Last modified on Thu 22 Jul 2021 23.11 EDT
Nearly half a million workers in NSW have qualified for Covid-19 disaster payments as the state’s strict lockdown slashes jobs in key sectors, such as hospitality and much of retail.
But 400,000 unemployed or part-time workers across greater Sydney remain ineligible for the payment because they were already receiving some form of welfare. Almost half of those barred from the disaster payment are now at risk of homelessness, according to the Australian Council of Social Service.
As of Wednesday night the total amount paid out by the commonwealth government to NSW workers since 1 July was $219m, but that is expected to rise sharply as the lockdown affects new sectors and a greater geographical area.
Trans-Tasman bubble: Qantas reduces trans-Tasman capacity to reflect demand patterns stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Flight bookings for the first few weeks of travel were stronger out of Australia than New Zealand, the update said. After Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that quarantine-free travel from Australia to New Zealand would be allowed from April 19, Qantas and its budget subsidiary Jetstar said it would operate up to 122 return flights per week across the Tasman. Qantas had been operating less than 3 per cent of its pre-Covid capacity on the Tasman but when the bubble opened capacity would increase to 83 per cent of pre-Covid levels.
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The two-way Tasman bubble has allowed Qantas to bring planes out of hibernation.
The sectors set to suffer from vaccine shambles afr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from afr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.