TIWN
Canberra, Aug 3 (TIWN) Australia's opposition on Tuesday proposed a cash incentive for citizens to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as the country's most populous city of Sydney continued its battle against the latest outbreak triggered by the Delta variant.
Anthony Albanese, the leader of the Labor Party, revealed a plan to offer every Australian who is fully vaccinated by December 1 a A$300 cash bonus, reports Xinhua news agency. The proposal would cost an estimated A$6 billion, but Albanese argued that constant lockdowns across the country were costing significantly more. "That's a small amount compared with the A$2 billion a week that these mass lockdowns are costing our national economy," he told the Nine Network television. "So this would be good for our health but also would provide a much-needed stimulus at a time when workers and small business is really struggling to get by as a result of these lockdowns." Prime Minister Scott Morrison on July 30 revealed details of a four-phase pathway out of the coronavirus pandemic. Under the plan, Australians would be granted greater travel freedoms when 80 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated.
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