DANICA DE GIORGIO:
Treasurer, good morning. Thank you for joining me. Are yesterday's employment numbers a false indication of the state of the economy given they don't take in the results of the JobKeeper subsidy yet?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, yesterday's job numbers were far better than what the market was expecting, and they are another proof point of the economic recovery that is underway. We saw 70,700 new jobs created in the month of March. That's more than 2,000 new jobs every day. What we have seen is more than 70 per cent of those jobs going to women and around half of those jobs going to young people, and overall, the labour market is proving to be enormously resilient and we're actually seeing a recovery in the labour market that is more than four times faster than what we saw after the 1990s recession. So, you're right, it doesn't fully take into account the impact of the end of JobKeeper, but off the back of stronger consumer and business confidence numbers, these job numbers are very positive.
DANICA DE GIORGIO:
The Government has tied our economic recovery to the rollout of the COVID vaccine, but we now know, of course, that our rollout is delayed. So how can business be confident in our economic recovery?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I'm confident that the economic recovery will maintain its momentum, despite some of these challenges with the vaccine rollout. You have to understand that Australia is not in the predicament that the United States and the United Kingdom and other countries are with respect to the spread of the virus. We've been very successful in managing and suppressing the virus to date. That's not to say there could be challenges around the corner, but the urgency of the rollout has been different in other countries. That being said, we'll continue to roll out the vaccine, but we can only do so in accordance with the medical advice, and that's why we've provided a strong note of caution about the administering of the AstraZeneca vaccine for those who are under 50, and we'll continue to follow the medical advice as we have done right through this crisis.
DANICA DE GIORGIO:
I want to ask you about JobMaker. The program has so far only created around 609 jobs. That's well short of the projected 450,000. Was this a failed program so far?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, that program has worked in conjunction with a whole host of programs and the evidence of the success of our labour market strategy is shown in yesterday's job numbers. Let's not forget that Australia was facing an unemployment rate that could have been as high as 15 per cent. That would have been more than two million unemployed. That's what Treasury feared at the height of the crisis. Now we're down to 5.6 per cent and, as you know, we've seen very strong jobs growth over consecutive months.
Now, that program is designed to enable younger people to move from the unemployment queue into work. We also announced a series of apprenticeships and subsidies and the like. So, we had a number of programs that were working together. There were other programs in other sectors like HomeBuilder that have been oversubscribed and we've seen an increase in the cost of those programs off the back of more people taking advantage of the Government incentives. So, there are swings and roundabouts on different programs. But overall, we're very pleased with the momentum in the recovery and where we are right now.
DANICA DE GIORGIO:
So, what will you do then with that JobMaker money? Will it be reallocated in the upcoming Budget?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we'll have more to say about that on Budget night, as you would expect, but our support for the economy and for moving people from unemployment into work as well as skilling people up for the jobs of today and tomorrow will all be contained in Budget, and I don't want to give away any secrets right now.
DANICA DE GIORGIO:
I want to talk to you about the international border. Yesterday the Prime Minister said that…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yes.
DANICA DE GIORGIO:
Australians are still stranded overseas who are properly vaccinated could return home via quarantine and potentially opening that international border for business trips. Have you got a timeline of this yet?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it's still very early days. What the Prime Minister was referring to is the possibilities that could present into the future with the rollout of the vaccine, and he rightly also pointed out that we'd continue to take the medical advice, and that is why we haven't opened up our international borders just yet. But if we can find a way to bring more people back into the country and allow Australians to go overseas for essential business, based on the medical advice, we will do so. And now that the National Cabinet will be meeting more frequently, these are the type of issues that they'll, no doubt discuss, as well as the rollout of the vaccine.
DANICA DE GIORGIO:
Qantas boss Alan Joyce said that he expects that Government support will continue post October if international flights remain grounded. Will it continue, Treasurer?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I'm not going into get into the game of ruling in, ruling out, but what I can say is that we've been very strong supporters of the aviation and tourism sector. We just announced the $1.2 billion program which will see 800,000 half price air fares, air fares that are now selling like hot cakes. And that is a very good sign, not just for the aviation industry, but for jobs on the ground in the tourism sector. And we know that there are long supply chains in the tourism sector, be they accommodation, be they the tourism operators, be they those who work in the aviation sector as well and the hospitality sector. So, we'll continue to support that sector as a result of the challenges that they face with the international border closures. But what Alan Joyce has said to me in the past is that state border closures can be very damaging for the tourism sector and for the aviation sector, and he cancelled 1,500 flights into Queensland alone in the month of January. They were flights that would have otherwise gone into Cairns or gone into Hamilton Island or gone into Brisbane, or the Gold Coast. And we want those flights to continue and that's why we need our state borders to remain open and that's why we're very focussed on successfully suppressing the virus, as Australia has done to date.
DANICA DE GIORGIO:
Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, thank you for joining me this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.