CHRIS KENNY:
Let's duck down to Melbourne now and catch up with the Treasurer of this great nation, Josh Frydenberg. Thanks for joining us, Josh.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be here, Chris.
CHRIS KENNY:
I've got to ask you first up before we come to these pandemic issues, the net‑zero target, you're obviously putting yourself in the camp that wants Australia to line up for that by 2050. Do you have any idea of what that would cost the economy over the next 29 years?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we’re, obviously we're working through our plan, we haven't made any formal decisions, Chris, but what I can tell you is that we've already put down around $20 billion of commitments in various forms to reduce our carbon footprint. But also it's about betting on new technologies, not taxes, as the pathway forward. Our technology investment roadmap is a way of ensuring that government money can leverage further investment from the private sector. I made a speech about this the other week and the key focus of that speech was to explain the new dynamic in global financial markets, markets that are factoring in that the world is moving to net‑zero. And that affects everything from how they price risk to where they allocate their capital and what type of assets that they purchase. This is very important for Australia because we rely heavily on foreign investment.
CHRIS KENNY:
Yeah, yeah. The push is coming from all directions, big business here and overseas, as well as all sorts of political parties around the world and governments, so that's a given. But my point is if you just go back to the past, it's a pretty good guide for the future, right? You used to be the Climate and Energy Minister so you know this well. You know that there's been about $40 billion of investment in renewables in this country and that's forced out a lot of coal fired power, which it was designed to do, but it created enormous pressure on prices which has hurt consumers and it's led to energy unreliability in parts of the country. So you must have an idea if you're sort of going to triple that effort over the next 30 years, the sorts of pressures and costs that it's going to bring to bear.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well you're certainly right, Chris, about what the costs are if you don't get the transition done smoothly. And we've seen that in South Australia, we've seen that in Victoria when some of the large coal fired generators closed and there wasn't sufficient gas or other forms of fuel to transition safely and sustainably to a grid that was secure, and you did see a big spike in the wholesale energy price. So that's why a lot of work has been undertaken by the Energy Minister Angus Taylor on ensuring that not only can we secure affordable power, but that our power is reliable, and in doing so we're reducing our carbon footprint over time. I think the key thing to focus on is that this move to net‑zero is a long‑term structural shift. It's not a short‑term shock. It's a long‑term structural shift and we have to make plans to learn to live with that.
CHRIS KENNY:
But will you give the public numbers, some solid costings on this, either on government expenditure or cost to the economy, because you quite rightly pilloried Labor for not having those costings at the last election?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Chris, we're obviously doing a lot of work behind the scenes and I'll leave some of those discussions to exactly that, behind closed doors. We're doing a lot of work, on a plan, to reduce our emissions over time and we'll have more to say about that in due course.
CHRIS KENNY:
Now you've announced that you're turning off the COVID welfare tap, for want of a better term, as states get to 80 per cent vaccination rates. I can hardly criticise that move because I was arguing for it a couple of months ago in my columns. So it's a good move because (a) you can't keep spending that money, (b) you've got to encourage the states to open up. But do you fear now that some of those recalcitrant states will blame Canberra for every problem they have as they open up, because it's going to be difficult, there's going to be infections, people are going to get sick?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well there certainly has been a bit of blame that they've sought to shift off their own shoulders and on to others, you know, that's been true in the past and no doubt, Chris, it will be true into the future. But the reality is we have done the bulk of the heavy lifting on economic support at the Federal level. Since Delta, mid‑year, we've already delivered over $13 billion of business support and household assistance through the COVID disaster payment. And that tab could reach above $20 billion by the time we get to the 80 per cent vaccination rates. We have announced a tapering of that economic support once you get to that 70 per cent double dose vaccination rate and a cessation of that economic support once you get to the 80 per cent double dose vaccination rate. And that's because we've taken the best medical advice and the best economic advice and we've sought to align our economic support with the Doherty plan, with the plan that was endorsed at National Cabinet which sees an opening up of the economy, lockdowns being lifted and people getting their lives back.
CHRIS KENNY:
Now the New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has said that he might step in and make up some of that funding to business in New South Wales. Is that welcome or is that a problem, because you've got one government with a foot on the accelerator and the other one on the brake?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well any economic support that they can provide is welcome. Dominic and I have worked closely through this pandemic, and we put out a joint announcement today about how our economic support in New South Wales for businesses will taper from 70 per cent and how it comes to an end at 80 per cent. Now he's providing an additional payment beyond 80 per cent and that's welcomed by us. So too with the other states. If they decide in Victoria to provide additional support, we'd welcome that. But from the Commonwealth's perspective, whether it's the COVID disaster payment and the business support measures or whether it was previously JobKeeper which was such a great success, the cash flow boost, the $750 payments to pensioners, to veterans, to carers, the unprecedented support for businesses through the investment incentives and the expanded instant asset write off, all of those are measures, Chris, which have been designed to boost economic activity and productivity across the economy.
CHRIS KENNY:
Thanks for joining us, Treasurer, I appreciate it.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.
CHRIS KENNY:
That's the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg live from Melbourne.