“We inherited those decisions, but we also inherited a trillion dollars in debt. And that wasn’t our responsibility,” Albanese said. Several heads of state have urged Albanese to restore income support.
By the end of last year, the government had spent nearly A$13 billion ($8.8 billion) on 2.4 million employees, official data showed, while total federal support since the start of the pandemic is estimated at more than 300 billion Australian dollars ($202 billion). b).
Australia began living with the virus earlier this year after lifting strict social distancing restrictions and instant lockdowns after reaching unprecedented levels of vaccination.
But the fast-moving BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants have forced authorities to warn there could be ‘millions’ of new infections in the country in the coming weeks, though they ruled out any restrictions strict to contain the spread.
Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has reported around 8.7 million cases and 10,549 deaths, far fewer than many countries. Just over 4,500 are hospitalized with COVID-19.