JIM WILSON:
Treasurer, welcome back to Drive.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good afternoon. Nice to be with you, Jim.
JIM WILSON:
Lots has been said, Treasurer, about our slow vaccine rollout. What has been the hold up? Has it just been the case of the fact that the orders from Europe haven’t turned up or is there more to it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The issue has been one of supply and the Prime Minister rightly emphasised that today at his press conference. We are going to be getting more vaccines manufactured here in Australia and we need to appreciate that having this domestic sovereign capability is a really terrific thing for our country and one that many other countries are envious of. Once that production ramps up at the CSL factory, we’ll have more supply to roll out to people right across the country using GPs, which to date have been just over 1,500, we’ll be rolling it out to around 3,000 by weeks’ end and then more in the days after that. Using the GPs, using the primary healthcare system and working, as you say, cooperatively with the states, we’re confident that more and more Australians will get the jab, given that already over 920,000 have done so.
JIM WILSON:
What did you make of the New South Wales Government’s announcement earlier today? Again, I’ve been saying for the best part of twelve months that New South Wales and the Gladys Berejiklian Government has led the way on so many fronts and now they’ve announced this new super hub, as far as vaccinations are concerned. It’s welcomed news.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We work very cooperatively with the Berejiklian Government. You’re right, New South Wales has been the gold standard. While other states have gone into a full lock-down when there’s been an outbreak, New South Wales has avoided that even though you’ve had breakouts like those in the Northern Beaches. That’s been good news for the economy, but most importantly, good news for the people of New South Wales who have been able to get about their lives in a COVIDsafe way. So, we can all learn from New South Wales’ experience here, but going forward, we’re focused on getting the jab out to as many Australians as possible, ramping up that domestic supply, using our wonderful frontline health workers to provide the vaccine.
JIM WILSON:
There are a number of medical experts who question the fact that all of us won’t have our first jabs by October. Are you still confident of those timelines or should we brace for that to be pushed back later?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
That is our target and that is what the former Chief Medical Officer, now the Head of the Department of Health, Brendan Murphy, has said. We do know that the number of people who will be getting the jab will increase quite significantly if that supply comes online. We saw just before Easter, Jim, 79,000 people get the jab in one day. Again, that is a ramp up from where we were and GPs being close to their communities are in a very good position to distribute the vaccine. So I’m confident that the system will work and that people by October will be getting the jab as we had hoped.
JIM WILSON:
Let’s talk about the economy. Some very positive news from the International Monetary Fund and a very positive outlook for our economy. That’s good news.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
This is another proof point that the economy is recovering well. Let’s not forget the significance of the hit Australia has endured, economically. It’s been the biggest hit since the Great Depression. Even at one point last year, Treasury came to me and said the unemployment rate could reach as high as 15 per cent. That’s more than 2 million unemployed. Today it’s at 5.8 per cent and we saw nearly 90,000 jobs created in February and those jobs were all full-time, more than 80 per cent of those jobs went to women and more than 40 per cent went to young people. Today, the International Monetary Fund has upgraded its economic growth forecast for Australia by a full percentage point to 4.5 per cent. In their report, they’ve confirmed that Australia has outperformed all major advanced economies over the course of the last year, with our economic performance.
JIM WILSON:
Were you surprised with the forecast from the IMF, considering what we’ve been through in the last 12 months?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We have seen good data at a number of stages in this recovery. Most recently, it’s been business and consumer confidence, that’s back to its pre-pandemic level. As I said, the labour market and employment levels have been very resilient. We’ve also seen business investment pick up. We’ve seen housing investment pick up off the back of incentives the Government has put in place. We’ve maintained our AAA credit rating. So to see the IMF provide us with another proof point about the economic recovery is something that we welcome, but it’s also consistent with the other data points that we’ve seen.
JIM WILSON:
Really positive signs and really welcome news as far as the economy is concerned and getting people back into jobs. Appreciate your time as always this afternoon, Treasurer.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to speak to you, Jim.