CHRIS SMITH:
The Treasurer is on the line right now. Josh Frydenberg, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you, Chris.
CHRIS SMITH:
Good to have you here. Now, you are expanding this program – this is the recovery loan scheme – which has got to be good news for small and medium sized businesses. Why are you doing this? Is it because they’re doing it tougher than what you thought?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, small businesses have done it tough through this crisis. You’ll know from your local cafe to your hairdresser to your drycleaner to your local retailer, many have done it really tough as the health restrictions have meant that their doors have been closed and they haven’t been able to take customers as usual. Now, we’ve been with them every step of the way – whether it was the JobKeeper payments to keep their staff on, the cash flow boost which was a $35 billion measure to provide money for them to meet some of those ongoing expenses, whether it was working with the banks so that there weren’t repayments due on their loans, or whether it was working the states and the landlords to ensure that there was rental relief for those businesses, we’ve been there to support them. And this small business loan guarantee that we provide has already seen around 80,000 loans go out the door worth more than $7 billion. And it was due to end, Chris, at the end of this year, and so we’ve extended it for another six months. And so for businesses that have a turnover of less than $250 million, they can get loans of up to $5 million for up to 10 years to go and purchase new equipment – so if you’re a tradie getting new tools, or if you’re a cafe getting a new kitchen, or if you’re a manufacturer getting a new production line. And we believe that this will see billions of dollars of extra support go out the door to these small businesses. Now it’s not free money; they have to pay it back, but the point is it’s enabling them to back themselves as part of the recovery.
CHRIS SMITH:
So the only thing that is changing is the guarantee that the government pays, right? So it’s 80 per cent now; it will drop to 50 per cent, is that right?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Correct. And we partner with nearly 20 financial institutions to offer these loans. And that helps de‑risk some of the loans and means that they’re more likely to be provided.
CHRIS SMITH:
Just on the virus, you’ve said states should not overreact to the new Omicron variant. So it must be refreshing to see the Queensland border actually opening today. Do you have to slap your face to work out whether this was just a dream?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, states do need to stay calm and carry on and just not overreact to this variant, because it’s not the first and it won’t be the last that we face. And the vaccine has proven to be a very effective defence against the virus, and we now have real momentum in the economic recovery and we don’t want to put that at risk. So today’s announcement and developments in Queensland are very positive. It’s a Christmas present for thousands of tourism operators. The tourism sector in Queensland is worth more than $20 billion a year and employs more than 200,000 people. We’ve all enjoyed wonderful Queensland tourism destinations, and long may that continue. So this is very positive news.
CHRIS SMITH:
I’ve been trying to work out today though why you’ve also got to have a border pass. I don’t get it. Now, I had a reporter telling me, “Oh, but you’ve got to get the jab after five days in Queensland.” And I said, “Well, hang on, do you get a stamp on the border pass?” And they say, “No.” And I’m trying to work out why you would have a border pass. We’ve got a vaccination certificate they look at. Why do we need a border pass? Does anyone know?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, these are requirements that the state governments have put in place. We’d like to obviously see all the borders across the country open up – and the one we’re waiting for is Western Australia – because we believe now with the vaccine rollout being so successful – one of the highest vaccinated countries in the world at around 90 per cent double‑dose vaccinations for those who are eligible, now the booster shot is rolling out more than 650,000 of them have been provided with millions more to come, as well as the approval of the vaccine now for younger kids – is all pointing in a very positive direction for the ability of our economy and our health system to manage effectively this virus.
CHRIS SMITH:
Okay. We’re still short on skilled workers.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We are.
CHRIS SMITH:
Industries are crying out for staff.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yep.
CHRIS SMITH:
You’re hoping to lift that pause and increase permanent migration by an extra 120,000 people. I can’t believe what I read over the weekend that Anthony Albanese was saying, “Oh, hang on, we don’t want extra people coming into the country.” What’s going on there?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, he’s at odds with his own shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who was saying just months ago that we need more people in this country. So I think he’s read from the wrong script there and he’s getting himself a bit tongue‑tied. And, you know, this is what we’ll see, I think, from Anthony Albanese, Chris, over coming months – a lot of missteps. He’s probably getting a bit cocky as well. And, you know, he was saying the other day he wants to remove the fuel excise from electric vehicles. There’s only one problem with that – there is no fuel excise on electric vehicles. So he doesn’t know his tax system.
He has got one big idea, though – he wants a national driver’s licence, which is not exactly a big structural economic reform. You know he wants to throw away $6 billion of taxpayers’ money to pay people who have already had the jab. And so that’s no longer, you know, I think an idea that even his own shadow cabinet supports with his own shadow finance minister saying the other day the time for that policy has passed. So this is going to be a very clear contest at the next election between a Liberal and National Coalition who has a track record of delivering lower taxes, of helping the Australian economy recover very strongly from the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression, and a Labor Party which has not changed its spots, which does believe in higher taxes, and it needs higher taxes because it will always spend more.
CHRIS SMITH:
Great to have you on the program. Thank you, Josh.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.
CHRIS SMITH:
Good on you. Josh Frydenberg, the Treasurer.