BEN FORDHAM:
Josh Frydenberg, the federal Treasurer, is on the line. And he’s on the line right now. Treasurer, good morning to you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Ben, and good morning to your listeners.
BEN FORDHAM:
Is Mark McGowan now the Foreign Minister?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
He’s certainly not. He is able to travel, no doubt, where he wants to travel. I just wish the people of Western Australia could do so. You know, we would like to see them open their borders sooner than later, and I don’t see why, Ben, Western Australia should be any different to the other states and open their borders at the 80 per cent vaccination rates.
BEN FORDHAM:
We know we have some issues with China at the moment. But is it important for us to reconnect?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Any engagement with our key trading partners is welcome. Obviously China is our number one trading partner and it’s got – we have been targeted by them in terms of barley and coal and wine and other export items. But at the same time our exporters have been very resilient, robust. They’ve been able to find new markets. It hasn’t, you know, significantly damaged our overall export profile. That being said, Japan is our third largest trading partner, Korea our fourth largest trading partner. And with respect to those two countries, Australia has been deeply engaged with them recently and our Prime Minister Scott Morrison was the first foreign leader to engage with the Japanese Prime Minister during the pandemic. We’ll continue to build those important relationships and advance them in the national interest.
BEN FORDHAM:
Treasurer, you’re out and about today talking about tax office and Treasury data showing that many businesses that we feared were going to collapse didn’t collapse. But you’ve got 2.4 million businesses that were propped up by JobKeeper. Another million Australians got emergency payments during the last lockdown. We were on life support, but is it too early to declare that that’s over?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The economy certainly faces challenges, and the pandemic is not over. That being said, these economic data points from Treasury and the tax office do point to a strong recovery. As you’ll remember, Ben, at the start of the pandemic people feared the worst. Unemployment was, in the eyes of Treasury, potentially going as high as 15 per cent – more than 2 million unemployed. Yet the unemployment rate today is at 4.6 per cent and there’s 1.4 million additional people who are in work since the Coalition has come to government. With insolvencies down by 40 per cent year on year, job ads up 30 per cent since the start of the pandemic, consumer confidence rising, and restrictions easing in New South Wales and Victoria, I’m pretty optimistic and upbeat about the economy.
BEN FORDHAM:
All right. How important is it that the wharves get back to business? Because the Maritime Union of Australia is still having these stop works three times a day and you’ve got businesses and farmers saying, “Look, we have got a sweet spot here around the Christmas rush where we need to make sure that product is on shelves so we can make some money to make up for lost time.” How important is it that the wharfies get back to work and do the job they’re being paid to do?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Really important, because it just adds to the supply chain bottlenecks that not only prevent food getting from the paddock to the plate but also creating jobs across the economy. We’re going to have a bumper harvest, and we need to ensure that our agricultural exporters can get their commodities and produce around the country. We’re obviously importing important goods as well in the lead‑up to Christmas, and Australians deserve their ports to be working efficiently and effectively.
BEN FORDHAM:
Josh Frydenberg, a concerning story on 60 Minutes last night about your Assistant Treasurer, Michael Sukkar. They showed emails showing that taxpayer‑funded staff were used for branch stacking and that he was aware of the whole thing. I’m guessing you’re going to tell me that you haven’t seen the program. But you would have read the transcripts this morning. Are you concerned?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Ben, these matters raised by 60 Minutes have been independently investigated by the Department of Finance, and that they found that there was not evidence of a serious misuse of taxpayers’ resources. They made statements to that effect. As you know, Michael Sukkar himself has put out a pretty strong statement overnight in response to those allegations made on the 60 Minutes program.
BEN FORDHAM:
You’re comfortable that he’s in the clear?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I support Michael, as I do my other colleagues. He did make some comments in private correspondence that were aired on 60 Minutes last night about one of our other colleagues, Senator Jane Hume. And those comments were wrong. They should never have been said. They were unfair. And Michael has rightly apologised for that.
BEN FORDHAM:
Okay. I’ll go through that in a bit more detail in just a moment. I’ve got my hands now on his statement. We’ll catch up soon. Thanks for your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
All the best, Ben.