will be a significant rise in unemployment and reduction in the rate of economic growth as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
“There is going to be a big hole in the global economy, there’s no doubt about that.”
Economists forecast an unemployment rate of 5.4 per cent for March when figures are released on Thursday, a jump of 0.3 per cent on February.
April unemployment is expected to be more than 10 per cent.
Education Minister Dan Tehan announced fees for retraining and university will be slashed so that people can use their time in lockdown to study for new careers in areas such as nursing, teaching, IT and science.
