KEVIN GUNN:
Good morning. It’s great to be here today at our fresh food distribution centre in Victoria. And I’d like to welcome the Federal Treasurer. If I can just start, though, by acknowledging the traditional owners and custodians of the land that we meet on, the Boon Wurrung and the Djab Wurrung people. We’d also like to pay our respects to the elders past, present and emerging.
It’s great that we’re here today in our fresh food distribution centre. This distribution centre services 237 stores across Victoria and Tasmania, and we have over 600 team members here. It’s one of 19 distribution centres we have across the country with all of our amazing team members who’ve worked tirelessly over the last two years to flow fresh foods for our customers right through the nation.
It’s been great this morning to walk around with the Treasurer and meet some of those teams, and a big thank you to all of those teams for the work that they’ve done. It’s also been great to help government better understand some of the challenges the food and grocery supply chain faces, but also to understand the difference that recent changes in isolation have made.
At Coles, and as part of the wider supermarket industry, we’ve worked very successfully with government, both federal and state, over the past few years through various channels to improve the situation, and we look forward to continuing that great work ahead.
Lastly, I’d say that it’s unusual for us to have visitors to our distribution centres given their critical nature, but it’s been great today to have the Federal Treasurer and some of the media to see those fresh foods flowing in and going out to our stores every day, as they have been. And to all of our customers, that confidence that that continues to happen, and we thank them for their patience and understanding throughout this challenging period.
With that, I’d like to hand over to our Federal Treasurer. Welcome. Thank you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thank you very much, Kevin. To you and all your staff, thank you for your warm hospitality today, for inviting me here to Laverton to the Coles distribution centre. Your staff have done it pretty tough over the last couple of years as Victorians and, indeed, Australians have all done it with COVID‑19. But they perform an absolutely critical role. And from Steve Cain as your CEO down, your team has done a brilliant job in keeping the food on our tables and keeping those shelves stocked.
Now, right now with the Omicron variant we face new pressures, and you and Steve and others have told me about the high absenteeism that you have seen as workers have been struck down and the impact that that’s had on your broader supply chain – the truckies, the abattoirs and the other suppliers.
To see firsthand this operation is really quite incredible, to see the thousands and thousands of boxes that are coming in every hour or so and then moving off to various supermarkets around the country. We take it for granted that the food will be there as we need it, as we want it. But there’s a huge, complex operation behind the scenes. And thank you very much for having us here today.
We recognise that our supply chains are under real pressure. Hundreds of thousands of workers have had to stay at home as they’ve been struck down by COVID or they’ve been designated as a close contact. Indeed, Treasury’s analysis suggests as we peak with Omicron, up to 10 per cent of the entire workforce could be absent at any one particular period as a result of the Omicron variant.
So the Morrison Government, working with the states through National Cabinet, have taken a number of steps to ensure we alleviate those pressures. Pressures that are being felt not just here in Australia but, indeed, right across the world. Starting with a relaxation of the isolation requirements, based, though, on medical advice as to what is COVID safe to do so. So if you’re an asymptomatic close contact who has not tested positive and you work in these critical areas of the food supply chain, you can get back to work. And as we’ve heard from Kevin, that is making a positive difference. And National Cabinet has agreed to extend those workers those rules apply to to a much broader cohort, taking in energy, taking in water, taking in telecommunications and obviously education. That’s going to be really important to implement all those changes more broadly and to see more workers at work. And that will help alleviate some of the pressures.
We’ve also made changes around the visa working requirements for student visas, no longer restricted to those 20 hours of work. And that means that more students can work more hours, and that can provide more workers into the various places that we need them at these stretch times.
Thirdly, the Prime Minister working with the Premiers and the Chief Ministers is putting in place a national schools plan so that we can ensure that schools and childcare centres not only open at term 1 but stay open. Because, again, the Treasury analysis shows that if our schools were to close and our childcare centres were to close, then absenteeism could be 5 per cent higher across the national workforce, more than 740,000 extra workers who wouldn’t be at work. So we can’t afford that to happen, let alone, we need our kids to be in the classroom having that benefit of the face‑to‑face learning. They have gone through so much over the last two years. It’s impacted on their educational development, it’s impacted on their mental health, and, of course, it’s a real priority to ensure that our schools stay open.
Other changes around boosters, rolling them out, the vaccines for kids 5 to 11. 300,000 have already been administered in recent days with more to come. And, of course, PCR tests are an important part of our response. We have made clear with the states that we’re providing concessional access to more than 6 million Australians to rapid antigen tests, making those available which will be very helpful. But also, if you turn up at a state clinic and you are symptomatic or a designated close contact, you can get a RAT test or a PCR test, and that will be obviously important as well. But some 200 million RAT tests are now on order between the federal, the state governments and the private sector. And already in recent days we’ve seen 3 million of those RAT tests coming to Victoria. So that will hopefully alleviate some of those pressures as well. So it’s a complex picture, it’s a trying time. But steps are being taken right now to alleviate some of those pressures.
The other point I wanted to make before taking some questions, is around the tax cuts that are flowing through to Australian households. Over the last six months in the back half of last year, 11.7 million Australians got $15.5 billion worth of tax cuts, courtesy of the tax cuts that the Coalition legislated through the parliament. That was bringing forward stage 2, putting in a low and middle‑income tax offset. That will see someone on $60,000 pay $2,160 less tax this year compared to what they would have paid under Labor. That’s a significant extra amount of money, putting more money into people’s pockets, rewarding aspiration and encouraging effort. That is really an important policy that is helping to deliver more money across the economy. So the combination of our tax cuts, the other economic support measures that we have in place, are helping the Australian economy stay strong through this first pandemic in more than a century and the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression.
Kevin’s going to stay with me to take a few questions if you’ve got to him, in particular around what Coles is seeing. And I’m happy to take questions more broadly. Are there any questions.
QUESTION:
Yes, Kevin, can we just ask you, we’ve talked a lot about supply chains and the issues there. How has that affected morale here at the distribution centre?
KEVIN GUNN:
Yeah, the teams have done an absolutely amazing job, and it’s been a real privilege to be here this morning to spend some time talking to the team. The Treasurer himself got a chance to meet some of those teams. And I’ve got to say, just a massive heart‑felt thank you. The team spirit has just been amazing. Very much that Australian way of everyone pitches in when times are tough. So absolutely first class. But a big, big thank you, again, to our teams.
QUESTION:
And so in your opinion, based on what you’re seeing on the ground, when could we expect to see these supply chain issues start to be alleviated?
KEVIN GUNN:
I think, as I said earlier on, the teams are working really hard. All of our teams are working really hard to improve the situation. Getting more of our team members back into work sooner absolutely helps that. We’re doing a host of other things. We’re multi‑skilling our existing team members. Many of our team members have picked up extra hours in our stores and our distribution facilities. And we’ve started new team members. In fact, today on this site we’ve got new team members starting again today. So we’re all doing all the things we can, as well as our suppliers, to improve that situation every day.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, if I could ask you about Novak Djokovic, could the deportation of Mr Djokovic have been handled better? Is it unfortunate that this has now sort of created an international scandal?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the rules are the rules. And it doesn’t matter if you’re the No 1 tennis player in the world or you’re Betty from Utah. If you’re unvaccinated and you want to come to Australia, you go through the quarantine process or you have an appropriate exemption. And Novak Djokovic didn’t have that required exemption set out in the ATAGI guidelines, and also as set out by the Health Minister back in November in his very clear letter to Tennis Australia.
QUESTION:
Who from the federal government granted him the visa exemption in the first place that brought him here a couple of weeks ago?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as you know, the visa requirement is one aspect of your entry into Australia. The second is what happens at the border. And it’s at the border that you test the voracity of the particular vaccination exemption that he said he had. And that’s what was tested, and obviously that’s not what passed. And as a result it went through a court process initially in the Federal Circuit Court. Then the Immigration Minister made a decision that it was not in the public interest for Novak Djokovic to stay in Australia. The full Federal Court upheld that decision unanimously. The games need to go on. The Australian Open is a grand slam event, a great event, a festival of tennis, a festival of sport. And it’s much bigger than one individual player. So I’ll certainly be turning on to watch some fantastic tennis and hopefully see an Australian, whether it’s in the men’s or the women’s, hold the trophy aloft in the last week.
QUESTION:
Just speaking of that in the public interest, there are many members of your own party who’ve expressed contentious views on vaccines. What’s going to be done to protect the public from those views and stop them from being broadcasted?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, firstly, I don’t share those views of my colleagues who oppose vaccinations or, indeed, anybody in the broader community who oppose vaccinations. Australia is in a strong position to respond to the current variant Omicron and to the current crisis based on the fact that we now have hit 95 per cent of the eligible population over 16 with a first dose and over 92 per cent with a double dose. And when it comes to over 70s, 99 per cent are double dosed. Vaccinations, as I said, we’ve got the booster rolling out, four and a half million already, 24 million in stock, vaccines for younger people. So our vaccine program, our booster program, is absolutely critical to the health of all Australians. Now, Novak Djokovic is not an Australian citizen, so he has different rights to an Australian citizen and so you can’t compare those two cases. But I can certainly disagree with Novak Djokovic and also disagree with anyone in the parliament who doesn’t support the vaccination program.
QUESTION:
What do you make of the Serbian President’s claim that Novak Djokovic was tortured while in Australia?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I completely reject those claims. They’re wrong. Novak Djokovic went through a legal process here in Australia. The Prime Minister himself had a constructive call with the Serbian Prime Minister. We understand there are many people who are disappointed with the outcome, Novak Djokovic first and foremost. But I think Rafael Nadal spoke for so many when he said he respected Novak Djokovic’s tennis talents but he chose his own road when it came to vaccination. I only wish he got vaccinated and he was on court, because he is a great champion.
QUESTION:
And just moving on from Djokovic, so the new isolation rules are relying heavily on rapid testing, but it’s still really hard to get RATs. When is that sort of supply and demand going to be met?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, over 200 million are on order from the federal government, the state governments and the private sector. We’ve already provided 5 million RAT tests into the aged‑care sector, 10 million RAT tests into the states for their use in the state clinics when people need to go and get a RAT test or a PCR. We know that states have also got their own orders, with Victoria having 3 million delivered in recent days. So millions of these RAT tests will be making their way to Australia and they will be very helpful in our overall pandemic response. But I want to point out to you that if you are symptomatic and you are sick, you need to go to a state clinic if you don’t have a RAT test at home. You need to get tested and then if you are positive to isolate at home.
QUESTION:
Unions say that the tests should be free for workers that need them to meet those isolation requirements. Is that fair enough?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, there are some employers who will provide those RAT tests to their staff as they are doing here at the large supermarket chains. What we have said is that we’ll provide them into the aged‑care settings through the states. And if you’re a worker and you’re sick, symptomatic, you need to go to a state clinic where we will pick up half the tab with the state government and you won’t pay a cent.
QUESTION:
Is the federal government prepared to meet the demands of the more than 30 unions following their meeting today, the key issues being RATs and Omicron?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, we’re taking a number of initiatives in a number of areas to alleviate some of the pressures on the workforce right now. These workers here that I saw on site at the distribution centre are doing incredible work. Our nurses, our doctors, our other health professionals are doing incredible work. Our truck drivers are doing vitally important work. Everyone has a role to play. The next few weeks are going to be tough, but the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And the good news is that the Omicron variant is 75 per cent less severe than the Delta variant and we’re not seeing those widespread lockdowns we saw in our two largest states – New South Wales and Victoria – where 13 million Australians were subject to lockdown. We’ve just seen a Deloitte Access Economics report out today which pointed to the resilience and the recovery they’re seeing across the economy. They actually upgraded their economic growth forecast for this year and are suggesting that the unemployment rate will come down to 4 per cent by the end of this year. That’s lower than where it is today, bearing in mind that when we came to government unemployment was 5.7 per cent and it’s 4.6 per cent today. So no‑one is understating the challenges that we face here in Australia from the Omicron variant, both health and economic. But there is good reason to be optimistic and confident about our future. And the fundamentals of the economy remain strong and the Morrison Government are taking actions to mitigate some of the pressures we’re now seeing in the workforce across the supply chains.
QUESTION:
Just off the back of the Deloitte report you just mentioned, they’re forecasting patchy and partial economic recovery, particularly in tourism and hospitality. Do you agree with that outlook?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
There are sectors across the economy that are doing it tough – the airlines have reported high numbers of cancellations, hospitality venues have been without their normal numbers of staff as people are required to isolate. It is difficult in a number of industries across the economy. The Morrison Government is providing the pandemic leave payment of up to $750 a week. That’s important for people who need to isolate. We’re providing those free testings through the state clinics. We’re working with the more vulnerable cohorts in the aged‑care sectors and, of course, state governments are taking their own actions, including both New South Wales and Victoria recently with respect to commercial tenants and some relief that may be provided for them. So there’s a lot of work in a lot of areas that’s taking place because we’re still in the middle of the pandemic.
QUESTION:
Is the federal government or the Department of Health requisitioning rapid antigen tests from orders made by public companies?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We’re not taking away from public companies. What we are doing is putting in our own orders through our own processes to ensure that there is sufficient supply across the economy.
QUESTION:
Where will rapid tests for schools come from, and when will schools start to take receipt of those?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the schools issue is an absolutely critical one because, as I said earlier, if the schools were closed then that would put extra pressure on the workforce and you would see many parents required to stay at home rather than go to work to look after their kids. So it’s critical we keep schools open, childcare centres open, even through this new phase of the virus. Now, the National Cabinet agreed to some headline principles when it came to schools and keeping them open. This week they’re looking to agree on the implementation plan. That may include rapid antigen tests. That may also include other mask‑wearing and other COVID‑safe measures. We’re procuring more rapid antigen tests, so obviously should those measures be put in place there would be additional supply made available.
QUESTION:
You tested positive for COVID‑19. Was that a RAT or a PCR, and if it was a RAT, where did it come from?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It was a RAT test. My wife had purchased a series of RAT tests. And obviously it was not just me, it was her and our young five‑year‑old also tested positive. Fortunately after a bit of a temp he’s been okay. We’re all, you know, a little bit fatigued, but certainly on the mend. Like so many thousands of Australians, we had the common symptoms – the cold sweats, the headaches, the aches, the sore throats and the like. But, fortunately, we weren’t hospitalised, and my thoughts are today with, you know, those Australians who are in hospital with COVID, who are in ICU or on ventilators and the incredible and selfless health workers that are supporting them.
QUESTION:
If you’ve got time I do just have two more questions, and everyone will be so thrilled. Pharmacists are saying that they’re yet to receive their shipments of children’s vaccinations. Are there any major logistical issues as to why they haven’t been received?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we’re working with the vaccination program, whether it’s boosters, whether it’s the general population and now through the 5 to 11s through the normal channels. General Frewen I think has done a brilliant job on that, and the Health Minister on that. But we’ve seen a rapid increase in the numbers of people aged 5 to 11 who are getting those vaccinations. So it’s numbering now 300,000 in just a matter of days. Clearly those vaccines are being made available.
QUESTION:
Is there a problem with the perception here, that the first stages of the early vaccine rollout and then there were months of feuds over state borders and then the lack of RAT tests when the country has opened up? Is it not fair to say that the government’s planning has been problematic throughout the pandemic?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, if you look where Australia is placed today compared to the rest of the world, we’re in a very strong position. We have one of the highest vaccination rates anywhere in the world. We have one of the lowest mortality rates anywhere in the world and we have one of the strongest economic recoveries anywhere in the world. So we should not lose sight of that context, that international context, which is so critical. We are in the first pandemic in more than a century of this kind and, of course, the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression. Let’s not forget what it was like early on in the pandemic when the unemployment rate was thought by some in Treasury to go as high as 15 per cent. There would be more than 2 million people unemployed. Today the unemployment rate is at 4.6 per cent, and we’ve avoided the experience of the recessions in the 1980s and the 1990s where it took eight to 10 years for the unemployment rate to get back to where it was. Now, the Labor Party, and Jim Chalmers the Shadow Treasurer more specifically, said the single key test of the government’s management of this pandemic will be what happens to the unemployment rate. That’s what he said. And the outcome is that the unemployment rate is at 4.6 per cent. When Labor last left office it was 5.7 per cent. So they’re damned by their own words. You don’t hear them talk about that very often these days. So they’ll always talk down the economy. They’ll always talk up the problems. But what we have done is met the challenges that we’ve faced head on and we’ve thrown everything at it. We’ve worked through the National Cabinet process. We’ve worked with the Chief Medical Officer. We’ve worked with the medical experts. We’ve worked with the business community and the key stakeholders. There has been no rule book for this pandemic, and not everything has been perfect. But not everything could be perfect. Nowhere in the world has it been perfect. But I think Australians when they understand the mortality rate, the vaccination rate and the economic recovery in the international context, they can see that Australia is well placed and there is reason to be confident and optimistic about their future.
And finally, we’re only months away from an election. A critical point in our political cycle where the contest is not between Scott Morrison and a State Premier or a Chief Minister. The contest is between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese, between a coalition of Liberal and National parties and a coalition of the Labor Party and the Greens. And one of the key fault lines is who can be trusted to manage the economy and the health situation in this ongoing pandemic. And what we’ve shown is we’re cutting taxes while we’re creating jobs. What we’ve shown is we’re supporting businesses through programs like JobKeeper and the cash flow boost. What we’ve shown is that we’re working with key stakeholders and the business community to support supply chains and (inaudible).
This is a very difficult time, but our government can be trusted to steer the economy and the community through the very challenging times ahead. Thank you.