PETER STEFANOVIC:
Let's keep money matters going because the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg joins us live now. Treasurer, I saw you at the tennis last night, must have been a late one. How much sleep have you had?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Just a few hours, Pete. It was an epic contest, as you know, more than five hours as Rafael Nadal showed his great heroic qualities and obviously prevailed in the end. But the head didn't hit the pillow until after two in the morning and then obviously the alarm went early today. But I think Australian tennis fans were treated to a double delight with the Barty party on Saturday night, Ash Barty showing incredible talent and perseverance and coming back from 5‑1 in that second set to be the first Australian to hold the trophy aloft at the Australian Open since 1978, which is quite a remarkable feat, up there with Evonne Goolagong Cawley. And then of course yesterday, a bit of a favourite with the local crowds, Rafa Nadal coming back from two sets to love. That was incredible. That is the first time, as I understand it, since 1965 that someone has won the Australian Open on the men's side coming back from two sets to love.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Amazing, amazing. Great to be there no doubt. Now, Treasurer, if the alarm shocked you this morning Newspoll surely did as well. If current Newspoll trends continue you guys are toast in the election. So do you feel like that's actually an accurate picture?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Pete, I don't need to remind you and the media that the only poll that counts is election day. We were written off back in 2019, many obituaries were written by those in the media and our political opponents who got ahead of themselves. But at the same time there is a message in that Newspoll and that is that many Australians continue to do it very tough. We're in the middle of a pandemic. We've had a frustrating summer with the massive spike in Omicron cases. Many Australians saw their holidays disrupted and we're heeding that message. We're continuing to work hard to ensure that the economy bounces back from the pandemic, but that the community stays safe. That's why we're continuing to invest very heavily in a whole range of health measures.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Well I mean the Prime Minister famously said a few years ago that he always believes in miracles. Do you need another one this time around?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well the Prime Minister, I and our colleagues, have all said we're coming from behind. It's a very difficult environment and there was no rule book for this pandemic. But if you look at where Australia is today compared to other countries, we're in a very strong position. We have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world. The vaccination rate, our first dose is above 95 per cent, second dose is now above 93 per cent, the boosters are rolling out, more than 7 million have been distributed, the kids are back at school this week. More than 4 million kids over the coming couple of weeks are going to be back in the classroom in a COVID‑safe way. That's a great outcome. And then when you look at our unemployment rate, Pete, to see it down to 4.2 per cent, a 13‑year low, and to know that there are 1.7 million more Australians who are in work today, including 1 million more women who are in work today, than compared to when we first came to office, that is really very significant.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. The New South Wales Government has accused you of not stepping up, so it's going it alone with its own billion‑dollar rescue package for small businesses. Did you go missing?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we have been working every day to support the people of New South Wales, and indeed support the small businesses right across the country. These are the facts; we, the Morrison Government, have already delivered more than $63 billion to the people of New South Wales, and we continue to provide economic support for households. So we pick up the tab, up to $750 a week for the pandemic leave payment, if have you to take time off work because you're a designated close contact, or indeed, if you've got COVID. Now around $170 million has already been distributed to more than 200,000 people in New South Wales with that payment alone. And then on the small business side we have the loss carry back measure where a small business in New South Wales, or indeed across Australia, that incurs a loss as a result of the COVID pandemic, can go to the ATO, get a cash refund against previous taxes paid. And we also have a small business loan guarantee scheme. So we have other programs that are there. But the economy is recovering despite Omicron. It's not Delta. And we do know that more than $400 billion has been accumulated on household and business balance sheets and that's a war chest that will help underpin the recovery.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Matt Kean though wanted you to go halves. Did you even consider it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well he did approach me, and I obviously spoke to Treasury. I spoke to the banks to understand what they were seeing among their customer base. I talked to the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and other colleagues. Again, the facts are these; that businesses continue to do it tough, but overall we know that the economy is recovering. We're seeing that in the unemployment rate. We're seeing that in the investment pipeline. We're even seeing the aggregate credit card spending (inaudible)…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Is it a blanket ‘no’ now though Treasurer…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
So we do know the fundamentals are there.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Sorry to interrupt you but will they get more help in the coming budget?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well in the coming budget there will be obviously a series of measures to help lock in the economy, and that's important because the economy is recovering but the recovery is not yet locked in. But with respect to New South Wales, I've had requests from other States and the answer has been consistent, which is we're bringing to an end that emergency economic support, we're moving to more normalised settings. But I do point out that South Australia just yesterday announced their own small business package. They never came to the Commonwealth asking for financial support, they met the costs themselves and obviously we welcome what New South Wales has done in that regard.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, thanks as always for your time. Talk to you soon.