CATHERINE KING – MEDIA RELEASE – MORE AVIATION LAYOFFS WOULD BE AN INDICTMENT ON MORRISON GOVERNMENT – THURSDAY, 22 JULY 2021

Reports that Australian aviation workers are facing the prospect of further job losses is devastating news to workers across the country.

Aviation workers are essential workers, but like so many other Australians, they have been forgotten by the Morrison Government.

Before the latest wave of infections, the Morrison Government had already overseen the loss of over 10,000 jobs at our major carriers.

This should have been enough to spur them to action, but it wasn’t.

The Government has had 18 months to come up with a plan for the survival and recovery of Australian aviation, but instead they have sat on their hands.

Labor has continually said that it is no good to pretend that the pandemic is over, but that is exactly what the Morrison Government has done in withdrawing JobKeeper without suitable supports for an industry still doing it tough.

While aviation is taking off in the UK and the US, here in Australia, the industry continues to stall.

The difference is vaccines and effective government planning. 

Any further job losses are the consequences of Scott Morrison thinking the vaccine rollout isn’t a race and his government’s failure to come up with a plan for Australian aviation.

THURSDAY, 22 JULY 2021