Lucky group of workers to get up to $800 in bonus payments from Scott Morrison

Aged care workers will be handed two bonus payments of up to $400 each just for staying in their jobs.

The $209million cash splash, set to be announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday, is designed to stop staff quitting as care homes continue to battle Covid outbreaks.  

The amount handed to each employee will depend upon how many hours they work, with full-time staff in line for the biggest pay-outs.

The first payment of up to $400 will be made in February and the second in early May.

The scheme is similar to three bonus payments that were made to aged care workers in 2020. 

Scott Morrison will announce the policy in a speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday.  

‘None of our health outcomes would be possible without the hard work, long hours and dedicated care offered by our frontline health and aged care workforce,’ he will say.

‘Their resilience over the past two years has been inspiring.

‘That’s why I am announcing today the Government is providing a further $209million to support the aged care workforce to continue to care for older Australians through the pandemic.

Scott Morrison (pictured in Cairns on Friday) will announce the policy in a speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday

‘This is a responsible commitment that builds on the $393 million provided over three payments to 234,000 aged care workers earlier in the pandemic.

‘In coming months, two bonus payments of up to $400 each will be paid to aged care workers in government subsidised home care and to aged care workers providing direct care, food or cleaning services in government subsidised residential care.’

The speech will be the first time Mr Morrison addresses the media since a disastrous Newspoll put Labor on track to comfortably win the next election.

The Opposition is ahead 56-44 on a two-party-preferred basis in the Coalition’s worst polling performance since September 2018, a month after Malcolm Turnbull was replaced by Scott Morrison.

The 12-point lead puts Labor on track to comfortably win the election and suggests the Coalition could lose up to 25 seats.

Labor has increased its lead since the last poll on December 6 when it was ahead 53-47. 

Scott and Jenny Morrison at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital over the weekend

But Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the polls could change by election time.

‘Many obituaries were written by those in the media and our political opponents who got ahead of themselves,’ he said in reference to Mr Morrison’s surprise win at the 2019 election.   

The latest poll for The Australian newspaper comes as eastern Australia is ravaged by a large outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 which is causing staff shortages for thousands of businesses. 

The federal government has also faced heavy criticism over the widespread shortage of rapid antigen tests and was blasted by the NSW Government on Sunday for refusing to match a new business support package.