CANBERRA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Australian parliament will reconvene to vote on the government's wage subsidy package.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese agreed on Wednesday that both houses of Parliament will sit on April 8 to vote on the 130-billion-Australian dollar (79-billion-U.S. dollar) scheme.
The package will entitle Australians who have their employment status changed by COVID-19 to fortnightly payments of 1,500 AUD (912.4 USD) in an attempt to prevent job losses and stimulate the economy.
The parliament was suspended indefinitely after a skeleton crew of Members of Parliament (MPs) voted to legislate the government's first two economic stimulus packages, which were worth combined 83.7-billion AUD (50.9 billion USD), on March 23.
With several states having since effectively closed their borders MPs could be subjected to mandatory 14-day quarantine periods after returning home from the parliament.
Attorney-General Christian Porter, who is also the government's Leader of the House of Representatives, has been tasked with getting MPs to and from Canberra along with his Opposition counterpart Tony Burke.
The minimum number of lower house MPs required to convene the parliament is 31.
