Echoes Of The Great Depression

Australian PM Scott Morrison warns that the pandemic may cause a major economic crisis

Jobless Australians flooded unemployment offices around the country Monday as Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned the coronavirus pandemic would cause an economic crisis akin to the Great Depression. After a record 29 years of economic growth, Australia is poised to spiral into reces-sion as the global coronavirus out-break wreaks havoc on the country's economy despite a Aus$189 billion government relief package.

In scenes not seen in Australia for decades, queues stretched around the block at unem-ployment offices around the country as the forced closure of pubs, casinos, churches and gyms began at midday on Monday. An online portal for government services also crashed as Jobseekers rushed to register for income sup-port payments, which have been temporarily doubled by Aus$550 a fortnight to help people cope with the coronavirus crisis.