Close to $20 million a fortnight will be ripped out of Newcastles economy from Monday when as many as 22,000 Newcastle workers have their JobKeeper wage subsidy payments slashed. Federal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon said that JobKeeper payments are set to be reduced sharply by the Morrison Government, affecting workers in more than 5,800 Newcastle businesses. From next week, as many as 22,000 Novocastrians will have their JobKeeper payments slashed by between $300 and $750 a fortnight, Ms Claydon said. This change will rip $19.8 million from Newcastles local economy each and every fortnight this is $19.8 million that wont be spent on local retailers, venues or services. Ms Claydon labelled the changes reckless. Its absolute madness for the Government to be slashing household incomes in the midst of the deepest recession weve faced in a century, Ms Claydon said. Almost a million Australian jobs have disappeared, but the Morrison Government is ripping millions of dollars out of local economies like ours. Ms Claydon said the Government needed to focus on delivering local jobs. The Government should focus on driving economic activity and creating jobs in regional communities, not pulling the rug out from underneath us. Slashing JobKeeper will only deepen the recession. Its time for the Government to deliver a comprehensive jobs plan that supports regional economies and charts a path to recovery.