The Morrison Government's scheduled return of the JobSeeker payment to its old base rate will rip $19.3 million from the Far North Queensland economy - the equivalent of 7708 jobs*.

JobSeeker is scheduled to snapback in a matter of months with the end of the Coronavirus supplement on September 27.

Millions of out-of-work Australians are anxious about what level of support will be available to them at the end of September.

Cairns-based Labor Senator Nita Green said Scott Morrison's snapback plan defied reality.

"Regions like Far North Queensland will be hit hardest if the Morrison Government's arbitrary plan to cut off JobKeeper and JobSeeker on September 27 continues as scheduled," Senator Green
said.

"This pandemic is not going away anytime soon and families are already struggling to make ends meet.

"Snapping back this support too early will make it even more difficult for thousands of regional Queenslanders to find work."

There are 379,600 Australians on unemployment payments in Queensland, but only 25,200 job vacancies, as at May. This means, there are 15 people out of work for every one job vacancy in Queensland.

This will be compounded by the scheduled snapback of JobKeeper, which will see more Australians in need of JobSeeker.

Scott Morrison's snapback of JobSeeker is not a plan for jobs and will place our nation's economic recovery at risk.

*based on the average total earnings reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for November 2019

MEDIA CONTACT: JACOB WILSON 0457 961 596