KARL STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg joins us now from Hawthorn in Melbourne. Treasurer, good morning to you. Thank you for your time this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning Karl.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I just want to really quickly touch on that terrifying scare on Bourke Street yesterday. This is your home town. It was a miracle no-one was hurt.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Shocking scenes and a reminder of the threats that we face. Even doing something as basic as walking down the mall, and in Victoria, those scenes are very reminiscent of tragedies that we've seen in the past. It was horrifying but I'm very glad no-one has been hurt.
ALLISON LANGDON:
That’s it isn’t it. It brought back a lot of really tough memories for a lot of people seeing that yesterday.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Absolutely and they're shocking scenes and I'm just hoping that everyone's OK and not too rattled by that and that the authorities obviously catch the culprit because he needs to be punished.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay, now the Queensland Premier, she wants you to bail out the ailing tourism sector and wants you to keep JobKeeper going. Will you come to the party?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well Karl, JobKeeper, which has been an incredibly successful program, and the largest economic support payment Australia's ever seen, was always temporary. It was always coming to an end and it's legislated to the end of March and we’ve tapered it down. But when it comes to delivering for Queenslanders, the Morrison Government’s done the bulk of the heavy lifting. We have delivered more than three times what the Palaszczuk government has committed to in terms of economic support for Queenslanders. We have delivered $27.9 billion, 1.5 million Queenslanders got the $750 payments, 650,000 Queenslanders were on JobKeeper, 650,000 Queenslanders were receiving the coronavirus supplement and more than 100,000 businesses in Queensland were receiving the cash flow boost. So we have been there to support Queenslanders in their hour of need and we'll continue to support them as the economic recovery gets well underway.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Because their hour of need hasn't ended as you say. Yes, JobKeeper was temporary but the pandemic hasn't ended. So you’ve got tourism, you’ve got aviation. Are you saying, whether or not that is JobKeeper extended past March, that there will be help available to these industries? You can say to tourism operators in far North Queensland, we've got your back until international borders open?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well Ally, we put $350 million in the Budget last October for regional tourism. We announced more than $100 million package for travel agents around the country of course, including those in Queensland, and we've put in place other programs whether it's the JobMaker hiring credit, whether it is the investment incentives, whether it's the tax cuts, whether it's the infrastructure rollout that we've brought forward, all designed to support the economy. And as you know, we released some figures recently which showed that Australians have more than $200 billion on their balance sheets, whether it's household balance sheets or business balance sheets, that was not there last year. And as the confidence comes back, as these border restrictions are eased, as the general health restrictions are eased, people will spend more, that will help generate jobs and with respect to the tourism industry, more than 70 percent of the tourism dollar is spent domestically. It's domestic tourism and that's why lifting those border restrictions has been so important.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
That being said, particularly in areas like, as you would know, far North Queensland, around the Cairns area, even north to Port Douglas and even further south around the Whitsundays, they need international visitors and they're not going to get it for some time. Peter Dutton on the show, talking to Ally a little earlier, hinted more help is on the way. Is that going to happen?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well of course we have already put in significant support already. We'll continue to monitor it and we’ll provide additional support where necessary but we have put significant support already and as I've just stated very clearly, our federal economic support has been more than three times, delivered more than three times what the Palaszczuk government has committed to. So we'd welcome the states putting their hands in their pockets and spending a little bit more in their own states as part of the economic recovery but of course, when it comes to the tourism sector, I recognise they've been doing it tough and will continue to monitor that situation very closely.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I want to quickly ask about the AstraZeneca jab because Germany is warning about giving it to the over 65s. It doesn't help with confidence does it with one of Australia's main jabs.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well the first thing to say, Ally, is the Pfizer vaccine which recently received the TGA approval, has been given that approval without restrictions around age and we will be rolling out those doses to Australians. With respect to the AstraZeneca vaccine, that is yet to receive the TGA approval. That's an independent process and we will fully back that independent process when the TGA report as to their recommendation on the AstraZeneca vaccine. No doubt they'll take into account what the German authorities and regulators have said but also what the UK authorities and regulators have said, because the UK regulators reached a different decision with respect to the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine. So let's just wait and see. We're expecting word from the TGA in early March, or earlier perhaps, with respect to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
It muddies the waters a bit though in terms of confidence I'm sure amongst the community but let's wait for that outcome. Finally, you have some pretty good news for the economy this morning. I note loan deferrals falling significantly since last year's peak in May. Is that a sign that the economic recovery is well underway?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Karl it is. It’s another data point which shows that the economy is recovering from the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression. We saw really good jobs numbers at the end of last year. In terms of December, we saw 50,000 new jobs being created. More than 70 percent of those were full-time jobs and the unemployment rate came down, we've seen growth in the economy pick up, we've seen housing prices increase, we've seen retail traffic increase as well. Now what we have seen with these recent numbers is that, at the peak of the crisis Karl, around $250 billion of loans, home loans and small business loans, had their repayments deferred. Now more than 80 percent of those loans are seeing the repayments start again. And that is good news that people have the ability, with money in their pocket, to meet their repayments and are working with the banks to do that. So we welcome this news but the recovery still has a long way to go. It's challenging, it's hard, as you say, uncertainty around the vaccine globally as well as other issues but what we do know is here in Australia, we're better placed than nearly any other country in the world.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Josh, really good to talk to you. Thanks so much for your time.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Thanks Josh.