JOSH FRYDENBERG:
….Aspects of hundreds of thousands of young Australians. Employers who take on someone aged 16 to 35 will get up to $200 a week if they are an eligible employee who has been on JobSeeker on the period prior to their employment. We look back at Australia’s experience with previous recessions, particularly the 1990s recession, and we recognised how it took a full decade to get the unemployment rate back below six per cent from where we started. With respect to young people, it took a full 15 years to get that unemployment rate back to the level below from where they started. Right now, when it comes to younger people, those aged 15 to 34, the unemployment rate is 10.2 per cent. An unemployment rate of 10.2 per cent for those young Australians aged 15 to 34. But for those Australians aged 35 to 44, the unemployment rate is 4.7 per cent. Recognising this fact, we worked with Treasury to design a program that can support some 450,000 jobs across the economy. The passage of the Hiring Credit follows the passage of other important legislation that implements the initiatives put in the Budget. Like our tax cuts for more than 11.5 million Australians. Like our incentives to business, to go out and invest and to expand their business, creating jobs across the economy, like the loss carry-back measure, like the research and development incentives. We recognise that the Australian economy has been hit by a once in a century economic shock. A shock like no other that saw our GDP fall by around seven per cent in the June quarter, the most significant fall that we have seen, and that 1.3 million of our fellow Australians ether lost their job or saw their working hours reduced to zero at the start of the pandemic. But the good news is that the Australian economy’s recovery is now well underway. 446,000 jobs have been created over the last four months, consumer confidence is now up for a 10th straight week, consumer sentiment had its biggest increase in a Budget month since the series began back in 1974 and was again up this week for the third consecutive month. We’ve seen our AAA credit rating reaffirmed, we’ve heard from the Governor of the Reserve Bank that our economic response is on the right track. There are still many challenges ahead. the road to the recovery is going to be long, it’s going to be bumpy, it’s going to be hard, but there are some positive signs across the economy. Certainly with the recent news of the trials with respect to the Pfizer vaccine, again, that’s more positive news and should give Australians hope for the future as they can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
QUESTION:
Could I get your thoughts? Anthony Albanese has implemented similar restrictions on sexual relations with MPs and staffers, what do you make of that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, they’re matters for the Labor leader. Scott Morrison set out very clearly our position earlier this week, and as you know, under the Prime Ministership of Malcolm Turnbull, rules with respect to that were put in place.
QUESTION:
Do you think it’s appropriate for Parliament wide restrictions now that Labor’s [inaudible]?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, I think it’s appropriate that all Members of Parliament meet community expectations with respect to these issues and much has been said this week and I’m not going to add to it.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, you extended JobSeeker this week until the end of March, that’s the same time JobKeeper is now scheduled to run out. The original economic cliff, if you like, was September, how worried are you now about unemployment spiking beyond the end of JobSeeker and JobKeeper at the end of March, if that is what you decide to do?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well the key point is that the $3.2 billion that we committed for the extension of JobSeeker by an additional three months was not money that was announced in the Budget on October 6, it was a decision that we have taken subsequently. This is an extension of the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement and it will support those who need that support. But there is a range of measures across the economy that are helping to drive these improvements in the labour market. Some $570 billion has been committed by the Government, both in terms of balance sheet support and direct fiscal support. That’s the equivalent of 26 per cent of GDP. In contrast, you’ve got the states, who have committed some $65 billion, around just three per cent of GDP. We’ve done the heavy lifting, and we are obviously seeing the benefits of those support packages. With respect to next year, we printed in the Budget what we thought would happen to unemployment. The expectation is it could go up before the end of the year to around eight per cent and obviously we’ll have more to say to that in the lead up to MYEFO. But then next year, it will come down to about seven and a quarter per cent, by mid next year come down to 6.5 per cent the year after and lower after year after that.
QUESTION:
How do you plan on reducing unemployment when supports are affectively going to be taken away, these are supports that have been keeping people afloat, keeping people connected to employers, you take those away, the unemployment rate’s going to rise?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We’re providing additional support to the Australian economy. These measures, for example, with the JobMaker hiring credit that passed the Parliament last night, is going to provide up to $200 per week to an employer to take on a younger person who has been out of work.
QUESTION:
How many jobs will that create?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
450,000 jobs is what it’s going to support.
QUESTION:
For how long?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The program runs, as you know, for a year and it’s an important program that will support getting younger people into work.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, can you see though that there is a large number of people that are going to be excluded by the JobMaker credit, that it’s going to make it harder to get a job, not over 35, but peoplewho are in that bracket that don’t receive some of kind of payment support?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The key point to understand is the JobMaker hiring credit is one of a series of economic supports that the Government has put in place. We’ve already passed through the Parliament and legislated tax cuts for more than 11.5 million Australians. That’s putting more money into their pockets and that money will be spent across the economy, helping to create jobs. We’ve got the loss carry-back measure, we’ve got the expanded instant asset write-off measure, we’ve got the support for businesses to take on new apprentices, some 100,000 new apprentices, by providing up to a 50 per cent wage subsidy. These measures, together with our infrastructure roll out and our other supports for regional Australia, all come together to do one thing, to create more jobs. What I said on Budget night is that the measures that we have announced can help create up to one million new jobs, with the broader dynamism across the Australian economy. The recent data that we’ve seen over the last week and in the weeks prior, should give Australians real confidence. Real confidence that there is a light at the end of this tunnel. We are performing as a nation, as an economy, as a community, better than far many other countries around the world and we’re well-placed for this recovery that is underway.
QUESTION:
What do you make of Labor’s resistance to the plans to axe responsible lending laws?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The responsible lending laws have become the restrictive lending laws and that’s seen a very prescriptive approach taken by ASIC. This had prevented the free-flow of credit which is so important to the economic recovery. I noticed that the Council of Financial Regulators, which includes the heads of various independent financial bodies, has supported the proposed moves by the Government. This will be an important measure to help get the free flow of credit through the economy which will help create jobs, which will help our economic recovery.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, you said JobMaker will help create 450,000 jobs in a year. That’s not true. Treasury says 45,000 jobs so why are they providing 10 per cent of the figure that you’re overselling?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
In the Budget, it was very clear that the JobMaker hiring credit will support around 450,000 jobs. That is very clear…
QUESTION:
Treasury says 45,000.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Treasury have given evidence to the Committee about the additionality and they’ve also made it very clear in Treasury papers in the Budget that the measure will help support 450,000 jobs Jono, just like the JobKeeper program helped support more than 3.5 million jobs.
QUESTION:
That’s not true, it created 45,000 jobs according to Treasury. You’re now saying support 450,000 jobs.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We’ve been consistent all along that this program will help support around 450,000 jobs. Importantly, what it’s doing is providing up to $200 a week to employers who take on young people. I go back to those statistics which are very clear that you’ve got an unemployment rate for those who are aged 15-34 at 10.2 per cent, and you’ve got an unemployment rate for those aged 35-44 which is at 4.7 per cent. What we saw from the Labor Party yesterday in the Parliament was a lot of grandstanding. Now, it’s no surprise to any of you, they’ve have had their own challenges. They’ve had their own challenges with Joel Fitzgibbon. They’ve had a horrible week. A horrible week for Anthony Albanese and his team. They were looking for a hill to fight on. They were running up in the Parliament amendments which were already covered by the legislation, the protections that were in place in the legislation about additionality, additional headcount, additional payroll. That’s very clear. We’ve got protections about contrived schemes where the Tax Office will take action against businesses that don’t follow the rules. We also know that the Fair Work Commission and the Fair Work Act and those protections also apply. What we have got with the JobMaker hiring credit is spelt out very clearly in the Budget papers, supporting 450,000 jobs, getting young people into work. Labor had a big defeat last night. They had a big defeat. They stood up in the Parliament, asked us plenty of questions in Question Time, and then obviously tried to change the legislation in the Senate. They were defeated and now we can go ahead and create and support many, many jobs for young Australians.