JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It’s time Victoria shifted gears and got back in the fast lane. The world’s most liveable city has become the world’s most locked down city, with more than 240 days spent in lockdown across Melbourne. We’ve seen our cafes go quiet, our laneways are empty, our sporting stadiums normally filled with cheering fans, are now deserted. Our small businesses have seen their doors close for the better part of 18‑months. With 120,000 jobs lost in Victoria last month alone. Our kids have been out of the classroom for 220 days; that’s more than a full school year, whereas in Adelaide, they’ve only been out of the classroom for less than 20 days, or in Brisbane, for less than 40 days. But now with the vaccination rates rapidly rising, we’ve seen people in NSW get their freedoms and their lives back. In Sydney, you can go for a meal or a movie, you can go to the gym or for a swim, or even, heaven forbid, you can have friends back into your home. Yet here in Melbourne, we may lose the curfew at 70 per cent, but you still can't move more than 25km from your home. Now we have this ludicrous and unacceptable situation where somebody in Sydney can travel nearly a thousand kilometres to Victoria and go to the pub in Lorne, whereas someone in Melbourne can't even go and visit their family in the same place. Victorians are looking at what is happening in New South Wales and saying "why do those people get the freedoms at 70 and 80 per cent that we here in Victoria are not getting?" Victorians have done the right thing. They have spent so much time in lock down. They have gone and got the jab in record numbers. It is now time that the Government gave back their freedoms and their lives. Are there any questions?
QUESTION:
What does the fast lane look like?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
New South Wales has shown the freedoms that should be provided at 70 and 80 per cent, so in Sydney today, now that they have reached that 70 per cent target which Victoria will soon reach, you can go to the gym or for a swim, you can go for a movie or you can go for a meal, you can even have friends over to your home, but not here in Melbourne. That is not what we have. It is really sad that Victorians are being held back.
QUESTION:
Shouldn’t we be waiting until we too reach that 70 per cent double dose target?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Absolutely. What I am saying is at 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rates, we should be getting the same freedoms as the people of New South Wales. We have seen our vaccination rates rapidly rise here in Victoria. Close to 88 per cent first dose and 64 per cent second dose. This is fantastic news. The people of Victoria should be congratulated. They have done the hard yards and they are doing the right thing. Now they should be given their freedoms and their lives back.
QUESTION:
Should our lock down end ahead of schedule, given that we are due to reach that 70 per cent mark many days ahead of schedule?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The freedoms should be given at 70 and 80 per cent. They were the targets we set at National Cabinet, they were the targets we set in the agreed plan. They are the targets that Victorians are meeting and that the Victorians are getting the jab in good faith, expecting that reward of having their freedoms back.
QUESTION:
New South Wales has announced that it is reopening to the rest of the world next month. Should Victoria follow suit?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, Victoria's announced you can come from Sydney here to Melbourne, or to regional Victoria, but someone in Melbourne can't go to regional Victoria on the same timetable. It is ludicrous and unacceptable. What Victoria should do is look to reopen in a safe way at the first opportunity as those vaccination rates really gain pace. People are doing the hard work, people are getting the jabs, people now deserve to get their freedoms and their lives back.
QUESTION:
You’ve noted Victoria’s lockdown far exceeds other states; did Victoria need to be locked down for so long?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I have been pretty outspoken about some of the restrictions that have been put on Victorians. There was obviously failures last year which there was an Inquiry into and I won't add to that or re-litigate those issues. What is an indisputable fact, a very sad fact, is that Victorians have spent more time in lock down than any other state and that Melburnians have spent more time in lock down than any other city in the world. Just think about that for a moment. Melburnians have spent more time in lock down than any other city in the world. There are going to be more cases, particularly among the unvaccinated. This is what living with COVID means. An elimination strategy is not a viable strategy. What we need to do is learn to live with COVID in a safe way but what we can't continue to do is lock down Melburnians. The impact on our kids is profound. Being out of the classroom for 220 days really impedes our kids' education and personal development. It's not the experience of kids in other states. In Darwin, in Adelaide, in Brisbane, in Hobart, in Perth, in Sydney, the kids have not spent nearly as much time learning from home as opposed to in the classroom. In my article today in the Herald Sun, I quoted Professor Russell from Melbourne University, a paediatrician, a health expert, and she said you can't lock these kids down forever. You may think that they are resilient but this is anxiety provoking and we have seen from the numbers of teenagers in Melbourne turning up at emergency departments with mental health issues. They have skyrocketed, more than 160 per cent increase on the numbers that we were seeing prior to the pandemic. This is the real cost of these extended lock downs. No-one is denying that COVID is a serious health threat, no-one is denying that. What people understand is it's not the only health concern. Our children's mental health, our community's mental health and our community's well being is also at stake here, not to mention the severe economic cost. The Morrison Government has stepped up to the plate. We have provided more than $50 billion since the start of this pandemic to Victorian households and businesses. The Morrison Government has provided more economic support during the pandemic to the people of Victoria on a per capita basis than any other state. Most recently, we provided around 700,000 Victorians with the $750 or $450 cash payment as a result of them losing hours of work. We partnered with the Victorian Government to provide a $6.7 billion package of business support to support over 100,000 businesses in this state. We have been working hard to support the people of Victoria, both households and businesses. It is time the lockdowns came to an end as Victorians reach that 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rate and they deserve the same freedoms as the people of New South Wales. Victorians are scratching their heads, saying "why not us? Why can't we get these same freedoms as the people of New South Wales?
QUESTION:
You want Victoria to get back in the fast lane, shouldn't the Federal Government be continuing COVID disaster payments to see businesses through the transition?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We have made very clear that the COVID disaster payments are emergency payments and that they would come to an end at the 80 per cent vaccination rate, just as they will do in New South Wales. There will be a two week transition period and we have already announced that transition period. We still will be having the pandemic leave payment that is going out by mid-next year. That is still available for people who have got COVID. With respect to the emergency disaster payment, it was exactly that, an emergency disaster payment that comes to an end at 80 per cent. I just want to tell you, the Federal Government has been providing more than twice the amount of economic support over these Delta lockdowns than the Victorian Government. That is the record. More than twice. It is the COVID disaster payment that we provide pretty much entirely ourselves and the fifty-fifty arrangement on the business support. Through the early stages of the pandemic, we had JobKeeper, the cashflow boost, the doubling of the safety net which was the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement. We had the $750 payments to pensioners, carers, veterans and others on income support. We have dug deep to support the people of Victoria, households and businesses, but it is now time that the people of Victoria got their freedoms back, these lockdowns have gone on for too long.
QUESTION:
If the Nationals don’t sign on to the plan for Net Zero, will the PM be taking a policy to Glasgow (inaudible)?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The Prime Minister's going to Glasgow and that's a very clear sign of our intent and our commitment to doing our part as part of a global effort to reduce emissions and that is what we are doing. We agreed at Paris to reduce our emissions by 26‑28 per cent by 2030 and our emissions are down by more than 20 per cent. We're rolling out new technologies, whether it's the pumped hydro facilities for Snowy 2.0, whether it is new interconnectors, whether it is the fact that one in four Australian households have solar panels on their roofs, the highest on a per capita basis anywhere in the world. Whether it is the technology investment road map which we will be putting to work $20 billion of government funding and helping to leverage what we hope is about $80 billion of total funding. We are undertaking a lot of initiatives that are designed to reduce our carbon footprint as well as reducing power prices and creating a more stable grid. With respect to net zero by 2050, I have obviously spoken about that quite extensively to date and about the reality of the changes in domestic and international capital markets, and how central banks and commercial banks and investors are factoring in a lower emissions world, are factoring in the net zero targets. That is affecting the way they price risk, it is affecting the way they allocate their own capital and develop their own portfolios. This is a reality that we need to be very conscious of because we want to benefit from these changes that are occurring in international capital markets, not be disadvantaged by them. It really does affect Australia because we rely so heavily on foreign investment - $4 trillion worth of foreign investment - and it really affects Australia because half of our government bonds are bought by overseas investors and because commercial banks get a significant proportion of their funding from overseas sources. At the same time, our major trading partners like Japan and Korea have moved to net zero. The United States has made very clear its intent and the United States is our largest investor and our most important strategic ally. The world is moving and Australia is moving. We are having extensive discussions internally. I want to respect those discussions and that process. I will let that play out. Clearly, the Prime Minister's visit and trip to Glasgow is a signal of our intent to be part of the global effort to reduce emissions.
QUESTION:
Should Victoria follow the lead of New South Wales and reopen to the rest of the world on November 1st?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I would like to see Victoria open up to the rest of the world, as I would like to see Queensland open up to the people of New South Wales and Victoria, as I would like to see WA as well. I would like to see the states open up, I would like to see Australia open up and the Prime Minister's already made some announcements in that regard. Quite clearly, the focus here in Victoria should be about lifting the lockdowns when we get to those 70 and 80 per cent double dose vaccination rates. The good news is Victorians are getting the jab in record numbers. The vaccine is our defence against COVID. It works. What we need is the Victorian Government to provide the people of Victoria with their freedoms back, their lives back. The people of Victoria deserve that. They have spent so much time in lock down, more than any other state in the country, and Melburnians, more than any other city in the world. Our cafes have gone quiet, our laneways are empty, our sporting stadiums are deserted. We have got to bring this to an end and that is why people who have got the jab should be rewarded with having their freedoms back and I would like to see Victoria follow New South Wales and provide our community with the same level of freedoms that the people of New South Wales have received at that 70 per cent vaccination rate and will receive at that 80 per cent vaccination rate.
QUESTION:
There are more freedom protests planned. Do you have a message for those protestors today?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Everyone needs to follow the various restrictions and laws that are in place and they should do that. We don't want to see a repeat of the violence that we have unfortunately seen on the streets of Melbourne. I will continue to call out those who seek to break the law in that way. You can have a view, you can share that view but you also have to follow the law and you certainly don't take your frustrations out on police who are merely enforcing the law that is set by the government. What is really important is that Victorians get their freedoms back and Victorians get their lives back and that can only occur if the State Government provides the people of Victoria with the same level of freedoms that the people of New South Wales have got, having reached that 70 per cent vaccination target. Thank you.