JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Chris. Nice…
CHRIS SMITH:
Just very, sorry, go on.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you.
CHRIS SMITH:
Just want to update your weight loss program. I’ve now lost seven kilos. You said you were down to five. Have you increased your weight loss from five any further, or is your mother going to get cranky with you?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I’ve been, I haven’t been weighing myself on a regular basis, Chris. I’ve just been run from pillar to post over here, but it is what it is…
CHRIS SMITH:
Yeah, all right.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
What happens on that front….
CHRIS SMITH:
You’re looking fairly dapper on the tele, so you might have lost an extra kilo there. Well done. Has your Government dropped the ball on the borders? Like, I thought the perfect position would have been to say to the states and territories, “Look at this half price travel plan we’ve come up with. It’s excellent. We’re going to put you on the schedule. But one thing you’ve got to do is sign an agreement right now before you get on the schedule to make sure you don’t close the borders at least from July 1 when the vulnerable would have been vaccinated.” Why wasn’t, did someone think of that and didn’t do it, or was it not thought of?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the states ultimately have that power under the constitution to take actions with respect to those health restrictions around their border. And that is being tested through the courts. But what we do know is there an immense cost to when they close their borders. And one premier who hasn’t gone into a statewide lockdown despite having an outbreak of cases is Gladys Berejiklian.
CHRIS SMITH:
So why didn’t you use the half price travel plan to get them to sign off on not closing their borders again? It was a great opportunity lost.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Because I think it’s actually going to create the momentum around keeping borders open. Now we are going to get more cases. Invariably we’ll get more cases. But it’s how the state premiers respond to those new cases, whether they can get their contact testing and tracing put in place really quickly and they can isolate those cases without denting confidence across the state and without costing jobs. The other point is that with JobKeeper coming to an end at the end of March state premiers will twice about what they do around the borders because it’s been the Federal Government who’s done the bulk of the heavy lifting to ensure that their communities are supported economically through this crisis. We have committed already more than double what the states and the territories combined have committed during COVID. And we’ve already delivered more than $150 billion.
CHRIS SMITH:
Josh, we know you’re the Facebook whisperer, you were able to get Zuckerberg on side. Why can’t you get the state premiers and the chief ministers on side, give them a good Chinese burn and say, “Don’t close the borders, otherwise we’ll pull half price travel to your state or territory.” You could did it posthumously.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the most powerful voices are your listeners. They’re the ones who if they tell those premiers, whether it’s in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria or across any other state that closing the borders ends up costing them jobs. But I think some of the premiers think it’s pretty popular. I mean, look what’s happened in WA with Premier McGowan. He obviously had some hard border closures and he had a very significant and substantial win in the most recent election. But our point has been about ensuring that the economic momentum can be maintained. And we’re seeing a very resilient labour market. The unemployment rate’s fallen to 6.4 per cent. 94 per cent of Australians who either lost their jobs or saw their working hours reduced to zero at the start of this crisis are now back at work. And even when JobKeeper comes off, it’s both the Reserve Bank and the Treasury’s forecast that the unemployment rate will steadily come down over time.
CHRIS SMITH:
Okay. JobKeeper comes off 12 days from now. We’ve got the Commonwealth saying we’re going to have 110 people without a job. The AMP are saying 150,000. Peter Switzer told me this morning it will be closer to 150,000. What’s Treasury telling you about what the right number might be?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, what Treasury are saying is even when JobKeeper comes off over time the unemployment rate comes down. The most recent forecasts are from the Reserve Bank, and as you know, today unemployment is at 6.4 per cent. They say by the end of the year it will be six per cent. So, yes, it will be a little bit bumpy when JobKeeper comes off at the end of March, but there are other programs that are out there to support the economy and to support people getting into jobs, like the tax cuts which we’ve legislated. We’ve already seen $9 billion go into the pockets of Australian families.
CHRIS SMITH:
Yeah, but if I don’t have a job that means nothing.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, in terms of boosting economic activity it does make a difference. But for those who are out of work, our focus is getting them into work. So programs like the JobMaker hiring credit will provide an employer up to $200 a week to take an unemployed person into work. And so we’ve got a whole series of things, Chris, infrastructure, apprenticeships, our tourism package, the JobMaker hiring credit, skills places. All of that is designed to help generate economic activity and to get people who are out of work into work. But we just can’t keep spending on a program such as JobKeeper indefinitely. It’s already $90 billion and the most expensive government program any Australian government has ever undertaken.
CHRIS SMITH:
One last one before we let you go, I can understand why the Prime Minister didn’t attend that March 4 Justice rally in Canberra yesterday, but couldn’t the Minister for Women have gone along?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, both the Prime Minister and the Minister for Women don’t have a habit of turning up at these marches, but what they did do is they offered to meet with the organisers. That was an offer that was made in good faith, and that unfortunately was an offer that was turned down. Because that would have been an opportunity to have the ear of the Prime Minister and for the organisers to put their concerns. And he did make that offer in good faith. But we’re getting on with the job of trying to reduce violence against women, which is a scourge across the country. I mean, the numbers are horrific, Chris. One in four Australian women over the age of 15 will at some point experience intimate partner violence. And that number is a lot greater among Indigenous communities. So we’re investing in frontline services, safe places, counselling and a new education campaign. The Prime Minister is acting, our Government is acting, but there is, of course, a lot more to do.
CHRIS SMITH:
Good luck with the diet. Appreciate your time this morning. Thank you very much.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thank you, Chris, I didn’t know I was being interviewed by Jenny Craig. Next time I’ll prepare differently.
CHRIS SMITH:
Yeah, thank you. Josh Frydenberg, Federal Treasurer.