SYLVIA JEFFREYS:
Treasurer, good morning to you. Health Minister Greg Hunt is expected to announce his departure from Parliament later on today. I know you two are very firm friends. You must be disappointed to see him go.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Of course he’ll be greatly missed, but he gets to make his own decisions about his political future, and he can be very proud of what he’s achieved in public life. He’s overseen significant investments in mental health, in medical research, in listing new drugs on the PBS and, of course, helping to steer Australia through this once‑in‑a‑century pandemic. And Australia’s mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world. Vaccination rates are one of the highest in the world. And, you know, Greg’s been a major contributor to those outcomes. And so, yes, I’m going to miss my best friend in the Parliament. I was the best man at his wedding. We’re godfathers to our respective children. But, you know, I think I wish him all the very best with his future, whatever he decides to do, Sylvia. Whatever he decides to do.
SYLVIA JEFFREYS:
Twenty years in politics, that’s an enormous contribution to public life, isn’t it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It is.
SYLVIA JEFFREYS:
Christian Porter, meantime has confirmed his time in politics is also up. Under very different circumstances, of course. But, look, all in all, that’s a total of 10 Coalition MPs who will resign at the next election. Other MPs meantime have been crossing the floor on legislation. Are you on a sinking ship?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I think we’re on a ship that’s sailing to a very strong economic recovery. At every election there are retirements, just as there’s new members who put their hand up to run for the Coalition. There have been retirements on the Labor side as well, and I wish Christian all the very best for his future. And he’s made a very substantial contribution to public life as well. But the toll these jobs take on one’s family is enormous. And that’s why people take the time to reflect on their own political careers. And Christian and obviously Greg have been doing that. With respect to the government, obviously there’s important legislation that’s passed the parliament. There’s important legislation that’s still before the parliament. And there will be an election next year. But if you think about where we’ve come as a country from the edge of the economic abyss, Sylvia, last year when tens of thousands of our fellow Australians were lining up outside Centrelink having lost their jobs to the point that now unemployment is lower than when we came to government and the Reserve Bank and leading economists and Treasury are all predicting a very strong economic recovery next year. And overnight the OECD talked about Australia’s rapid economic recovery. That augers well for the future, and that’s our track record that we’ll campaign on as well as our plans to build for the future.
SYLVIA JEFFREYS:
Okay, so the impact of lockdowns on the nation’s economy was revealed yesterday. A 1.9 per cent drop in the September quarter. It’s not as bad as predicted, but it’s still the nation’s third largest fall on record. That’s pretty bleak.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Sylvia, it’s no surprise after we’ve seen our two largest states – New South Wales and Victoria – in extended lockdowns. More than 13 million Australians in lockdown. But, as you said, it was better than what the market was expecting. And if you look at our economic recovery since the start of this pandemic, it has been stronger than all but two major advanced economies. It’s been stronger than Canada, stronger than the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan. And we have an opportunity now to see the unemployment rate go down to the fours and to be sustained there for the first time in many, many years. And I think that is what we’re obviously aiming for. That’s what our economic policies and our new investments are driving towards.
SYLVIA JEFFREYS:
There is a call from industry leaders, retail leaders, hospitality leaders in the papers this morning for more international workers and students to be allowed into the country. Can you guarantee that the border, international border, will reopen to them no later than December 15?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as you know, Sylvia, we took a considered and I think a responsible decision to pause the reopening for a couple of weeks, and that was based on the medical advice so that we can learn more about this Omicron variant, more about its transmissibility, more about its severity and more about whether or not the vaccines that have been taken up across the country are an effective defence against that variant. We will open the borders obviously when it’s safe to do so. We don’t want to lose the many gain that we’ve made in recent months. But I am pretty confident that the borders will reopen safely and then as a result more of those skilled workers will come in, more tourists eventually will come in and, of course, we’ll get to living with this virus as well as its new variants.
SYLVIA JEFFREYS:
Okay. Confident but not committed to a December 15 opening date?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, we’ll take decisions based on the medical advice, but things are pointing in the right direction.
SYLVIA JEFFREYS:
Okay. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, we appreciate your time this morning from Canberra. Thank you.