TRENT ZIMMERMAN:
(inaudible) because we know that behind every great photo and every great film, there is a great cameraman, so I am told. Australian inventions have allowed those cameramen to do their work through the famous Miller Tripods. It is a great success story, but like a lot of businesses, Miller’s have been hit by the pandemic and they have been using JobKeeper and other tools. Thank you, Josh, for being here and showing support for the great innovation that is happening in our part of the world.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thanks very much, Trent. It is great to be in the electorate of North Sydney. Congratulations to you for all the fantastic work that you are doing on behalf of your constituents. Mark, thank you for having us here to Miller’s Tripods, another fantastic small businesses in Australia undertaking modern manufacturing, exporting to the world and employing Australians. This is a family business for nearly 50 years. In that time, it is making these sophisticated tripods with hundreds of different pieces and now more than 70 per cent of what is manufactured here in Australia is exported; to the United States, to Europe, to Asia. More than 30 jobs have been created here in Australia. But with the COVID pandemic, this business like so many others across the country, was hit hard. They relied on JobKeeper, helping to get them through. They relied on the cashflow boost and now they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Mark has mentioned to us that he saw the instant asset write-off announcement in the Budget last Tuesday and is now looking to make further investments in his business to grow, as well as to hire, to innovate for the future. So the Budget on Tuesday was all about doing one thing; creating jobs and enabling business to get to the other side of this crisis. That is why we announced significant tax cuts that will see more than 11.5 million Australians get money in their pocket to spend across the economy. Those tax cuts are now law. That’s why we provided the immediate expensing, the expanded instant asset write-off, so businesses could invest into their future and grow into the future. That is why we provided the loss carry-back measure. That’s why we undertook significant new investments in infrastructure. That’s why we’re backing research and development across the country, so that businesses such as Miller’s Tripods can grow and hire more Australians. Thank you for having us here, it is a great pleasure. Thank you, Trent, for what you do on behalf of your community. It is so important.
MARK:
It is great to have the Treasurer here today, first hand, and for him to recognise that now he is in front of the cameras, there is an Australian made product underneath that camera and has been for well over 60 years. Manufacturing is an important part, I always believe, of the community. I believe it has a great future here in Australia with the support of the Government. With JobKeeper, it has been a godsend for us to keep going, and for my staff, as well, for their wellbeing and also to remain match fit. It has just been a fantastic project for us. I’ve got some small offices overseas in the US and in the UK, compared to their systems, I have got to say that the JobKeeper program in Australia has been the most proactive and easiest for employers to use. It has been fantastic. With a new Budget coming through, the instant asset write-off, I’ve got to say, after talking with my accountant recently, it’s a little ripper, this new system that has come out. We’re going to be looking at that seriously, so that’s fantastic. I thank the current Government and the Treasurer, as well, for looking at these areas and supporting us so well. I hope it continues, there’s a lot more we can do. I just have to say, keep up the good work in supporting manufacturing in Australia. It’s just a great initiative.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, an Anglicare survey on job availability shows there are 8 entry level job seekers for every appropriate position. How long is that going to take for that figure to reduce so it is easier to (inaudible)?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The good news is the jobs are coming back, particularly here in New South Wales. Over the last three months, 458,000 jobs have been created. 60 per cent of those jobs have gone to women, 40 per cent to young people. Now the key to creating more jobs is to ease those restrictions. As we know, in my home state of Victoria, 25 per cent of the national economy, those restrictions are in place. We saw jobs lost in the last month of data, as opposed to other states where jobs have been coming back. So as restrictions are eased, the jobs will be coming back. As people put into work the announcements we made in the Budget and in the lead up to the Budget, more jobs across the economy will be created. People will move off JobSeeker into work and people who saw their working hours reduced to zero, will now start to get more hours.
QUESTION:
Anglicare says there should be more jobs created in the public sector, is there merit to that idea?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
8 out of every 10 jobs in Australia is in the private sector. It’s key for the Government to see itself as the catalyst, not the solution, to the jobs recovery. That’s why we’re providing incentives to business to help them grow, to innovate, to hire. You see, for Trent and I and the Morrison Government, we can provide those incentives, but ultimately the jobs recovery will depend by decisions around every kitchen table, decisions at every shop front, decisions on every factory floor, including businesses such as these. That Mark can look at his economic circumstances and say, I actually want to take on a new young worker who’s been on JobSeeker, I actually want to go and buy some new equipment and to back my future. Those are the decisions that not government takes, those are the decisions that Mark and many millions of other business people around the country take. Now as for the public sector, there are more jobs being created as we invest record amounts in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in aged care, in childcare, in schools and in hospitals. There are jobs being created in the public sector and there are jobs being created in the private sector. But ultimately, what we are going to do as a Government is to back business to innovate, to invest, to hire and to grow.
QUESTION:
When will you release the Productivity Report into mental health?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, I alluded to that in my Budget speech and we will be releasing that in due course and it’s an important report and we’ll also, obviously, as a result of that report, we’ll be having more to say about future actions. But when it comes to mental health, we as a Government have invested $5.7 billion in mental health support. And one of the most devastating consequences of COVID-19 has been the impact on people’s mental health. And you see today that a million plus Australians have relied on mental health support through this crisis and it’s particularly acute, understandably so in Victoria, where people have been subject to these lockdowns. To read that the use of Beyond Blue services is 77 per cent higher in Victoria compared to other states is really a reminder of the painful impact on lockdown. And I personally was really moved by an open letter that was written by GPs to the Premier in Victoria, these are GPs who have never sought to be in front of a camera, GPs who have never sought to make a political point but who simply, by virtue of seeing the patients come through their doors feel compelled to speak out. Talking about having to give antidepressants to kids as young as 12, it’s heartbreaking. And there are still kids in Victoria who are not yet back in the classroom. And you can’t replicate the experience of online learning in the living room with the experience of real learning in the classroom. So my message again, today and every day to the Premier of Victoria is please understand the impact that the lockdown and these harsh restrictions are having on people’s mental health. Please, give the people of Victoria their freedom back this weekend.
QUESTION:
Given it is such a growing crisis, can you explain the delay in releasing the report given the Government received it at the end of June?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, we are releasing that report in due course and it’s an important report, but we’re continuing to make important announcements about mental health support. One of those was in the Budget, and in my speech, where I referred to the fact that we’re doubling the number of Medicare supported psychological counselling sessions from 10 to 20. And just a few days ago, I was with one of the colleagues of Trent and I, Fiona Martin in Ashfield at a Headspace site. And I saw firsthand how the Government’s investment in Headspace, Beyond Blue, Kids Helpline, Lifeline, is making a difference. And I spoke to some of the young people at Headspace, who are engaging with some of the other young people who are feeling the impacts of COVID-19.And those services are absolutely critically important. And I know, what Patrick McGorry, former Australian of the Year, has said in today’s paper about significant impact on people’s mental health of COVID-19.
QUESTION:
On another topic, the Finance Department has issued statements on your colleagues Michael Sukkar and Kevin Andrews, have you been briefed on the matter and are you taking any further action?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I’ve obviously read those reports, that’s all that I have seen. And of course, that is an important statement from the Finance Department, they won’t be making further references on those matters, and that, for me, and no doubt for those involved, is the end of that.
QUESTION:
And just on the drop in the fertility rate, is the Government looking at measures to try and provide more certainty to families to encourage them to have children?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, it’s a really important question about the impact of COVID-19 on population because it has been significant. In fact, Australia’s population growth is now going to be the lowest level in more than a century. And there are three drivers of economic growth, three key drivers, boosting productivity, boosting workforce participation and boosting populations. And Australia has really benefited from having a growing population. Now because of COVID-19, two things have happened. Borders have closed, so there’s less immigration has been coming in, and you’ve also seen a decline in fertility rate as people have felt uncertain about their economic circumstances. So the fertility rate will again pick up, that’s again in the Budget papers, the net overseas migration levels, which are going negative for the first time in 46 years, will again pick up as those border restrictions are eased. This is obviously one of the very significant impacts on our economy, on or community, of COVID-19.