Coalition questions axing pandemic subsidies as virus surges | AngusGthompson
The federal government has been caught on the back foot over its handling of pandemic support as the Coalition signalled it would have reconsidered the deadline to axe the sick-pay safety net and free rapid antigen tests were it still in power amid a worsening winter wave.
“Taking these three support measures out at a time when we’re seeing a massive wave of COVID hit Australians, you would have to question the honesty and the integrity of that,” Ruston said. She said they were “obviously” temporary measures, “but as we have done right the way through the pandemic, we need to be responding to what’s happening on the ground at the time, and things have changed and we’ve seen another wave go through”.“It’s incumbent on governments to respond to the conditions that are on the ground, and the conditions right now are very similar to the conditions at the time we made these decisions to extend [the supports] back in December,” Ruston said.
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