ALLISON LANGDON:
Treasurer, a very good morning to you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Look, Labor did try to make changes to include the 1.1 million casual workers who don’t qualify. You wouldn’t budge, why not?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well this program will go to six million workers, this is a $130 billion program, the size and scale of which this country has never, ever seen before. It’s a massive call on the public purse but it’s necessary in these times. But let’s not forget that casuals actually benefit from this program where they’ve been connected with their employer for 12 months or more, and those casuals who don’t come under the JobKeeper program can be eligible for the JobSeeker program which provides $1,100 plus a fortnight. So there is significant support for all members of the Australian community who fall upon hard times.
ALLISON LANGDON:
The ACTU and Labor both pushed really hard on this, was it even considered?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we passed the legislation as we put that legislation to the Parliament and I think that’s important because we set out the parameters of the policy based on considered advice, based on the impact that it would have out there in the community and I think it will save millions of Australian jobs. And the passage of the legislation last night will give millions of Australian families hope that they will see the other side of the coronavirus, that they will be able to stay in work and will have that formal connection between their employer and themselves.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Credit where it’s due, well done. But I want to ask you about this, corporate heavyweights have questioned the Government’s six month business hibernation strategy this morning, are you going to budge on that at all?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we will continue to take the best possible medical advice, and the Prime Minister is in daily contact with the Chief Medical Officer. I think that’s served Australia well, Karl, I think when you look at what’s happened in the United States or in Italy or in other parts of the world where they’ve really struggled with a very high death toll, I think we’ve been well served by taking the medical advice every step of the way and we will continue to do that. But obviously, the health restrictions have a severe economic impact, that’s why we have announced the program that passed the Parliament last night.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I mean, we talk about those health restrictions, what do we have to do? Do we have to wait until a vaccine is found before we re-open the economy?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, that will depend on the medical advice but neither you, nor I, will find that vaccine. It’s going to be some smart scientist or medical researcher or doctor who is bunkered down in the laboratory finding that cure, finding that vaccine, let’s hope they find it sooner than later.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
But the reality is, if you wait for a vaccine, there are going to be so many businesses that go under, so you have to, a gentle waking up of businesses has to happen before then.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well of course we are focused on the economic impact and we’re trying to give support to those businesses that are impacted, and it’s not just, Karl, the measures that we passed through the Parliament last night. It’s also the cash flow boost of up to $100,000 that we’ve given millions of workers through their businesses, it’s also the cash payments that have now gone out, the $750 cash payments, to around six and a half million Australians, it’s the more than $100 billion that’s been injected into the financial system to keep that flow of credit, the early access to superannuation, the other investment incentives. There’s been a long list of economic initiatives that we’ve taken, and effectively three big tranches, which will support the community to get to the other side of this coronavirus crisis.
ALLISON LANGDON:
But are you slowly working on a plan behind the scenes to re-open the economy, certain sectors of it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well the Prime Minister has said that we’ve taken that road in, we’re currently going along that road through, and we are already thinking about that road out. We don’t want these spending initiatives to go one day longer than they have to, that’s what has always driven us here having temporary, targeted, proportionate measures that have been put in place that have used the existing tax and transfer system. So we will continue to monitor our initiatives, they’re never set and forget, but as you would expect us to do, we have got to take the best possible medical advice because we have got to keep Australians safe, and the evidence in to date is that we have one of the highest testing rates here in Australia from around the world, and we have one of the lowest mortality rates, and we have started to see a flattening out of that curve, and that’s a result of the social distancing, the isolation, the quarantine measures that we’ve put in place.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
You know you are making Kevin Rudd look like an economic conservative, he only spent $52 billion during the GFC.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and this is on a scale much much greater than the GFC. I mean we’ve seen the lockdown of whole nations, Karl, I mean people have been kept indoors for weeks on end around the world. Global supply chains have been disrupted. This is not a financial liquidity crisis that we saw during the GFC, this is a global pandemic that’s having a very severe economic impact. And during this crisis I had a good chance to talk to John Howard, someone who I talk to regularly, and he’s pretty much seen it all in politics, and he said to me “there are no ideological constraints at times of economic crisis like we’re seeing now”, and that was pretty good advice and that was advice that we took.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
So you’re saying Kevin Rudd on this day, spent too much?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well look I’m not going to talk about the past, I’m going to talk about the future and you’ll have to go fishing somewhere else if you want to catch that one.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Or not be so obvious about it hey?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
You put that rod out and nothing took a bite.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I’ll get you sooner or later. Josh, look we are at the end of the day looking down the barrel of hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. When do you foresee the payback pain starting? I know it’s early days and we’re looking at 18 months before we have a vaccination, six months of really hard times here but when will you turn or tighten those screws and turn the economy around?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well the first thing to say to your viewers is that we make no apologies for spending what is necessary at times of economic crisis. I mean, when you saw those queues outside Centrelink, it was heartbreaking. People losing their jobs through no fault of their own. And what we have done here is provide an economic lifeline to millions of Australians. The other thing I’d say is we have come into this economic crisis from a position of economic strength. I mean, our debt to the size of our economy has been about a quarter of what it is in the United States or in the United Kingdom. So here in Australia, we are a lot better positioned to get through this economic crisis and to have the financial firepower to spend what is necessary. But you’re right, there will be a debt burden, it will be paid back in the years to come, but with responsible economic management, something that we have become known for as a party, Australia can manage that process into the future.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Well a historic night overnight passing this legislation, well done, many hours have been put into it. Thanks Treasurer.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Thanks Josh.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thanks guys.