EDDIE MCGURE:
We’re both pretty keen to introduce this bloke, this morning. He’s a good friend of ours, Josh Frydenberg. Who is doing a power of work at the moment to try and keep the economy going, in a situation where the federation of Australia has so many different economies happening at the moment, in each of the states, and different challenges. He joins us, as he always does, and we really appreciate it, Josh, that you give of yourself to the Triple M audience every time something big happens. Good morning, mate.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, nice to be with you Ed. Nice to be with you, Darce.
EDDIE MCGURE:
Right, Josh, let’s go. This is an amazing announcement, this morning. As a business owner myself, it comes as a great relief to a lot of people in the community. Just explain what you’re doing.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the Morrison Government, Eddie, is committing an extra $15.6 billion to expand the JobKeeper program. It’s already the largest single program that any Australian government has ever undertaken and this reflects the recent developments that we’ve seen in Victoria. So, we’re making two changes. One is to the business turnover test, so if you’re a business and you want to apply for JobKeeper in the December quarter, you will only need to be down in your turnover in the September quarter, not the June quarter as well.
EDDIE MCGURE:
And Josh, what’s the figure? It’s still 30 per cent down, is it, on turnover?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It’s still 30 per cent down if you’re a business with a turnover of under $1 billion. The second one, which will be really important for the pub industry, and the hospitality industry more widely, is if you are on the books of a business on 1 July as an employee, then you will be eligible, whereas previously you had to be on the books on 1 March. Which means that businesses, that have taken on some additional staff as things were starting to open up, will now also be eligible for JobKeeper. Now, this is going to cost $15.6 billion, together with the other demand that we’re seeing out of Victoria, but importantly, of that $15.6 billion, $13 billion will go into Victoria. So we will see 1.5 million Victorian workers, currently there’s just under a million, go on the JobKeeper program through this period of September, and that will make a real difference to businesses.
LUKE DARCY:
And Josh, how long do you see this program running through? Is that extending that out to the end of September? And your announcements around March next year, previously. How long will this program run for?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, we extended it for six months, Darce, so it goes out to March. But the important point is that for those businesses in Victoria who are doing it really tough, this morning I spoke to the Victorian Chamber of Commerce, I’ve spoken to the Business Council of Australia, obviously lots of their members are really struggling through this period. We’re basically making it easier for their businesses and their employees to be covered by JobKeeper which will provide them with an economic lifeline.
EDDIE MCGURE:
So, it’s dropped from $1,500 to $1,200, which is probably fair enough, because…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Only from October through to December. So, right now, to the end of September, which is still, you know, a little while to go, it’s still at the $1,500 flat rate.
EDDIE MCGURE:
And when it drops to $1,200, though, but you have made pretty tough eligibility rules less so, which is a compassionate thing that you’ve done for the people of Victoria, so more people will be able to qualify for that $1,200 a fortnight, from September. Josh, for the businesses who may not have got onto this, what do they do? How do they make sure that they’re compliant and doing the right thing?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Treasury and the Tax Office will be providing the relevant information over the course of this day, in order for people to be able to access the factsheets for businesses. But the main thing that they need to know is that the Government is absolutely there to help them through it. I mean, a lot of your listeners would be doing it really tough now. I mean, we feel it in Victoria as you know, that we’re going through the eye of a storm. People are locked in their houses, looking after their loved ones, and we’re just waiting for that storm to pass. And we will get through it, and what we want to see is as many Victorian businesses stay the course and get to the other side.
EDDIE MCGURE:
Good on you, Josh, we really appreciate you coming on this morning. Is there anything that you’d like to say to the people of Melbourne before we let you go?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, look after yourself, look after your family, look after your loved ones. A lot of people are going to do it tough right now and the only way that we will be able to get through this is to stem the tide of new cases, to follow the rules, and let’s hope we can do that.
LUKE DARCY:
Hey, Josh, just a quick tweet coming through before we let you go from one of the Triple M family, saying ‘will JobKeeper be reinstated for childcare?’
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We’ve already made some announcements on childcare to smooth the path in Victoria, so we’ve done that. We’ve done the paid pandemic leave, we’ve now extended JobKeeper, there’s a whole series of other things that we’ve done already, including extra support for childcare.
EDDIE MCGURE:
And the other one, the last one, a third last one. Mental health, you’ve kicked them a fair bit of money, particularly for kids at school, year 11 and 12.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yeah, this is a real concern, obviously, that the whole emotional toll of what we’re going through, Eddie, will be pretty significant for families. Therefore we’ve partnered with groups like Beyond Blue, with Lifeline, talking to people like Patrick McGorry, the former Australian of the Year, looking at what we can do to provide that extra financial resources so that if people need help, that help is there for them.
EDDIE MCGURE:
Good on you, mate. Great job. Thank you very much.
LUKE DARCY:
Federal Treasurer of Australia, Josh Frydenberg, with a huge announcement for business in Victoria, that there will be an extension to the JobKeeper payment. So we appreciate getting the word straight from the Treasurer this morning.