Tax breaks, asset write-offs, changes to the dole and cash for nation-building: What Scott Morrison's $10BILLION stimulus plan to fight off the coronavirus and avoid a recession means for you - as he vows not to do a Kevin Rudd

  • Coronavirus has reduced global economic growth as it sweeps the world  
  • Treasurer Josh Frydenburg has scrapped forecast of $5billion surplus
  • Instead, the money will be spent on measures to help save jobs and companies
  • Cabinet is expected to sign off on the measures on Tuesday or Wednesday
  • On Monday morning ASX collapsed more than 6 per cent amid recession fears 

By Charlie Moore and Stephen Johnson For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

Tax breaks for businesses and cash for local councils could be part of a huge government spending program to fight off a looming recession. 

The federal government will announce a plan later this week to splurge up to $10billion to boost economic growth.

State governments are also expected to announce their own measures to save jobs and businesses as the coronavirus outbreak hammers the economy.

The Australian stock market plunged by 6.24 per cent on Monday, erasing close to $120billion as traders braced for recession. 

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has suffered its worst one-day fall since November 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.

The value of shares have plunged by 19 per cent or $360billion since reaching a record high on February 20. 

The federal government is reportedly finalising a $10billion economic stimulus package amid the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured: People wearing masks on public transport

The federal government is reportedly finalising a $10billion economic stimulus package amid the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured: People wearing masks on public transport

What measures could stimulate economy?

Give cash to local councils to bring forward infrastructure projects 

Tax breaks for businesses buying assets such as machinery

Delay payroll tax paid by employers

Bring forward bushfire relief payments

Changes to Newstart to allow casual workers access to paid sick leave

Reduce deeming rates (so pensioners and veterans can receive more government money)

Pause in compulsory super payments 

The details of the stimulus package are still being finalised but there is speculation measures will include reducing deeming rates, providing local councils with funding for infrastructure projects and expanding instant asset write-offs for businesses, which allow companies to subtract the cost of new equipment from their taxable income. 

There are also calls to bring forward bushfire relief payments, delay payroll tax obligations and increase the Newstart allowance. 

After the financial crash in 2009, Kevin Rudd's Labor government handed out cheques for $900 to eight million Australian taxpayers - but the badly organised scheme saw some payments sent to dead people.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has ruled out direct cash payments.

'We will not be pursuing a cash splash in the reckless Rudd-Gillard fashion, no,' he told Sky News on Friday. 

Renowned businessman Tony Shepherd told the The Australian that measures should include tax relief and investment incentives.

He also called for a pause of compulsory super payments, which would effectively give everyone a nine per cent pay rise. 

Last week the Queensland government announced that companies could delay their payroll tax obligations until August and it remains to be seen whether other states will consider this. 

Passengers arrive wearing masks at Sydney International Airport on January 23, 2020

Passengers arrive wearing masks at Sydney International Airport on January 23, 2020

People wearing protective masks and suits arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport

People wearing protective masks and suits arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the package - which ruins his forecast of a $5billion budget surplus this year - will be scalable, hinting further measures will be in the federal budget.

'We will have a very comprehensive and very substantial package designed to support the Australian economy through this economic shock,' he told Sky News on Monday.

'It's about keeping businesses in business and Australians in jobs.' 

However, experts are divided on whether the massive cash boost can help.

Former Rudd economic adviser Andrew Charlton wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that unlike the financial crash which saw reduced demand, the coronavirus is a supply crisis. 

BIS Oxford Economics chief economist Sarah Hunter said giving tax relief to companies may not help.  

'The problem with a business investment allowance is that some of that might be spent on new equipment which may face troubles in the supply chain affected by the coronavirus,' she told the AFR. 

CommSec market analyst James Tao said a $10billion economic stimulus package on its own may be insufficient to properly stimulate the economy as investors feared a recession.

'At this particular point, $10billion it probably is just a starting point,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.

'Coronavirus concerns alone, some are saying this will lead to a recession or quite a sharp economic slowdown in the economy.'

Mr Frydenberg acknowledged that the response required is 'very different' from that of the 2008 crash.

'Our response is on the supply and demand side,' he told reporters on Monday afternoon. 

'That economic response will be substantial. It will be targeted. And it will be focused on supporting those people and those businesses that need our support through this period.' 

The Treasurer also sought to calm traders, saying: 'Market volatility, in terms of equity markets, is not uncommon at times like this.'

He then vowed that pressure would be heaped on petrol retailers to reduce prices after oil prices plunged on Monday morning.

The federal cabinet is expected to approve the stimulus package on Tuesday. 

The government will also be sitting down with employers and union leaders on Tuesday to discuss the impact on business.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during Question Time on Thursday

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during Question Time on Thursday

Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor would support a direct household stimulus package, similar to the payments Australians received under the Rudd government during the GFC, if it was 'sensible'.

A lift to Newstart payments could also help boost the economy in the wake of the virus, Mr Bowen told ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.

Mr Bowen would quickly convene a shadow cabinet meeting once the government had released details for its stimulus package.

Kevin Rudd's stimulus in 2009 

By Stephen Johnson 

Kevin Rudd's $42billion stimulus package, unveiled in February 2009, kept Australia out of recession.

The economy shrunk by 0.5 per cent in the December quarter of 2008 even though Labor had unveiled a $10.4billion stimulus in October that year.

But the economy surged by 1 per cent in the March quarter of 2009 following Labor's second $42billion stimulus package which included the $900 cheques.

However, the package was not a total success. It also included a bungled home insulation scheme which killed four workers and saw cost overruns on school halls and 'covered outdoor learning centres' programs. 

'If it's good, it we will support it,' he said.

'But we also, of course, reserve the right to criticise it if it needs improvement and if it's not big enough.'

Attorney-General Christian Porter is meeting with union and business heads in Sydney on Tuesday to discuss how to keep key industries - including food and pharmaceuticals - operating at full capacity.

He says unions and employers have a key role to play to keep shops stocked as Australians resort to panic buying.

'It's vitally important that we are all working towards the same goal,' Mr Porter said.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said any change to Newstart would be separate to the stimulus package.

'The stimulus package... is around a short term, measured and proportionate response to the economic conditions that we're encountering right now,' Senator Ruston told Sky News on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, unions will ask the federal government for compensation for casual workers who don't get paid sick leave.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said the package must address the financial risk to Australia's 3.3million casual workers in retail, hospitality, health and aged care, who will lose pay if they get sick.

'We don't want people with virus or people with symptoms going to work, but they are going to have to choose between paying the bills and feeding themselves or going to work,' she told Nine's Today program on Monday. 

Workers in forensic suits clean a train in Tokyo as the coronavirus spreads around the world

Workers in forensic suits clean a train in Tokyo as the coronavirus spreads around the world

More than $100billion is wiped off the Australian stock exchange in ONE HOUR as global markets tank amid coronavirus panic 

More than $100billion has been wiped from Australian shares as a dive in crude oil prices sparked more coronavirus panic. 

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 plunged 5.2 per cent within the first hour of trade, falling further below the 6,000-point level to hit 5,892 points. 

The market capitalisation of the Australian Securities Exchange has plummeted by $97.5billion, compared with Friday's close, marking the worst downturn since October 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis. 

Energy stocks took the biggest with Oil Search plunging 27 per cent to $3.74.

The oil and gas sector took the biggest hit as the Brent crude oil price fell by 30 per cent since Friday to a four-year low of $US31 a barrel. 

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said coronavirus fears and a slump in crude oil prices were behind the share market plunge.

'Definitely since GFC impacts we haven't seen fall like this in 11 years,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.

More than $120billion has been wiped from Australian shares within minutes as new coronavirus cases spark panic among investors

More than $120billion has been wiped from Australian shares within minutes as new coronavirus cases spark panic among investors

'The specific trigger is a huge plunge in crude oil prices.' 

Global share markets have plunged after Russia reneged on an agreement with OPEC oil producing nations in the Middle East to restrict the supply of crude oil.

'Oil prices fell 10 per cent on Friday night. This morning when futures opened, they fell another 25 per cent,' Mr McCarthy said.

'That rout in energy prices is really feeding into the fears there were already existing.

'This shift on the supply side  

Mr McCarthy said the lockdown of Italy's Lombardy region was stirring more fears of coronavirus hitting global growth.  

Australia is heading towards negative economic growth with a large risk of a 'prolonged downturn,' Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy said last week.  

The impact from the coronavirus on the economy will be 'deeper, wider and longer' than the SARS outbreak of the early 2000s, Mr Kennedy told a senate estimates hearing on Thursday morning.  

In the December quarter, the Australian economy grew by only 0.5 per cent. 

Mr Kennedy said the coronavirus would hit growth by at least 0.5 per cent for the March quarter, pushing Australia towards static or negative growth.

He said that figure did not take into account disruption to supply chains, raising fears the hit to growth could be much higher.  

Negative growth over the next two quarters would constitute a recession and would be Australia's first since 1990-91.

'The global economic impacts of COVID-19 are continuing to emerge but there is little doubt that they are serious,' Mr Kennedy said. 

The sectors most affected are education - due to foreign students being unable to travel - and tourism. 

There are calls for changes to Newstart to allow casual workers access to paid sick leave

There are calls for changes to Newstart to allow casual workers access to paid sick leave

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA CLIMB TO 92

NEW SOUTH WALES: 47

January 25 

Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China contracted the disease.

Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China. 

They were treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital. 

January 27  

A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.

The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.

March 1 

A man in his 40s is confirmed as the fifth coronavirus case in the state and a woman in her 50s as the sixth. Both returned to Sydney from Iran. 

March 2 

The 41-year-old sister of a man who had returned from Iran with the disease was one of three confirmed cases. The second locally-acquired case was a 53-year-old male health worker who hadn't travelled for many months.

The other new case is a 31-year-old man who flew into Sydney on Saturday from Iran and developed symptoms 24 hours later.

March 3

Six more cases are confirmed in NSW. They included a 39-year-old man who had flown in from Iran and a 53-year-old man who arrived from Singapore last Friday.

It also included two women aged in their 60s who arrived in Sydney from South Korea and Japan respectively.

A man in his 30s who returned from Malaysia to Sydney on Malindo Air flight OD171 on March 1 was also one of the six.

A 50-year-old carer was the final of the day's six people diagnosed with coronavirus. The woman is a carer at a nursing home in Macquarie Park in Sydney's north. She had not been overseas and contracted the virus in Australia. 

March 4

A 95-year-old woman died at a Sydney hospital on Wednesday night after developing a respiratory illness from the coronavirus, bringing the death toll to two.

A Macquarie University lecturer tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday after returning from Iran. 

A further six cases confirmed on Wednesday evening. They included an 82-year-old aged care resident from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge, where the 95-year-old woman was staying.

The new cases include a female doctor who works at Liverpool hospital, a female patient from the Northern Beaches, a male from Cronulla, a woman who returned from the Phillippines and a woman in her 70s. 

March 5

A health care worker, who attended the same conference as the doctor from Ryde Hospital, also tests positive.

A boy from Epping Boys High School is diagnosed with COVID-19 forcing the school to temporarily close.

A Goulburn resident who had recently returned from Singapore and travelled on to Darwin was also diagnosed with the virus.

A fourth resident, aged 94, from the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care facility in Macquarie Park was also diagnosed.

March 6

Two more workers at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care centre are diagnosed with coronavirus. 

 A 24-year-old female and 21-year-old male have now been confirmed as cases at the facility.

An 18-year-old female has also been diagnosed.

March 7 

Six new cases are diagnosed. This includes a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s, who are a close contact of a previously confirmed case.

Also included was a man in his 40s and a woman in her 40s, both family members of a previously confirmed case. 

A man in his 20s, also a close contact of a previously confirmed case, was also included.

A man in his 70s, who returned from Italy and who exhibited symptoms a day after returning. NSW Health is contacting flight passengers on flight number QR908 which left Doha on 1 March.

A second male in his 40s, who is a known close contact of a previously confirmed case, is being tested. He travelled on two domestic flights on 28 February while symptomatic but before he had been identified as a close contact.  

Another man in his 60s who recently returned from Italy and a second man in his 40s who is a known close contact of a previously confirmed case, were confirmed late Saturday. 

NSW Health says the man in his 40s travelled on two domestic flights on 28 February while symptomatic. 

March 8    

A female care worker in her 30s at Ryde Hospital is among new cases in New South Wales. She had been in contact with a case in Macquarie Park aged care facility which had already been confirmed. 

Another woman, in her 50s, was the other person confirmed to have caught the disease. She had also been in contact with a previous case.

An 82-year-old man, who contracted the coronavirus from an infected aged care worker at BaptistCare's Dorothy Henderson Lodge in his Sydney, died on Sunday. 

A man in his 70s was diagnosed after presenting to Sydney's St Vincent Hospital on Friday. He hadn't recently travelled overseas and the source of his infection is not known. 

A man in his 40s who recently travelled overseas was confirmed on Sunday night as NSW's 40th case. No other details about the case are available. 

March 9

St Patricks Marist College in Sydney's north west is forced to close after two students in grade 10, one boy and one girl, are diagnosed with coronavirus.

Both fathers of the year 10 students, aged in their 50s have also tested positive, including a third member of the ADF.

A grade 7 student at Willoughby Girls High School was the third confirmed case on March 9. The girl's mother, who is Iranian, was also diagnosed. 

Woman aged  in her 30s was diagnosed on Monday having recently returned from the Philippines. NSW Health is establishing her travel movements and identifying any contacts who may require self-isolation.

The father of the male St Patricks Marist College studentis diagnosed with coronavirus. He is also the third Australian Defence Force member to test positive.

VICTORIA: 15

January 25  

A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.

The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.

He was quarantined at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne's east.

January 29   

A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.

He became unwell on January 23 - two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre.

January 30 

 A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus.

She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.

She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital. 

February 1 

A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus. 

February 22

Two passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive. 

February 25

Another passenger taken off the cruise ship tests positive. 

March 1

Victorian man confirmed to have coronavirus after the 78-year-old was evacuated to Melbourne from a Darwin quarantine centre.

It is confirmed a Victorian woman in her 30s has tested positive for coronavirus after flying from Malaysia to Melbourne via Indonesia.

March 4

Victorian man in his 30s confirmed to have coronavirus after returning from Iran. Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the man was 'almost symptom-free' after self-isolating 

March 7

A doctor working at a clinic in Toorak, Melbourne has been confirmed to have coronavirus and is now in isolation at home after returning from a trip to the US. 

The doctor came into contact with around 70 patients who have been told to self isolate.

March 8

A woman who arrived in the state from Indonesia has tested positive 

March 9 

Authorities confirmed on Monday two new cases in returned travellers from the United States.

A third case was diagnosed on Monday in a passenger who recently returned from Iran.

One of the cases is a woman in her 50s who returned from Tehran via Kuala Lumpar on MH0149, arriving on March 6, and is in hospital in isolation being treated for pneumonia.

QUEENSLAND: 15

January 29

Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national was diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.

January 30

A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.

February 4

An eight-year-old boy was diagnosed with coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from.

February 5

A 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast, also tested positive.

February 6  

A 37-year-old woman was diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27.

February 21 

Two Queensland women, aged 54 and 55, tested positive for COVID-19 and will be flown to Brisbane for further treatment.

A 57-year-old woman from Queensland also tested positive for the virus.

February 28

A 63-year-old woman was confirmed to have the virus after returning to the Gold Coast from Iran.

March 3

A 20-year-old man from China was confirmed as the tenth person to be infected by the coronavirus in Queensland. The man had travelled to Dubai for at least 14 days before entering Australia, via Brisbane on February 23. 

March 4

A 26-year-old man from Logan in Brisbane is diagnosed with coronavirus. He arrived back in Australia from Iran.

March 5 

An 81-year-old man who had returned to Brisbane from Thailand and a 29-year-old woman who had come via Singapore from London are diagnosed with coronavirus.

March 6

A 28-year-old man in Brisbane was diagnosed after returning from Iran.

March 8

A 38-year-old woman is confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus after returning to Australia from London via Dubai.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 7

February 1  

A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.

A 24-year-old woman from South Australia was transferred to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

March 4

Mother, 40, is diagnosed after flying to Australia from Iran via Kuala Lumpur. 

Another 24-year-old woman, not related to the previous woman, was in a stable condition in Adelaide hospital after falling ill following overseas travel.

March 5

The eight-month-old child of the 40-year-woman, diagnosed on March 4, is also diagnosed with coronavirus.

Renowned Australian music composer Brett Dean, 58, who travelled to SA on March 3 from Taiwan also tests positive. He's receiving treatment in an Adelaide hospital.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 5

February 21 

A 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth. On February 28, he was taken into intensive care in a 'serious' condition and later died. His wife was also diagnosed with coronavirus.

March 1 

The elderly man died in the early hours of the morning from the virus at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

March 5

A woman in Perth is diagnosed with the virus after flying into the city from the UK, via Dubai 

March 8

A Perth woman, aged in her 70s, was confirmed as WA’s fourth coronavirus diagnosis. She had been in Cuba in recent weeks had flown from London to Perth on a direct flight on March 5. 

The woman was tested for COVID-19 on Friday but didn’t wait for the results before attending a the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s Absolute Beethoven concert on Saturday night. 

March 9

A West Australian woman in her 60s contracted coronavirus from her husband after he returned from Iran, making her the state's first person-to-person transmission of COVID-19.  

TASMANIA: 2  

March 2

The man who travelled from Iran to Australia on Saturday tested positive for COVID-19.

March 7

A man in his 20s was diagnosed with coronavirus after returning to Tasmania from Nepal on February 26 and experiencing cold-like symptoms the next day.

He is in the Royal Hobart Hospital in a satisfactory condition.

NORTHERN TERRITORY: 1 

March 4

A tourist in Darwin has tested positive for coronavirus in what is the first confirmed case in the Northern Territory.

NT Health confirmed the 52-year-old man as the first case of COVID-19 in the community on Wednesday evening. 

The man recently arrived in Darwin via Sydney and has had limited contact with the local community, NT Health said in a statement. 

Advertisement

Coronavirus: Scott Morrison to unveil a $10billion stimulus package

Comments 25

Share what you think

  View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

  View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

What's This?

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.