EDDIE MCGUIRE:
Good morning Josh.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you Ed.
EDDIE MCGUIRE:
Great to have you mate, I know you’re doing the media rounds so we won’t hold you up. Tell us about what you’re trying to achieve and what is coming our way as far as JobKeeper and JobSeeker are concerned?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well as you know Eddie outside of Victoria the Australian economy is starting to opening up. We saw some really good jobs numbers last week with 210,000 people finding a job in the month of June, 60 per cent of whom were women and 50 per cent were young people. But at the same time a number of businesses in particular sectors, like aviation, tourism, hospitality are doing it tough and of course, our fellow Victorians are doing it very tough now in lockdown. So what we have announced is the extension of the JobKeeper program for another six months. It will continue at the flat $1500 payment till the end of September, after which it will transition to a lower payment and in the first three months it will be at $1200, with a second tier payment of $750 after which it will transition to $1000 with a second tier payment of $650 and that will ensure that people who need our support are getting it.
LUKE DARCY:
What’s the qualification that businesses are going to need to provide, to continue that payment through to March?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Darce, they’re going to need to meet the turnover test. So if you are a business with a turnover of less than $1 billion, your turnover would had have to fall in those quarters previously by 30 per cent or more. If you’re a business with a turnover of more than $1 billion your business would have had to had a turnover fall by more than 50 per cent or more. If you’re a charity it’s a lower turnover test at 15 per cent but what it’s designed to do, is to be demand driven, based on need because obviously with the taxpayers’ money, we have to be as careful as possible.
EDDIE MCGUIRE:
You do and that will cut a number of people out of that and that’s fair and reasonable to look at it and review. Josh, there’s a call for the unemployment benefits to be lifted, you did that in the first instance up to the $1500, going forward do we need to look at that? Is the level that it’s going to go back to, $800 a fortnight I think it is, is that enough for people to live on?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well firstly, we have done a lot to boost that payment for people who find themselves out of work. So we effectively doubled it, with the $550 payment and that again will stay in place until the end of September. It will then go down to $250, but it’s still going to be at an elevated level. What we’re trying to do, Eddie and Darce, is we’re trying to get the balance right. We want people to get that income support who need it. But we also want to maintain the incentives for people to find work. That’s why we’re gradually turning on the mutual obligation so therefore putting people in touch with an employment service provider, getting them to undertake up to four searches a month. I don’t think that’s unreasonable when they’re receiving taxpayer’s money.
LUKE DARCY:
Josh, one of the other initiatives that I’m not sure has been fully announced is the ability for small businesses to potentially access up to $1 million with the Government backing those loans to try and keep small businesses going. Can you give us some detail on that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Sure, well what the Government has done is entered into a partnership with the banks where we will go 50-50 in guaranteeing loans to small businesses who have a turnover of under $50 million. Now previously, loans were available to be used for working capital, effectively just to get people through this crisis. And they were capped at $250,000 and they were for just three years. What we’re doing now is extending that to five year loans, up to $1 million, and they can be used for a broader range of purposes like investment and I think that will enable a lot of small businesses, not just to get to the other side, but to grow for the future, because Darce, they’re going to be absolutely key to the recovery. Because already, 15,500 small businesses, around Australia have taken out $1.5 billion of these loans.
EDDIE MCGURE:
Josh, thanks for joining us this morning mate. Anything that you wanted to say to people at the moment, the microphone’s yours?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I think it is really important that people stay safe and everyone stays strong. Victoria’s doing it tough at the moment but if people are following the social distancing requirements, if people are obviously following the isolation requirement and the quarantine requirements – if that applies to them – then I think we can flatten the curve. That’s the best way to keep people in jobs and support the economy, is to make progress on the health front. So don’t go out and demonstrate, whatever the cause, follow the medical advice because we’re all in this together.
EDDIE MCGURE:
And put the mask on tonight from midnight if you are in Victoria. Good on you Josh and one final question, we need to get to it, ok, now I know how you felt, because you were texting me, but tell me about when Robbie Gray was lining up for goal mate?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We were ‘Robbied’. But I mean the fact is the Blues showed a lot of fight in that match and you know, Eddie Betts, joining the 300 club, 300 goals at two clubs. Only Plugger and, I think, Buddy, have joined in that elite company and I thought whether it was Walsh, or Betts or Cripps, the boys are playing really well and it’s giving us long suffering Carlton supporters a lot to look forward to in the future.
LUKE DARCY:
I didn’t know you were an AFL statistician Josh, pulling out stats like that.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Josh Kay has got nothing on this bloke.
EDDIE MCGURE:
We’re going to play a song for you now mate. Now eventually, one day, we’ll get this one back for you. It’s ACDC, and we will be black in back one time. But in the meantime, you’re doing a great job, thanks Josh.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Black and white.
EDDIE MCGURE:
Well if you insist. Thanks mate.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thanks Ed.