CHRIS SMITH:
Now, a little birdy does tell me that you may have received your second jab of Pfizer. Are you still standing, or do you have the man flu?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I'm sitting and I don't have that Bunnings hot dog to go with it but I have to praise the wonderful health staff here in the nation's capital who gave me that second Pfizer jab, and it's just because my age is under 50, Chris.
CHRIS SMITH:
Yes exactly, I understand that, that you haven't jumped the queue, I know that. I wanted to ask you about your business roundtable today, and in particular the reaction from business leaders in that room, and maybe even yourself, to the announcement by the Premier of New South Wales to extend lockdown?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, everyone's concerned about these lockdowns. They dent confidence, they cost the economy. And, of course, you know, we're seeking to prevent lockdowns from occurring more broadly across the country. Gladys Berejiklian has done a brilliant job over the course of the pandemic. She's avoided a state-wide lockdown, even though they've had outbreaks at various times.
This is obviously a pretty challenging situation with the Delta variant, and let's hope those restrictions can be lifted at the end of that extended week that she's announced today. But the Commonwealth Government has been there, constantly, consistently for the people of New South Wales.
We've already delivered more than $52 billion in support, whether it was the JobKeeper programme, the cash flow boost, the $750 payments to pensioners, veterans and carers and others on income support. And in this lockdown, we are providing payments of either $500 or $325 dollars a week to those workers who have lost hours as a result of the health restrictions.
CHRIS SMITH:
That is not much chop. I'm not talking about the overall numbers you just recited to me, but $325 and $500 is not much chop at a time when there's no JobKeeper, there's no bloated JobSeeker either. These are very more difficult times than we've received before.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
This is the same payment that we made available to Victoria when they went through their lockdown. And we did put in the Budget, Chris, just a matter of weeks ago, an additional $41 billion in direct COVID support measures because we were expecting more outbreaks and we were expecting more lockdowns.
That is taking in the form of tax relief, infrastructure spending, skills programmes and other payments. But we have ended that emergency support measure, namely JobKeeper. At $90 billion it was the most expensive, comprehensive wage subsidy scheme this country has ever seen. And it played a huge role in seeing the economy rebound strongly…
CHRIS SMITH:
Fair argument…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The unemployment rate today is at 5.1 per cent, and this lockdown will hopefully be short term…
CHRIS SMITH:
But what happens if Gladys Berejiklian keeps this lockdown on for three or even more weeks? It sounds like she's going for elimination. You won't budge on any kind of extra help for the engine room of the Australian economy?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I don't think that she's going for elimination. I think that what they're seeking to do is to contain, as they've done in the past, this outbreak and to suppress the virus. And obviously, the roadmap that the PM outlined and was agreed at National Cabinet last week will hopefully move us from that suppression phase to more of a prevention phase where we seek to prevent serious illness, hospitalisations and fatalities. And that's an important transition and that's where the vaccine rollout plays a key role.
The good news is that eight and a half million jabs have already been delivered. Some of the more vulnerable cohorts, like those for people aged over 70 have seen more than 70 per cent of that population receive a jab. For the population aged over 50, more than 50 per cent have received a jab, and over 30 per cent of eligible Australians have now received a jab too.
The purpose of today's meeting, Chris, with senior business leaders, who represented more than seven and a half million Australian workers, was to ensure that we cooperate constructively together in ensuring that the vaccine is rolled out as quickly as possible. This includes logistics, transport, premises that can be shared for the vaccinations, as well as communication strategies and community engagement.
It was a really positive meeting and as you know, we've worked very closely with the business community, from day one of this pandemic, which saw rent relief and mortgage relief for millions of Australians. So, I think today was an important step forward.
CHRIS SMITH:
So conceivably, and I jest at the start of our interview, but it could be that people go to Bunnings, get their hot dog and have a jab as well. Is that conceivable?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
All options are on the table. And I was joined at the meeting by the Chief Medical Officer, by the Secretary of Treasury, and also General Frewen, who's the Co-ordinator General of the Vaccine Task Force. And he found the meeting very helpful. And he found that those offers that were made, for example, of Officeworks and Bunnings premises by the head of Wesfarmers as being a constructive suggestion.
We'll work through that suggestion, but like others, like the head of Qantas was there, Alan Joyce. And he was talking about the fact they've got 13 million frequent flyer customers. They've got 22,000 staff. And all the businesses agreed out of today that they would send a communication, a note to their staff to underline how important it is that people get vaccinated, not just to protect themselves, but to protect the broader community, because that is how we're going to get to the other side of this pandemic.
CHRIS SMITH:
Absolutely. Which makes me wonder what was going through the mind of Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, yesterday when they're demanding the Grand Prix, Formula One Grand Prix community, to quarantine in November, four months away. And yet we've got 70 per cent of the most vulnerable jabbed.
We're rolling out the vaccine and will roll out the vaccine from September in massive numbers. Are we really going to be this protective and risk averse? I thought that was a dumb decision to make.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we're transitioning and that's the point of that four stage plan. But it was pretty bizarre to read the press release from the Victorian Labor Government about the Grand Prix, suggesting that the reason why it couldn't be held was because there's been a reduction in the quarantine caps and the numbers of overseas arrivals coming to Australia, given that it was the Victorian government just days before…
CHRIS SMITH:
Yes.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
...who had called for that reduction. you know, in overseas arrivals. So, they've become the masters of distraction in Victoria, as you know, they had a quarantine failure last year, which tragically led to many deaths and many months of lockdown. Yet, they had an inquiry that couldn't find or point the finger as to who was responsible. So, with Victoria, it's a very different situation to what we're seeing in New South Wales. Victoria has seen a lot more restrictive restrictions and a lot more days and months of lockdown.
CHRIS SMITH:
Yeah. Talk about risk averse, it never ends. One final point; the key United States Asian advisor to the US President made the point in a hook up today on a Canberra forum that we should expect a long and almost endless unyielding attitude from China in reference to trade. Are we economically in a position to be able to do this for much longer?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, China has targeted our trade. And you've seen that, whether it's barley, whether it's wine, whether it's our coal exports that are not going into China as they previously were. Iron ore is going in, in record amounts at a record price.
And that's a function that China does not have an alternative source to Australia for either the volume or the quality of the iron ore that helps underpin their domestic steel production, which is so important to their economic development, but also to their exports, as China is the world's largest steel exporter.
When it comes to our economic relationship with China, it's vitally important. It's worth more than $250 billion a year, and it's mutually beneficial. But at the same time, we have a very clear sense of our national interest, whether it was in relation to telecommunications issues, to the Belt and Road Initiative, to foreign investment, decisions that I take as Treasurer, the foreign interference rules.
All of those measures that we have taken have been designed to protect, to enhance and to advance our national interest, and we'll be very clear and consistent with that. But with respect to China, they're a lot more assertive today than they've been in the recent past. The China that Scott Morrison is dealing with, under Xi Jinping is very different to the China that John Howard was dealing with under Hu Jintao.
And you may remember Chris, back in October 2003, in successive days, you had a Chinese President and an American President address the Australian Parliament. Those days are long gone and we are now dealing in a very different a geostrategic environment.
CHRIS SMITH:
Alright, I'll leave you to nurse that arm. Hopefully that's not your tennis arm, is it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No, it's my left arm…
CHRIS SMITH:
Good.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It's not my tennis arm, not my writing arm and not my eating arm.
CHRIS SMITH:
All right, no excuse. We'll be watching you to make sure you come to work tomorrow. Thank you very much for your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to be with you, Chris.