BROOKE CORTE:
Treasurer, good evening.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you, Brooke.
BROOKE CORTE:
Now to clarify, the biggest issue that our listeners want to know from you tonight is your plan for the economy, is it based on most of the country being vaccinated by the end of this year and the international border being open six months later in the middle of next year?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we've made an assumption that the vaccine will be available to all those who want it by the end of this year. And as you know, the vaccine has been rolling out and we've seen over 400,000 people get the vaccine over the last week, more than ten per cent of the country, 30 per cent of those aged over 70 have received the vaccine, and more supply is coming online. So the expectation is that we'll continue to see more people vaccinated but we've got to remember, Brooke, we're still in the middle of a pandemic and there's a lot of uncertainty out there. You just have to look globally at more than 800,000 new cases a day and the situation in India. So we've been pretty cautious and conservative in saying that the assumption is that the borders will gradually reopen from mid‑next year.
BROOKE CORTE:
I mean the answer, the confusion around the international border opening or remaining closed, I mean, its crippling industries like tourism and education. So is the international border going to open by the middle of next year?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well it's not a policy decision, it's an assumption. And you understand that when you're making budgets you make assumptions which then feed into the economic forecasts.
BROOKE CORTE:
Okay.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Our policy decision around the borders will be determined by the medical advice, and you can't say that this far out from that point in time. I spoke to the Chief Medical Officer…
BROOKE CORTE:
Yes, it seems wildly unlikely, I guess, is the feeling that we're getting from our listeners already.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, I don't think anyone really knows.
BROOKE CORTE:
Okay.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Until we get closer to that time because of the impact that the situation globally will have on the decision‑making of the Chief Medical Officer.
BROOKE CORTE:
There's an extra thousand dollars in the pockets of low-and middle-income earners.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
There is…
BROOKE CORTE:
With your announcement tonight. That's about ten million people benefitting from that tax offset. Now is that a permanent feature? That has to be taken away at some point, doesn't it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
That's a stimulus measure and it's not a permanent feature of the tax system.
BROOKE CORTE:
It's not permanent, okay.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
But we did last year put one in as well. It comes at a cost of $7.8 billion and it goes to those who will be spending that money across the economy. If you earn between $48,000 and $90,000, you'll get $1,080 in your pocket by the end of this financial year. And so that's going to be really important for people at the end of the financial year to be able to get that extra money.
BROOKE CORTE:
The Westpac economist Bill Evans, he says that you've squandered an opportunity here. He says you should have brought forward the stage three tax cuts to next year because if we want people back getting into the workforce and putting money in their pockets, you want to deliver growth and full employment, you can also deliver tax reform if you'd just brought forward those stage three tax cuts. He says “missed opportunity.”
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well the point is that we had to prioritise our decisions. We've given further business investment incentives because that creates jobs and a stronger economy. We've put another year of the lower middle income tax offset which will put more money into people's pockets, and we're committed to the legislated stage three of the tax cuts. Now the same can't be said for our political opponents, but we know that is an important reform. Bill Evans knows it's an important reform that will see people who earn between $45,000 and $200,000 pay a marginal rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar.
BROOKE CORTE:
Just finally, the economic security of women had to be addressed in this Budget for economic and political reasons. There was a lot of big promises, but I don't think you're going to make the mark in terms of living up to those promises. The childcare package, too little too late. I'm seeing here as well that the Women's Agenda, for example, are noticing that the Office of Women had funding slashed by $7.1 million. Why would they have had their funding slashed?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, actually this is a record investment and I think you should look at all the detail, Brooke, in terms of the Women's Economic Security Package, at the Women's Safety Package and in the Women's Health Package. Let me just take you through a couple of things.
BROOKE CORTE:
We've got about 20 seconds. I'd love you to do it though.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
With respect to women's safety, it's about safe houses, it's about legal assistance, it's about counselling, it's about financial assistance for women who are leaving domestic violence situations. That's going to make a huge difference on the ground.
BROOKE CORTE:
Thank you so much Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, we appreciate your time here. Thank you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to be with you.