ZOE MCKENZIE:
Hello all, my name is Zoe McKenzie. I am the Liberal candidate for Flinders, this beautiful electorate that takes in the Mornington Peninsula. It is my enormous pride today to welcome the Treasurer down to Flinders in this amazing cafe, Mercetta, it’s been here for 12 years, run by Anthony and family. Anthony is an institution in this town having run many hospitality establishments before that and being a boatbuilder down here as well.
We’re thrilled to have you here Treasurer to talk today about the labour force outcomes. But firstly I’d like to introduce Anthony to make a few remarks about his business down here.
ANTHONY:
Thanks, Zoe. I’d just like to welcome the Treasurer and Zoe to my lovely establishment. It’s a family business, I’ve had it for 12 years. The last two years have been pretty challenging for all hospitality businesses, but I feel that the JobKeeper and the support that we got from the Government has definitely helped us survive and flourish over the last two years in challenging times. We’ve got a new challenge, which is the Omicron virus, which is pretty challenging from a staff perspective, but we’re surviving, we’re doing well.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thanks very much Anthony. It’s great to be here at your wonderful cafe, Mercetta, to see your hard-working staff, to know you employ more than 30 people, to know it’s a family business, to hear about your long-standing experience in the hospitality industry, more than three decades long, and to see how committed you are to serving people here in Mornington and across the broader community. It’s terrific. You’re absolutely right – these are challenging times. And to hear about the workforce challenges, you were telling me just before you had to cover for 28 shifts as a result of workers who couldn’t make it to work because they had contracted the virus themselves or they were a close contact. But also to hear that things are improving and to see your café full of customers is very heart-warming. So thank you very much for the hospitality.
It’s great to be here with my long-standing friend Zoe McKenzie, the Liberal Party’s candidate here in Flinders. Big shoes to fill because Greg Hunt has done an outstanding job as Australia’s Health Minister through the pandemic and has been a wonderful local member here in Flinders. But you are doing a great job as well, and you’re somebody with deep roots in the local community. And, as well, you bring a lot of experience in education, in trade and investment and a whole range of areas. So, Zoe, I look forward to your contribution to your local community but hopefully after the next election in Canberra as well.
It’s really pleasing to be here at a small business and to see people back receiving the wonderful hospitality and service here at Mercetta. These are very challenging times. Our hospitals are under pressure, our supply chains are under pressure, and Australians have had their summer disrupted, yet again, by COVID-19. It’s been two years of hardship, but Australians can be very proud of what they have achieved by pulling together. We know that our vaccination rates continue to rise. More than 92 per cent of Australians aged over 16 have received a double dose of the vaccine. And we know that the more vulnerable cohorts, like the over 70s, that number is 99 per cent double-dose vaccinated. We know that 300,000+ young people have received the vaccine in just recent days, and millions of boosters are making their way into people’s arms providing another layer of defence. Our mortality rate here in Australia has been a fraction of other countries. In the United States, per head of population, the death toll from Covid has been 24 times that we have seen here in Australia. In the United Kingdom, it’s 21 times, and so we can be very proud of the selfless and professional work of our healthcare workers on the frontline and the way that we have put in place various restrictions to help keep the community safe. And our economic recovery is one of the strongest in the world with Treasury data and international comparisons showing that in terms of employment outcomes, as well as economic activity, we have outperformed all major advanced economies in the world.
Now today we got another proof point of the resilience in the Australian economy and our strong economic recovery. The jobs numbers are out for the month of December. The unemployment rate in Australia has now fallen from 4.6 per cent to 4.2 per cent. This is the lowest unemployment rate in Australia in more than 13 years. It’s equal fourth lowest unemployment rate since the ABS data series began on a monthly basis back in 1978. I repeat that, this is the equal fourth lowest unemployment rate in Australia since the ABS data series began back in 1978. 65,000 jobs were created across the country in the month of December. Now two-thirds of those jobs were full-time jobs and 58 per cent of those 65,000 new jobs went to young people aged 15 to 24.
Now the Labor Party, and specifically the shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers, said early on in this pandemic, the single biggest test of the Coalition’s management of the pandemic will be what happens to the unemployment rate. That was Labor’s test that they set for the Coalition. Well, the unemployment rate has been coming down and jobs and more jobs have been created. The unemployment rate under Labor was 5.7 per cent. Today it’s 4.2 per cent. The under-employment rate today is lower than when Labor left office. The youth unemployment rate today is lower than when Labor left office. There were 250,000 more Australians in work today than when the pandemic began. And 1.7 million more people are in work since the Coalition came to Government, and one million of those are women. I repeat that, there are one million more Australian women in work today than when Labor last left office. It's an amazing statistic and it shows the strength of our jobs market. But we know these are difficult times and continue to see many businesses across the peninsula here, across the community, and across the country, looking for more workers as well as dealing with the situation where a number of workers have contracted the Omicron variant. So we will get through this. Businesses like Mercetta are getting through this. It’s going to be challenging, but Australians can be very proud of what they have achieved together. Are there any questions.
JOURNALIST:
Those unemployment figures out today, they don’t reflect the second half of the month when the Omicron wave really took off. Do you expect the unemployment rate to go up in future months?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, what we have seen is the trend in the unemployment rate come down. And we have seen a very strong jobs market. We have seen job ads come down slightly in recent weeks, in the month of January, as a result of the uncertainty created by the Omicron variant. But job ads are still 30 per cent higher than they were a year ago. So we are seeing resilience in the economy. And I think that’s the key message. Australian households and businesses have accumulated $360 billion on their balance sheets that was not there at the start of the pandemic. And that will help provide a buffer against the Omicron challenge. So we know there are great pressures at the moment. But we also know that the economy is very resilient and a standout performer has been the labour market where jobs, jobs and more jobs have been created.
JOURNALIST:
Yesterday and again today you talked about the enormous challenges that the health system is under. Were shortages of rapid tests and overwhelmed hospitals and bare supermarkets shelves, was that something you expected when you planned the reopening of the country from all these lockdowns?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, no one should underestimate the challenge that Australia and, indeed, the world faces as a result of COVID-19. This is the first pandemic in more than a century. It’s the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression, and the situation always changes. We had the initial wave, then we had the Delta outbreak. We had 13 million of our fellow Australians who were in lockdown, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria. Then we saw an easing of those restrictions, and we’ve been hit by the Omicron variant. What is, though, encouraging is that the Omicron variant is 75 per cent less severe than the Delta variant and earlier outbreaks. And we know it’s highly transmissible. I’ve had Covid. Many of Anthony’s staff have had Covid. And many Australians will continue to get Covid. But it’s not as severe as previous variants. But we will get through this. There will be challenges, but we’ve made lots of changes around our health system. We’ve provided more than $30 billion of support for our health system. There are 200 million rapid antigen tests that are currently now on order. The Commonwealth has been picking up the bulk of the bill for the PCR tests. There were 53 million PCR tests that cost the Commonwealth $2.5 billion. And if somebody is sick and symptomatic right now, they can go to a state clinic here in Victoria and get a rapid antigen test or a PCR test and get their results back soon. And I welcome the announcements from the Victorian government in the last 24 hours that they’re seeing those results being provided to people very quickly. In the case of PCRs the following day, in the case of the rapid antigen tests it could be within half an hour.
JOURNALIST:
Yesterday there was announcements around visa rebates for international students and backpackers. The EU and the US have put travel warnings on Australia because of our high Covid numbers. Are those warnings going to deter the kinds of people that you want to bring back to the country?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I don’t think so. We do know that people love to come to Australia whether they’re backpackers or whether they’re international students who want to come and study here. They’re very important parts of our economy. But there are around 175,000 - 150,000 students and 23,500 backpackers - who have visas to Australia but are currently offshore. So what the Prime Minister and I announced yesterday is that those fees, $630 for an international student; $495 for a backpacker, will be rebated when they come to Australia. So we’re providing an opportunity for those people to come to Australia and, indeed, to work while they’re here, because we’ve lifted the restrictions. So, for example, if you’re a working holiday maker and you want to work in this cafe, previously you would have been limited to working for the single employer for a six-month period. We’re removing that restriction. But I also want to emphasise that we’re investing heavily in skilling up our workforce. We have a record number of Australians now, 220,000, who are a trade apprentice. That’s the highest number since records began back in 1963. We have the JobTrainer programs that we’re rolling out as well in conjunction with state programs. So there’s a lot of work that’s being undertaken to train up Australians to take the jobs that are available while also ensuring that international students and backpackers are very welcome.
JOURNALIST:
Kids are going back to school soon. What would be your message to anxious parents or anxious teachers who are looking at the next couple of weeks with a bit of trepidation?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, firstly, eligible children should receive the vaccine, just like their parents should. And to see more than 300,000 vaccines rolled out to the 5 to 11-year-olds is very welcome. So that’s the first thing. Vaccinations are an important defence against the virus. The second thing is it’s critically important that the schools open at the start of term 1 and stay open. There was a public letter from 35 of Australia’s leading academics, community leaders and health professionals, and they made it very clear that the impact of closing schools on kids has been profound. Yes, kids have learnt from home, but it’s not the same as being in the classroom. It impacts on their mental health, it impacts on their educational development, their ability to be with their friends. So it’s really important that when National Cabinet meets today that they make progress on that school opening plan. We’ve already heard from Victoria and New South Wales they’re looking at rapid antigen tests. The Commonwealth will work with those states to provide those rapid antigen tests, but it’s about ensuring that teachers and students can get back into the classroom.
JOURNALIST:
On a different topic, there’s reports in the Sun newspaper in the UK that Novak Djokovic is considering suing the Federal Government for about $6 million over the whole visa debacle. Would you feel confident that the Government could withstand any legal challenge, potential legal challenge, from Mr Djokovic?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I can understand his disappointment. No doubt he wanted to play Australian Open, but the rules are the rules. And as I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter if you’re the No 1 tennis player in the world or you’re Betty from Utah, the rules apply. And in his case he didn’t do the two-week quarantine and in his case he came to Australia, ran the gauntlet of our judicial and legal system. The Minister for Immigration made a decision. That was upheld by unanimous judgement of the full court of the Federal Court, and that’s where it stood. So I will allow any other legal processes to take their course. But the Australian Open has begun. It’s a festival of sport, it’s a festival of tennis, and I’m just hoping an Australian holds the trophy aloft in the final week.
JOURNALIST:
And aside from the tennis, the Bells Beach surfing event is coming up and questions are now being asked about Kelly Slater, who is potentially unvaccinated. Do you know if the Government’s been in touch with him to set the rules down so that we avoid what we saw with Novak?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Kelly Slater will be well advised to acquaint himself with the rules with respect to our immigration policies, our biosecurity laws and our vaccination position because, as we saw with Novak Djokovic, if you come to Australia and you don’t meet the requirements, then you can’t stay. It wouldn’t be any different in Kelly Slater’s position. It doesn’t matter if you’re the No 1 surfer in the world, the No 1 tennis player in the world or Betty from Utah, the rules apply just equally to you.
JOURNALIST:
I get that, but is there a bit of proactive action that the Government takes in these circumstances?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The rules are very clear for people who want to understand how the entry requirements exist for entry into Australia if you’re unvaccinated.
JOURNALIST:
If we have continuing occurrences where these big name athletes don’t come to the country, is that going to be damaging for our hopes of staging major events if we don’t have the Novak’s and potentially the Kelly Slater’s, and who knows who else will come out of the woodwork? Is there a risk there?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I don’t think there is. I mean, some people have talked about the Australian Open and it’s Grand Slam status but, you know, I think that’s very secure. The Australian Open is a longstanding event and Australia has a very proud record as one of the best nations in the world when it comes to tennis. And, you know, the players love coming here. And the Australian Open is much bigger than an individual player. It’s much bigger than Novak Djokovic. It’s much bigger than one, indeed, female player or one male player. It’s a Grand Slam event. Players look forward to it, and I’m looking forward to attending myself in due course.