DAVID KOCH:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg joins me now from Googong in New South Wales. Treasurer, appreciate your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning Kochie.
DAVID KOCH:
Look, couldn't come at a better time, it was going to cut off the end of the month, but given the severity of the recession, no businesses have got any money. Is that the reason why you’re extending it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we have seen strong take-up of this program in the past and this is a $300 million boost for investment across the nation. And we know that when the restrictions are eased and people are back at work that our cafes and our restaurants will be busy, our hotels will start having occupants again and our businesses will be able to export and import. And they need the equipment, they need the machinery, they need their new industrial oven or the new coffee machine and that’s what this program is designed to support.
DAVID KOCH:
Are you concerned that business investment won't be there to help the economy recover?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we do recognise that it is a challenging time and I think business investment will be slower to respond to the easing of the restrictions than say consumer confidence or general household consumption. But that is why we continue to work with the business sector, that is why we have a whole lot of other supply side reforms like cutting red tape and investing in infrastructure and of course, the work we're doing in industrial relations. Because we want to create a more conducive environment for business overall Kochie.
DAVID KOCH:
Yes, because the priority for most businesses is keeping staff at the moment isn’t it? And that’s where their money is going, so this is good. Tell us about the changes to childcare centres. You are cutting them off from JobKeeper, and free childcare services for people going back to work. Is this going to be a hindrance to getting people back to work?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
This is actually the package of support that the sector has asked for and now we have delivered and what we announced yesterday are transition arrangements. We also announced the easing of the activity test so if you are out of work or if you have seen your income fall by a certain amount from the coronavirus you will continue to get that increased support. But when we put this package in place initially Kochie, what we saw is the viability of the childcare sector being threatened and indeed many essential workers not being able to get to their work to provide the support that we needed on the frontline, for example in the health system. Our package of measures has worked, 99 per cent of childcare centres remained operational and now we’re making sure there is a transition arrangement.
DAVID KOCH:
Treasurer, unfortunately we have got news coming up, so we’ve been run out of time, been a bit squeezed, appreciate your time.