JOSH FRYDENBERG:
This week, the Morrison Government is seeking to move through the House of Representatives the important JobMaker Hiring Credit legislation. This is an important initiative which will support, according to Treasury, 450,000 jobs. Announced in the Budget, this initiative focuses on those aged 16 to 35, with the Government providing an incentive to businesses who take on younger workers who have been on JobSeeker. If those workers are aged between 16 and 29, we’ll provide $200 a week. If those workers are aged between 30 and 35, we’ll provide $100 a week. And the reason why we have focused on this younger cohort of workers, is because we looked back at the Australian experience during previous recessions and it took a long time to move people from the unemployment queues into work. In the 1980s, it took six years to get the unemployment rate back below six per cent from where it started. In the 1990s it took a full decade to get the unemployment rate below 6 per cent from where it started. But for the younger people it took a full 15 years. And we’ve seen the fall in employment for those who are aged 15 to 34 during this COVID pandemic, being four times greater than the fall in employment for those aged 35 and above. So this very measure is targeted at those younger people who have been hit hardest during this pandemic. And date released today shows that of the 45 electorates where the average age is 35 or below just 10 are in Coalition seats. The rest are Labor and Greens seats. And these electorates will benefit greatly from the JobMaker hiring credit. The JobMaker hiring credit is a key part of the Morrison Government’s economic recovery plan. Together with the other initiatives designed to boost business investment, the loss carry-back measure, the $2 billion in research and development, the bringing forward of infrastructure projects and the investment in the new infrastructure projects are all designed to do one thing in this Budget, namely to create jobs, to create nearly one million new jobs in the years ahead. Are there any questions?
QUESTION:
You were saying you would benefit more Labor’s seats, doesn’t that give more credence to Labor’s *inaudible* around that policy the fact that they’re willing to question that even if it would benefit their electorates?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It’s going to benefit Australians as a whole. But again, this program is designed to support people who have been hit hardest. But when it comes to Labor’s complainants about the scheme, I never thought I would see them pit younger workers against older workers. Again, the old class divide coming to the fore. The reality is, we need to provide this additional support to younger people to get them into work.
QUESTION:
Josh, it’s likely, obviously it will go through the Reps, but how are you going to try and get it through the Senate if Labor does try to block it? Have you started negotiations with the crossbenchers?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, we always maintain an open mike with those crossbenchers and maintain that dialogue and importantly we’ve had their support on previous pieces of legislation in and of course other areas. And we would hope to get their support for this legislation as well. This is all about creating jobs across the Australian economy, this is all about Australia’s economic recovery from this once in a century pandemic. It’s an important piece of legislation, it’s an important initiative that compliments the other initiatives that we have.
QUESTION:
Will it be backdated once it goes through the Senate? Given…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It applies effectively from the day after Budget.
QUESTION:
Just on the Trans-Tasman bubble, what responsibilities will the Federal Government have for those Kiwis who’ve come to Australia and then flown to different parts of Australia?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The Federal Government has responsibility for those international borders and for putting that system in place which allowed those New Zealanders to come to Australia. The states have, some of which, have put their own restrictions in place in relation to their internal borders and that’s a matter for them.
QUESTION:
Are you confident that state authorities had all the information about how this would work ahead of it starting?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
There was a comprehensive discussion, as I understand it among the health officials and the issues were discussed, no major concerns were raised by the Victorian health officials which, obviously, the Victorian Government seek to portray a different story over the weekend.
QUESTION:
Does more need to be done from New Zealand’s end? So New Zealanders coming into Australia need to be specifically told they can only go to New South Wales, Canberra and the Northern Territory?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, New Zealand hasn’t had community transmission and haven’t been seen as a risk here. The states, like Western Australia, have their own internal border restrictions. We don’t agree with them but they’ve got their own internal border restrictions. Those issues about the state borders will be matters for them, although we do think the state borders should be open.
QUESTION:
On Victoria’s announcement yesterday - has Treasury given you an indication of what this does to the economy and what happens to your Budget forecasts?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We will update the Budget forecasts at the end of the year when it comes to the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Again, we will update the numbers next May in next year’s Budget. But any delay in Victoria for opening businesses does impact jobs. There’s been a callous indifference by the Victorian Government to the loss of jobs in the state and the plight of small business. More than 1,000 Victorians have lost their job every day as a result of the lockdown and Victoria makes up 26 per cent of the population, yet 40 per cent of Australia’s effectively unemployed. More than 500,000 Victorians are effectively unemployed today. Victoria has been hit so hard by this second wave which was due to the failures in quarantine, the mental health impacts have been well documented with the use of Beyond Blue services 77 per cent higher in Victoria compared to the other states. The fact that not all school students in Victoria are now back in the classroom, that they’ve lost the better part of six months in the classroom, compared to South Australia where they just lost a couple of weeks.
Then yesterday to see the statements from the business and industry groups - Council of Small Business, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Hotels Association, the Business Council of Australia - those statements were a plea to the Victorian Government to let them get back to work and to reopen their doors. They called the announcement yesterday from the Victorian Government “unacceptable and inexplicable.” They said businesses are losing hope. They said there was a lack of consultation. You see, in New South Wales which has been the gold standard for contact testing and tracing, they had double the number of cases we see in Victoria today, yet their cafes and their restaurants and their pubs and their clubs were open and people were getting back to work.
I spoke to one restaurateur yesterday who said it’s just nine weeks to go to Christmas and there is not much cheer in Victoria; 60 per cent of their annual profits come from just those 8 weeks leading in to Christmas, yet Daniel Andrews is keeping their doors closed. He’s making it up as he goes. This is not even the initial roadmap that he announced. We’ve got a three day average number of cases in Victoria below two and its fine for him to lift the travel restrictions from 5km to 25km, but if businesses are not open, people have nowhere to go. Its fine for people to say people can go play tennis and golf and go down to the skate park, but what about giving them their jobs back? They need their job more than anything. More than 1,000 jobs are being lost every day on this Premier’s watch. The bloody-mindedness is unforgivable. The stubbornness is unforgivable. He’s making it up as he goes. It’s not even his original roadmap. Victorian businesses, big and small, are just pleading for a fair go. They just want to get their workers back into a job. Enough is enough. Thank you.