CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
As the nation’s comfortable white collars and politicians urge people who are feeling a bit unwell to self-quarantine and work from the couch for the next 14 days, a large portion of the Australian population have been left confused as to what the fuck ‘work from home’ even means.
For the many working class Australians who are casually employed and do not work off a laptop or on a telephone, the idea of being able to simply not leave the house but still get paid for their job appears quite foreign.
Local Betoota Ponds woman, Sandy Melrose (52) is one of these Australians.
“I work nightshifts as a cleaner in the city” says says.
“Everyone is telling me if I get sick. I need to self-quarantine and work from home”
“How the fuck am I supposed to vacuum and mop a shopping centre foodcourt from home?”
It’s a valid question, and one that labourers, service station employees, factory workers, supermarket staff, and the administrators at hundreds of Australia’s underfunded social service providers are also asking.
It is also a question that will likely remained unanswered until the outbreak of the pandemic becomes another part of everyday life for low socio-economic Australians.
Sandy is already coming to terms with the fact that she’s going to get this illness, and will have to work through it. Meaning everyone she comes into contact with on her train or bus commutes will be a chance of getting it too.
“It took our Prime Minister three months to get our fireys a bit of pocket money while they fought and died right through Christmas. You think he gives a fuck about the old girl with a bucket and mop?”
This comes as Hong Kong lawmakers approved a HK$30 billion ($5.9 billion AUD) government coronavirus relief package on Friday, after spending 10 hours grilling top officials on details of its disbursement during a Finance Committee meeting.
All Hong Kong workers forced to stay at home throughout this pandemic will be eligible for up to $10,000 in stimilus packages, while their employees will be able to claim up to $2 million. This leaves over HK$10.19 billion to focus on battling the virus at an epidemiological level, as well as local production of surgical masks, and the purchase of more protective equipment.
Back home in Australia, Prime Minister Scotty From Marketing has not put anymore stimulus packages on the table. As of yesterday, it can also be revealed that his $2B bushfire relief package is yet to even exist on paper.
He has, however, told Australians to remember to wash their hands and avoid eating dinner at Chinese restaurants if they don’t want to.
