GARETH PARKER:
The Federal Treasurer of Australia is Josh Frydenberg. He joins me this morning. Treasurer, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning. Nice to be with you, Gareth.
GARETH PARKER:
Thanks for your time. You're talking up the fact that small business, despite lockdowns and despite restrictions, it's actually in reasonable shape this morning across the country according to new figures that you've got.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yeah, new Treasury and ATO data shows that insolvencies are 40 per cent lower year‑on‑year, so it's another proof point in our strong road to economic recovery. It comes off the back of job ads being more than 30 per cent higher than at the start of the pandemic. The unemployment rate is at 4.6 per cent, bearing in mind that when we came to government it was 5.7 per cent. It's now at its lowest level in 12 years. Consumer confidence has been rising across the country, Gareth, up seven out of the last eight weeks. And in those two larger states, New South Wales and Victoria that saw extended lockdowns, restrictions have been eased and consumption is now up.
GARETH PARKER:
Do you think ‑ well, I guess you'd say that you'd hope that was the case given the amount of Federal cash that's been splashed around over the last 18 months.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
There's certainly been an unprecedented amount of economic support, but it's been targeted. Programs like the cash flow boost, the small and medium‑sized business loan guarantee schemes. We've also worked with the regulators, like APRA, so that the banks could provide loan repayment relief to businesses and households. We've also seen rental relief being provided to those retailers that have been in trouble. And we've put in place a whole series of programs like JobKeeper and the cash flow boost and the Corona Virus Supplement and the support for pensioners and carers. All of which have combined to assist the economic recovery, but from here it's about pulling those emergency and economic support measures out and ensuring that we have a private sector led recovery from here.
GARETH PARKER:
You say targeted, but it was only last week that the parliamentary budget office found that $38 billion, with a B ‑ $38 billion of JobKeeper funds went to companies that didn't suffer sustained falls in turnover.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, that's actually false. Those numbers are flawed. They've been misused by the Labor Party for political purposes and I can tell you that the Labor Party were calling for the extension and the expansion of Job Keeper. What I can tell you is that the extensive Treasury report that was provided on the first six months of the Job Keeper program, found that it worked very effectively. Let's not forget that unemployment was forecast by some to reach as high as 15 per cent with more than 2 million people unemployed. Now we have the lowest unemployment rate in 12 years, and the Reserve Bank of Australia has said that JobKeeper saved more than 700,000 jobs. The Labor Party can't have it both ways. They can't claim the success of JobKeeper, which they've repeatedly done, and then also seek to criticize and misuse parliamentary budget office data in order to promote their own political purposes.
GARETH PARKER:
You've been a consistent advocate of opening borders. On Friday Mark McGowan in this state announced sort of a road map. I've described it as a plan for a plan, in that we won't know until next month when borders might reopen. It sounds as though February 1, give or take, will be it. What did you make of the premier's roadmap?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I don't understand why Western Australia should be different to any other state. That once you reach those vaccination rates of 80 per cent that you start to ease the restrictions around the borders. We're seeing now Victorians and people from New South Wales and the ACT travel freely. Queensland has set a date for the reopening of their borders, which is before Christmas. And international arrivals are starting to come without the need for hotel quarantine or for home hotel quarantine if they are double vaccinated. The people who loss out in WA will be the tourism businesses, that will be prevented from getting their customers and clients from the other states, as well as families that ‑ and friends in WA who want to be reunited after a pretty long time apart across state borders or indeed internationally. I would've hoped that WA would have followed the rest of the country and adopted a similar timeline based on the similar vaccination rates.
GARETH PARKER:
Do you think that the premier is stalling to protect the failing health system?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I'll leave those questions to him to answer. What I can say is that, you know, Western Australia has done well to avoid the extended lockdowns that we have seen in other states. There's no doubt about that. But when we can't live in lockdowns. We can't live with closed borders forever. We do need to learn to live with the virus. Other countries around the world are doing so. They're also doing so now in New South Wales and Victoria where case numbers have come down. And one would hope you know that Western Australia would follow that line going forward too.
GARETH PARKER:
Treasurer, thanks for your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.
GARETH PARKER:
Josh Frydenberg, the Federal Treasurer.