There is nothing normal about the COVID-19 outbreak or the devastating economic impact it will have / is having on the most vulnerable. Some estimate that up to 60% of the population may be affected, and a catastrophic overburdening of the health system seems inevitable. Moreover, countless workers, artists, and students will have to deal with devastating economic conditions on top of these biological worries. With the Reserve Bank of Australia announcing that it is commencing Quantitative Easing (QE), and the treasury preparing another stimulus package, it is essential that the government embrace policies and programs which will actually address the source of the problem and which will secure a basic standard of living / survival for those who have neither the incomes nor savings to sustain themselves. By honouring the demands above, and sparing no expense in their pursuit of a best-practice response, the government has a genuine chance at minimising the economic and biological damage of the COVID-19 outbreak. A failure to institute any of the above demands, however, would amount to gross negligence: anything short of a significant economic response, which supports casual wage earners and the vulnerable, will lead to increased transmission rates or, worse, a serious and perhaps fatal deterioration in people's quality of life as they lack the liquidity and income to secure accommodation and acquire essential goods. Moreover, without social distancing and rapid investment in health provisions the number of cases will start increasing exponential. If implemented these demands will not only "flatten the curve", but raise the system's overall capacity, saving many lives. Honouring these demands (among others) will minimise damage to the largest degree, and is ultimately the only way the government can truly protect its citizens. Anything less is negligence.

Workers are still waiting for their money, and young workers can’t afford to wait any longer. As a second year law student, the financial pressure's I face due to the costs of my degree, would be be greatly relieved by receiving the money I am currently owed, only Fairwork has the power to make this happen. This is yet another example of why wage theft laws are urgently needed - the current system is failing workers. If wage theft is going to be taken seriously then we need a Federal Liberal Government’s watchdog that will act in the best interests of Australian workers, and we need one that will act more swiftly than its current inactions demonstrate. We need to send a strong and urgent message to the FWO, that enough is enough, that as public servants, their duty is to serve the Australian public and the Australian workforce, to not just sit in their comfortable office's and muse on the dire situation faced by myself and so many others. FWO needs to stand up and protect workers rights as much as wage theft needs to be made a criminal offence.

Because TISM