CHRIS SMITH:
I caught up with the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg this afternoon, and asked him what figures from today's numbers he was most pleased with.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, obviously, Chris, the unemployment rate going down to 4.2 per cent, the lowest in more than 13 years, is quite a remarkable rebound in the labour market. But also the fact that 58 per cent of the 65,000 new jobs created in December went to young people aged 15 to 24. You see, the Labor Party said that the biggest test of the Morrison Government through the pandemic would be what happens to unemployment. The unemployment rate today is at 4.2 per cent, and under Labor when they last left office, was 5.7 per cent. Underemployment, youth unemployment, are all lower today than they were when Labor left office. There are one million more women in work today than when Labor was last in office. So when it comes to creating jobs, the Morrison Government, the Coalition, have achieved something very, very positive for Australia.
CHRIS SMITH:
Now, they're impressive numbers, but it doesn't measure the true impact of the Omicron outbreak. How bad will the next month's numbers be, do you think?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, obviously, the Omicron outbreak has impacted on confidence, it's impacted on spending. But I'm also comforted by the fact that the fundamentals of the economy are strong, not just in the labour market, but where we see the business investment numbers, when we see the strong pipeline of housing construction. And we see that Australia has maintained its AAA credit rating. And we do know from the banks and the other regulators, that both households and businesses have accumulated more than $300 billion on their balance sheets that was not there at the start of the pandemic, Chris. That money will be spent over time as the restrictions ease and people get about their daily lives. So yes, Omicron has had an impact, but I'm also encouraged by the overall strength and resilience of the economy.
CHRIS SMITH:
So do you think next month will still be in the 4s or out within the 5s?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we're in the low 4s now, and this is the equal fourth lowest unemployment rate since the Bureau of Statistics created this data series back in 1978. Clearly, something has happened very positively in our labour market and the policies of the Government have helped develop this result. Not only did JobKeeper actually keep people in work, but we've also been investing in skills and trade apprentices. We've got 220,000 trade apprentices right now, Chris, this is the highest since records began back in 1963. So, while a lot of people are obviously fearful of COVID and, you know, can see that the glass may be half empty in some people's cases, I can look at the economy more broadly, and I’m saying that the glass is certainly half full.
CHRIS SMITH:
We've heard today that 200,000 Australians who took up welfare in the very first round of lockdowns, they're still reliant on government support. Do you think those 200,000 people are seriously trying to look for work?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, that number has come down significantly as the economy has bounced back. So more than half a million have actually come off those unemployment benefits and into work. But we have the mutual obligation requirements, something that the Labor Party has never been enthusiastic about…
CHRIS SMITH:
Do we have to go harder on those, Treasurer?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we're working on how we can ensure that those job‑active providers, those organisations that are placing people in work, can do more to ensure that we're matching the needs of employers with the skills that employees are providing.
CHRIS SMITH:
I've had the people from National Seniors Australia on my programmes over the summer period discussing the case for redesigning the pension to allow retirees to fill these workplace gaps without having their pension docked, New Zealand does it successfully. Why can't we consider it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we've actually got systems in place to encourage people to take up more work while they're on the pension and not be impacted. So, Chris, if you're a pensioner today, you can earn $480 a fortnight. That's the combination of what is called the income‑free area and the pension work bonus, and that's not impacting upon your pension. Now only 78,000 pensioners, just over 3 per cent, are actually taking advantage of those opportunities with the pension work bonus. We've got more than 2 million pensioners and only 78,000 are taking advantage of that opportunity. So you can go and earn that $12,500 a year by actually using the existing system that we've put in place, that we've strengthened over recent budgets…
CHRIS SMITH:
But that threshold is too low.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well $12,500 is what you can earn without impacting upon your pension. The combination of the income‑free area, which is $180, and the pension work bonus, which is $300 a fortnight. Now we lifted that from $250 to $300 in recent Budgets. So we've actually taken steps. So, my message to the pensioners and the other seniors watching your programme, is there is a really good opportunity for you to go out and work today without impacting upon your pension. Please take advantage of it because that's what it's designed to do.
CHRIS SMITH:
I want to go back to this almost self‑inflicted lockdown we're facing at the moment. I noticed that some of the state governments are continuing payments for those who can't get back to the workplace because of COVID. Will you be considering any kind of payment for businesses to prop them up during what is, as I say, a self‑inflicted, self‑imposed lockdown of sorts?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I certainly understand that some businesses are doing it tough, particularly those in the hospitality sector, those in the tourism and the travel industries that were impacted by the disruption to the summer period. But I also know that we've got measures in place that are designed to help both businesses and workers. So with workers, we've got the pandemic leave payment that we pick up the bill of up to $750 a week. Then we've also got what is called the loss carry back measure, Chris, so if you're a business that incurs a loss today, you can go to the Tax Office and actually get a cash refund based on the taxes that you previously paid. We've also got a small and medium sized business enterprise loan scheme where you can go and get a loan of up to $5 million. And we've partnered with a lot of the financial providers to do that. So we're working in a number of areas to provide support. The states also have a role here, and New South Wales and Victoria have already announced some changes around the rental arrangements so that commercial tenants who are doing it tough through Omicron can get some relief, and we'd welcome that and other initiatives the state governments may undertake. But we have already deployed, Chris, $300 billion, the vast bulk of the spending through this crisis has come from the Coalition Government, and it has seen the unemployment rate today come to 4.2 per cent. And we do know that Australia is in a very strong position compared to the rest of the world, whether it's around the vaccination rates, whether it's the lower mortality rate compared to other countries, and, of course, our strong economic recovery, shown very clearly today in the unemployment rate falling to 4.2 per cent.
CHRIS SMITH:
Well done on today's figures, thank you very much for your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Always a pleasure, Chris.