NSW's peak trade union body is calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reintroduce JobKeeper for flood-affected regions.
The call came as NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned of serious biohazards for ocean swimmers after floods.
JobKeeper was a payment designed to keep Australians in jobs by supporting COVID-affected businesses with payments of $1500 per worker per fortnight to cover the cost of wages.
"The arguments that applied for COVID-affected workplaces also apply to flood-affected workplaces," Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey said on Tuesday.
"We can't allow otherwise healthy businesses to fail because they've been hit by a crisis over which they had no control."
Premier Dominic Perrottet last week announced a $551 million support package for flood victims, including support for semi-permanent housing pods such as those used after the 2019-20 black summer bushfires and mobile motor homes.
"Emergency payments are short term measures. We need medium-term structural support, providing solid financial foundations," Mr Morey said.
Meanwhile, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said swimming after a one-in-100-year flood may mean you're risking getting diarrhoea.
"We know when we've had big rains, the general advice is don't go surfing, don't go swimming in the open ocean for a day or two," Mr Hazzard said.
"When you've had a one-in-100-year flood, you might be wise to not go surfing with parasites, bacteria and diarrhoea."
Mr Hazzard said flooding and sewage outflows posed a risk of cryptosporidium, giardia and other parasites and bacteria.
"Normally you've got to fight somebody away from the surf - this time you might well be fighting off the parasites for diarrhoea," he said.
