GARETH PARKER:
The federal Treasurer is Josh Frydenberg. He joins me on the line. Treasurer, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you, Gareth.
GARETH PARKER:
National accounts out yesterday weren’t great. This is a tail of basically two countries, isn’t it? The locked‑down states and the non locked‑down states? And where would the national accounts be without the Western Australian mining industry?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the Western Australian economy has been very strong over the course of this mini mining boom, if you like, as well as obviously having effectively dealt with COVID crisis and not having the extended lockdowns that we’ve seen in the largest states of New South Wales and Victoria. But yesterday’s numbers were not a surprise. We did see the economy contract by 1.9 per cent in the September quarter but still be 3.9 per cent higher through the year. And if you look at Australia’s economic recovery, Gareth, from the start of this pandemic it’s ahead of all but two major advanced economies. It’s been faster and stronger than the UK, than Canada, than Germany, than Italy, than Japan. And we’ve actually seen since the start of September 350,000 jobs come back. Since the end of that September, quarter household consumption and retail sales have picked up strongly, more than $5 billion spent across the Black Friday sales last week. And we’ve also seen business investment intentions, particularly in the non‑mining sector, be the highest open record with more than $100 billion being expected to be spent over the course of this year. I’m going into the Christmas period with confidence. Economic growth has been upgraded by the OECD and by the Reserve Bank for Australia next year. The unemployment rate’s been coming down, and I think we’re in a better position than nearly any other country around the world.
GARETH PARKER:
Looks like you’ll be going into the election without two colleagues – both ministers, certainly Christian Porter at one point. Your reaction to the news that Greg Hunt and Christian Porter are leaving politics?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I want to pay credit, obviously, to both of my colleagues. Greg and Christian have had outstanding careers and made very significant contributions. Greg is my best mate in the parliament. I was best man at his wedding. We’re godfather to our respective children, and he’s helped steer the country through this once‑in‑a‑century pandemic where Australia now is at the point where we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and one of the lowest mortality rates in the world. But Greg has also been a champion for mental health support, for medical research and also he’s helped list a record number of drugs on the PBS to give people cost‑effective access to life‑changing and life‑saving drugs and medicines. So Greg can really hold his head high about this contribution to public life, and so can Christian Porter as Attorney‑General but also what he’s done in the industry portfolio and other portfolios.
GARETH PARKER:
Has Christian Porter been undone by a media smear campaign or is he responsible for his own actions that have led to this untimely resignation? People tip that’d he might be the PM one day?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, look, Christian’s a very talented person. And you read his statement yesterday, it was very clear about the toll that political life has had on his family. And I think it’s accentuated when you’re representing an electorate in Western Australia, the long distances that you have to travel every parliamentary fortnight. And, you know, politics is pretty unforgiving and, you know, you take no prisoners in politics. And we’re the volunteers, but it’s really our families who are the conscripts.
GARETH PARKER:
Right, but we all know why he’s leaving. Has that been a fair process in your judgement?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I’ve spoken about that in the past and, you know, I don’t think Christian or anyone else what want me to be relitigating that right now other than to say he’s been a valued friend, a valued colleague. He can be very proud of his contribution, and I wish him well going forward.
GARETH PARKER:
Some commentators are saying this looks like deserting a sinking ship. What do you say about that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Commentators, you know, will jump to their own conclusions about a whole variety of circumstances. I can say there’s retirements on both sides of the political aisle. There always has been at this time of the political cycle. But we’re on a ship that is steaming towards a very strong economic recovery. And that is the reality of what we’re seeing across the economy with the datapoints that, you know, I’m looking at every day and the Treasury advice and analysis that we’re receiving. Australia has encountered, you know, a pretty tough time over the last two years, but I think we can be very proud of where we have come to and reached as a country. We’re not out of it just yet, as the Omicron variant, you know, suggests. But at the same time I think we’re very well placed for the recovery ahead.
GARETH PARKER:
Just you touched on non‑mining business investment. In Western Australia yesterday the Premier Mark McGowan outlined what he’s calling a Reconnect WA package ‑ $185 million to try and attract international students, interstate tourists, international flights, all sorts of things. The campaign message he says for this campaign will be that WA is the safest place in the world. Do you think that in your home state of Victoria that Victorians are going to be clamouring to come to Western Australia?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
As soon as your borders open there’ll be many families that would love to hop on a plane and go and visit great tourism destinations like Broome, or visit friends in Perth. And there’s no doubt that some of the workforce shortages that we’re seeing across various sectors of the economy, including in your home state of Western Australia, have been exacerbated by border closures. So there are pressing issues for your tourism industry, for your mining industry, for your construction sector where there are workforce shortages. And they’re real. They lead to higher costs for consumers. So the quicker we can open our borders safely, both domestic and internationally, get those skilled workers in, I think the stronger our economy will be.
GARETH PARKER:
But having made his attitude to the rest of the country pretty apparent over the last 18 months, do you think the Premier’s pitch will win those who don’t have families in WA back?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, you know, I’ll leave domestic politics to Mark. I work with him wearing his Treasurer’s hat, not just his Premier’s hats, because I chair a grouping called CFFR, which is the Council on Federal Financial Relations, which brings together all the Treasurers across the country. And we met just the other week and, you know, Mark and I discussed at that meeting how we can, you know, advance a number of important issues, and that’s to the collective benefit of both the Western Australian economy but also the national economy.
GARETH PARKER:
Treasurer, thank you for your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Always a pleasure. Thanks, Gareth.
GARETH PARKER:
The federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.