DAVID KOCH:
Treasurer, morning to you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Kochie.
DAVID KOCH:
Potentially a good thing that businesses no longer need JobKeeper, but of those who no longer qualify for the scheme, how tough are they doing it? Have they, in fact, recovered?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, certainly some have and it does depend on the sectors and in which they're operating. But what we do know is that the economic recovery across the country is well underway. We've seen that not just in these JobKeeper numbers, which as you indicate are better than what we forecast at budget and saw the number of people who were on JobKeeper at 3.6 million in the September quarter fall in October to 1.5 million, but we saw 178,000 jobs, Kochie, created last month. We've seen consumer confidence up in eleven out of the last twelve weeks. We've seen Australia's AAA credit rating reaffirmed and we've seen the effective unemployment rate, which is the number we really watch, we saw that come down from 9.3 per cent down to 7.4 per cent. So all of that put together does indicate that Australia is actually gaining momentum with our economic recovery.
DAVID KOCH:
So JobKeeper coming in under budget, under what you forecast?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, obviously, there would be likely to be less money spent if there's less people on the program, but we'll make those numbers known at the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook time, which is late in December.
DAVID KOCH:
So, will you bank those savings or will you extend JobKeeper for companies, say Victorian companies, that have gone through this second wave and are later in the recovery process?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, certainly we have already extended JobKeeper, Kochie, as you know out to…
DAVID KOCH:
Yeah, but further.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
...to the end of March and Victorian businesses have been the greatest beneficiary of that. But what we've always sought to do is ensure that JobKeeper is temporary and it's targeted and we've announced other initiatives in the budget. So it's not like there hasn't been a lot of spending going on. There certainly has, but it's been very focused and, for example, the immediate expensing initiatives which is the expanded instant asset write‑off for business will encourage more investment. That will create more jobs right across the supply chain. Just yesterday, Kochie, we announced an extension for another three months of the HomeBuilder scheme which has been such a success which is going to put $15,000 in the pockets of those seeking to build a new home. So there are lots of initiatives that the Government has underway, including the JobMaker Hiring Credit, all of which will help create jobs across the economy, which is our number one focus.
DAVID KOCH:
Okay. So you would be prepared to spend, say, the savings you make on JobKeeper, coming in under budget, on other programs where necessary to help particular sectors?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, we announced in budget a lot of new spending which is focused on programs that extend not just this year but into next year and beyond, and those programs will be having an effect as JobKeeper comes to its fruition. I mean, we do know that there are so many businesses across the country that are now graduating from JobKeeper. I met the crane driver in western Sydney, the cafe owner in Adelaide and the electrician on the Central Coast, all of whom have benefitted from the government programs that are now graduating from JobKeeper as they see their customers come back and the virus being suppressed.
DAVID KOCH:
Okay. While we've got you here, the Government's plans to take China to the World Trade Organisation for the first time over barley tariffs, follows China's decision to slap huge tariffs on Australian wine products the end of last week. So it's not barley. These trade sanctions are certainly mounting up in a lot of sectors. What happens if this backfires?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, this is a very challenging time with our largest trading partner. But as you know, we take decisions that are based on the national interest and that list of 14 grievances, 14 issues that China raises, you wouldn't expect us to make any apologies for our stance in relation to that. Whether it's around foreign investment, whether it's around our free press, whether it's around the ability of parliamentarians to speak their mind as they're democratically elected to do, all of those are matters that Australia takes very seriously. Now, we would obviously like to work through bilaterally with China some of these challenging issues, but we also retain the option of going through multilateral forums as well.
DAVID KOCH:
Okay. All right. Keep us posted on that. Treasurer, appreciate your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to be with you.