JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Today, we’re appointing a new head of ASIC, and a new Deputy Commissioner. Mr Joseph Longo will be the new Head of ASIC. Mr Longo has spent 17 years at Deutsche Bank working in London and in New York, working as a General Counsel. He was also a partner at Parker & Parker and has been a senior adviser to Freehills. He is someone who has previously worked at ASIC in enforcement before taking on those other commercial roles. He’ll bring a great deal of experience and expertise and international knowledge to this important role. Sarah Court will become the new Deputy Commissioner, replacing Daniel Crennan. Sarah Court has been a longstanding Commissioner at the ACCC. She’s worked at AGS, the Australian Government Solicitor and has been in charge of enforcement at the ACCC. Both Mr Longo and Ms Court will do an outstanding job at a critically important time at ASIC. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr James Shipton. Mr Shipton has been very helpful in the transition period at the organisation and will be leaving at the end of May with Mr Longo and Ms Court starting on 1 June. I also want to pay tribute to Dan Crennan, again somebody who has served ASIC well and with his complete dedication. So I thank Mr Shipton, I thank Mr Crennan and I congratulate Mr Longo as well as Ms Court. Are there any other questions?
QUESTION:
Given the strength of the economy, the recovery and the fall in unemployment, and the boom in the iron ore price, there’s some economists now who believe that you can get to a surplus this decade. Is that something you’ve been looking at?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as you know, in the Budget we produce the forward estimates and we also produce medium term numbers. We’re not going to pre-empt any of those numbers here today. You’re just going to have to turn up on May 11th, on Budget night. Look, the economy is recovering strongly. Certainly it’s coming back faster than even our most optimistic forecasts last year. In December when Simon and I released the Mid-Year Economic & Fiscal update, Treasury had expected the unemployment rate to be 7.5 per cent in the March quarter. It’s now 5.6 per cent. That means 200,000 more Australians are in work. And as I said in my speech today, that is good news for the Budget bottom line because around $5 billion will go to the bottom line, $3 billion in lower welfare payments that don’t go out the door, and about $2 billion in additional revenue that comes in because people are paying taxes as they are in work. So the key for us is to repair the economy. When you repair the economy, you repair the Budget. And we have done this before. Prior to the pandemic, we delivered the first balanced Budget in 11 years off the back of getting welfare dependency down to a 30 year low, and getting unemployment down to 5.1 per cent, bearing in mind that it was 5.7 per cent when Labor last left office. So, we’re still in the middle of the pandemic. There is still a long way to go, but the Australian economy is recovering faster and stronger than even our most optimistic forecasts.
QUESTION:
Treasurer your ambition to get unemployment to say 4.5, will it actually be reflected in the Budget, because MYEFO was talking about 5¾ in 22-23, 5¼ in 23-24, will it actually be reflected in black and white, this ambition of yours?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well you’ll see on Budget night.
QUESTION:
It’s a fair question isn’t it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as you know, you’re going to the detail of Treasury forecasts, now Simon and I are not about to release Treasury forecasts that are part of Budget. And so you’ll join the other journalists there Andrew.
QUESTION:
I ask, because the notion of NAIRU has long been about 5 percent for example, you’re now saying thinking has changed?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Treasury’s yes.
QUESTION:
Treasury says it has changed, RBA’s doing the same, so if that’s the case then you’re long term averages would be lower then?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, in terms of the numbers Andrew, we’ll wait till Budget night so you can see those forecasts, but the unemployment rate is till 5.6 per cent. It’s certainly better than where we had expected. But it’s higher than it was in February last year, pre-pandemic, when it was 5.1 percent. And so what the Prime Minister, Simon and I, and the Government are focused on is creating more jobs and we are going to be doing that in the Budget with more investment in skills, more investment in infrastructure, using our tax system to encourage investment, as well as ensuring that we stay apace with the changes in digital technology, as well as cutting red tape. That’s going to be the focus, in the Budget, as a means of driving more jobs.
QUESTION:
You mentioned in your speech that there’s only been a couple of periods really where we had unemployment below 5 per cent…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We had a very brief period in 2011, but it was sort of in and out for a month or two, and then we had 2006 to 2008, a bit more sustained and then you have to go back to the early 1970s.
QUESTION:
That's right. So what makes you think that this time we can do what we've only managed to do a couple of times sustainably in the modern history of Australia?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we're ambitious to create more jobs and we have the track records to prove it. We have shown how we can create one and a half million new jobs because that's what we did prior to the pandemic. And when the Labor party said that 'the sky would fall in', if we ended JobKeeper as promised, at the end of March, we held firm, and what we have seen in the data today, and it's preliminary data, in the fortnight to 16 April, 46,000 people came off income support in that period. So the sky hasn't yet fallen in, and we know that the labour market is very resilient, and we know that the key is to provide more flexibility into the labour market, and to provide the investments that get the private sector taking the risks and creating jobs.
QUESTION:
Treasurer just on the ASIC appointment, why was Joseph Longo the best candidate? What are your hopes now for ASIC? Because it's been a pretty turbulent time for the regulator, let's not beat around the bush. Have you had a conversation with Deputy Chair Chester because she was an applicant? Do you expect her to stay on as a Deputy Chair at ASIC?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well I have spoken to Karen Chester and as I have spoken to James Shipton, as I have spoken to the head of the ACCC, the head of the Reserve Bank, and the head of APRA, I spoke to them all ahead of today's announcement. Joseph Longo has the right mix of experience. He's been a lawyer, he's worked in banking and he's worked in a regulator, namely ASIC itself. So he knows the organisation. He's a level-headed, calm, considered professional, and we look forward to him leading that organisation at an important time because as you say, it's been a turbulent period.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, can I ask you just out of Victoria they have announced a quarantine hub for Melbourne's North. I think it needs Federal approval, will you approve it, and also will you help fund it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, I've seen those reports. I haven't had those private conversations and I'll leave that to further conversations and further detail, and I'm sure the Prime Minister and others will have more to say on that in due course.
QUESTION:
In embryo is it a good idea?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, I want to see more of that detail, thank you.