TRENT ZIMMERMAN:
It’s great to have Josh Frydenberg in my electorate of North Sydney today, particularly in one of the most beautiful parts of Sydney down here in Tunks Park in Cammeray. This morning the Treasurer has been meeting with local residents at a community morning tea to outline the important benefits for our area and for all Australians in the Budget. There’s been a huge amount of interest in areas like the guarantee we’re providing for essential services, for aged care, for childcare, but also in an area like North Sydney, the incredible work we’re doing on strengthening the digital economy and the exciting opportunities that presents for a part of the world where the future of innovation and the digital economy is just so important. Thank you, Josh, for being here. It’s been a really exciting morning and a great reception for the Budget which will help secure our recovery.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thanks very much, Trent. Thanks for your wonderful advocacy on behalf of the people of North Sydney. There was a great deal of respect for you in the room, with more than 200 people gathering for that community morning tea earlier today. It’s been great to be in Sydney for the last few days. Yesterday in the electorate of Wentworth, meeting with a start-up company that is going to benefit from the employee share ownership scheme initiatives. Visiting Cochlear in the electorate of Bennelong to talk first-hand with a wonderful Australian innovative business that is exporting to 180 countries around the world and that is using the best science and technology to help repair hearing loss, and will benefit from the Patent Box. Also to speak to the Chamber of Commerce and to visit Penrith where I was with Melissa McIntosh, speaking to over 200 business leaders from that community. It’s been a really valuable time to be here in Sydney and tomorrow we head to Tasmania.
The Budget was all about jobs. The Budget was about ensuring that Australia can lock in and secure the economic recovery that is now underway. We’ve seen around 500,000 jobs being created since last year’s Budget in October. But we know that we can’t be complacent. We can’t rest on our laurels, we need to lock in those gains. That’s why in this Budget, we have heavily invested in doing the things that are working to date, including providing more tax relief to ten million plus Australians, including more than 70,000 across the electorate of North Sydney. Providing business investment incentives so businesses can write off in year one the cost of purchasing new machinery and equipment. Normally, when you’re in a recession, you see a capital strike. Businesses become nervous, they put their wallets back into their pockets, but not in this recession. We have actually seen machinery and equipment investment at its highest level in around seven years. We’ve been investing in skills, and we talked about apprentices here today in North Sydney; $2.7 billion to create over 170,000 new apprenticeships. Also investing in the successful JobTrainer program, 450,000 places, including new places for people to learn digital skills as well as to skill people up to work in the care workforce. It was also in this Budget, a significant investment guaranteeing the essential services that Australians rely on, particularly aged care, disability support, mental health, and of course, women’s safety. All those measures will be unpacked over the weeks and months ahead, but they are going to make a real difference to the quality of people’s lives. Including, of course, new drugs on the PBS. One of the drugs that I announced on Budget night for listing was Emgality, to treat chronic migraines. I have had many messages from people who currently use that drug which will cost $6,800 a treatment, now, if you are still using that drug and it’s been listed on the PBS, it will just be $40 a dose or even just around $6 if you’re a concession card holder. There are many measures in this Budget designed to guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on, but also to create more jobs, to lock in and secure our economic recovery which sees Australia better placed than nearly any other country in the world on both the health and the economic front.
QUESTION:
Treasurer, why is it a good use of taxpayers money to spend up to $600 million on a new gas fired power plant in the Hunter Valley?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Because lower power prices, more reliability in our energy grid means more jobs. We went to the market and said if you can build 1000 megawatts of dispatchable power, then the Government won’t come into the market and do so. But we didn’t see the market fill that void, that gap that will be created with the closure of Liddell. We saw the Tallawarra announcement from Energy Australia, that's about 330 megawatts and that's welcome. But on top of that, we are investing in 660 new megawatts of gas fired power generation, through the support of Snowy, and that's an important investment because that project will help lower electricity prices. What's really instructive is the lesson from the closure of Hazelwood within Victoria, we saw electricity prices spike at 85 per cent. We don't want to see a repeat of that experience. And we also know that gas fired power generation can enable more renewables to come into the grid which are intermittent in nature. Because gas fired power generation has dispatchable power ready on demand, not when the wind blows or when the sun shines, it's always going to be available as long as the gas is there available. And let's not forget that gas fired generation is going to be really important in the transition to a lower emissions future. So this investment will lead to lower prices, and more reliable grid, lower emissions and help create more jobs.
QUESTION:
Energy analysts say the plant isn't needed to boost reliability and bring down power prices. Why are they wrong and you are right?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, AEMO have looked at the grid and looked at the situation that will be created once Liddell comes out of it. And it does raise questions about the stability of the grid for New South Wales, it does raise questions about what will happen with prices. And again, Exhibit A is the experience with the closure of Hazelwood. So this is an important initiative that's designed to ensure that we have lower prices across New South Wales, and the national electricity market. We didn't want to have any regrets. in a few years’ time when Liddell comes out of the market and there wasn't the replacement power that we need. This has been a considered decision. It's one that's been foreshadowed to the market, the market didn't fill that 1,000 megawatt of dispatchable power that was going to be needed with the closure of Liddell. So we have stepped into the breach.
QUESTION:
So do you believe these energy analysts are wrong in their assessments?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, there are lots of different views across the market. What I can tell you is that this investment will lead to lower prices, a more reliable grid, and help create more jobs.
QUESTION:
On the vaccine take up, many doctors are saying that people over 50 are not getting the AstraZeneca vaccine because they're worried about blood clots and are wanting to wait for their turn to get the Pfizer vaccine. Are you worried about this take up of the AstraZeneca vaccine?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, we've encouraged all people to take up the vaccine and the rollout is occurring as fast as we possibly can get it out to more and more people. And we've seen more than 400,000 people get the dose over the course of the last week, we've hit the three million mark, we've seen more than 10 per cent of the population receive a dose. And we've also seen more than 30 per cent of those Australians aged over 70 receive a dose. So it's important that people take the opportunity to get to get the vaccine, whether it's the Pfizer vaccine or whether it's the AstraZeneca vaccine. Importantly, the vaccine will help build resilience across the community.
QUESTION:
Apart from encouraging Australians to get the vaccines you're currently doing, what more is the Government going to do to try and ensure people get vaccinated and get vaccinated faster?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, there's work that's going on now with the states through Phil Gaetjens, the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to look at how when people have the vaccine that may lead to a changed approach around their movement between states, their movement across international borders. And obviously, we're looking to also create opportunities for cohorts of international students to come to Australia. And we've encouraged the state governments to work with the university sector to work with their chief medical officers to tick off new proposals, that would mean more students come in, over and above the existing caps. And obviously, when they come to the Federal Government for approval, we're going to be well disposed towards that.
QUESTION:
There's been lots of commentary that the Federal Government hasn't outlined a roadmap to when it's going to open international borders. And the AMA has said that it's important to have that time frame so that people can go and can get motivated to get the vaccine. Is that something that you're aware of, that international borders should be tied closely to the vaccine rollout?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as you know, in the Budget, we made an assumption, it wasn’t a policy decision that the international borders will gradually reopen from the middle of next year. And that obviously is going to be dependent on the medical advice at the time. And not just with respect to the vaccine rollout but how the virus is developing internationally and particular threats that it may create. Because there are new variants in fact of the virus, we’ve seen the terrible images out of India, for example, and it's important that we continue to protect Australians. We took a decision last year to close our international borders, first with China and then more broadly, and we were criticised in some quarters at the time for doing so. But it helped set Australia up for the successful position we now have, and we now find ourselves in on both the health and the economic front, people say that Australia got lucky because we're an island, we didn't get lucky, we make our own luck, as Australians. The United Kingdom is an island, yet, they didn't close their borders, and they saw the virus run rampant. Australia, on the other hand, has been very careful to take that medical advice early on. And that's helped set ourselves up right now to see an economic recovery that is amongst the strongest in the world.
QUESTION:
You and the Prime Minister have said that the international border will open when it's safe to do so. But what exactly is the definition of safe? And what kind of certainty can you give to people instead of these soft targets which keep moving?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well there's not a lot of certainty in an uncertain world. And that's what we're in the middle of right now. This is a pandemic that is running rampant in various parts of the world. It's a once in a century pandemic. It's the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression. And what we're seeking to do every step of the way is to follow the medical advice, and to prioritise the health and the safety of Australians. So as I said, there'll be lots of considerations no doubt the Chief Medical Officer will need to take into account, at that time, when we get closer to making decisions around international borders. In the meantime, we are continuing to keep Australians safe with the border restrictions that we've had in place. But being here in New South Wales with my colleague, Trent, I always want to take this opportunity to congratulate Gladys Berejiklian and what New South Wales has done, because they've been one of the only states to not go into a statewide lockdown despite having new cases and outbreaks, for example, in the Northern Beaches. We haven't seen a statewide lockdown here, as we've seen in other states and all credit to the wonderful health professionals on the front line through their effective contact testing and tracing. But we don't know what's around the corner. This virus is still with us, it's deadly, it's stubborn, and the environment is uncertain. But what we do know is that Australia is very well placed to see a continuation of the economic recovery. The Budget was our economic plan to secure those jobs today and into the future. Thank you.