KARL STEFANOVIC:
You know a man who was casting a very keen eye on that bungy jumping was the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. He joins us now. Treasurer, you next?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, just like the unemployment rate, Karl, it is falling like stone over there. But you look bloody cold mate.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Here we go.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
You look really cold. I hope you and Ally are warming up there.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
It's alright. It's a balmy minus 5.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
You look very cold.
ALLISON LANGDON:
He's fine. He's not coping very well, Josh. You should hear him whinging, unbelievable I tell you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
You need some sock warmers.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I’ll tell you what, you’d be a happy man this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Really happy. The unemployment numbers have again signified the strength of the Australian economy, 115,000 new jobs were created last month, 85 per cent of those jobs were full-time, 60 per cent of those jobs went to women. There are now more women in work than ever before, and the unemployment rate is at 5.1 per cent, the same level it was in February last year before the pandemic began here in Australia. And the other really good news is that the economy has been really resilient even after the end of JobKeeper. So since the end of JobKeeper 84,000 new jobs are being created. So this is good news for the economy and a sign that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
ALLISON LANGDON:
These continued outbreaks though must be causing economic damage?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well Ally, definitely outbreaks and lockdowns, more particularly, dent confidence. They hurt investment and they ultimately cost jobs. That is why we need to do everything we can as a country to suppress the virus as successfully as we have done to date, follow the health advice, but also get the jab, for those who are eligible, is really important.
ALLISON LANGDON:
You say getting the jab is important, but then, you know, we hear the advice AstraZeneca has changed overnight. Now if you're between 50 and 60 you shouldn't get it. I mean, it doesn't do much for confidence, does it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, there are challenges with the AstraZeneca vaccine, not just here in Australia, but globally. It's cautious advice from ATAGI and it is advice that we have taken. I note that in the United Kingdom, the AstraZeneca vaccine is available for those aged 40 and over. In Korea it is those aged 30 and over. Indeed, in Germany it is for those aged 18 and over. Here in Australia it is for those aged 60 and over. But more than six million jabs have been administered. Importantly, the most vulnerable parts of the population, those over aged 70, 60 per cent of those people have received a dose of the vaccine and for those aged 50 and over, more than 40 per cent have received a dose of the vaccine. So we're rolling out the vaccine as quickly as possible. And there is more Pfizer that's also coming online and those supplies will help more people get the jab.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
When is that happening Josh? Because I know shifting goal posts is a confidence killer.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yes, we've got more than two million Pfizer doses available right now, Karl. And we will have more than three million available by the end of July and we're rolling out the vaccine to the eligible population. So people should continue to follow the medical advice and ATAGI have made clear despite the latest challenges that AstraZeneca remains a safe and appropriate vaccine for those in the bracket 60 and over.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Look, just going back too to the better jobless rate, do you think in turn we are going to see a rise in interest rates?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, those are decisions for the Reserve Bank board, not for government. But the Governor has said repeatedly, and publicly, that he is not looking to increase interest rates in the immediate term. Inflation is still below their target range of two to three per cent and interest rates have remained low across the rest of the world. So I'm sure they will continue to monitor it very closely but they haven't created any expectations that interest rates will be rising any time soon.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Look, some of the banks have already jumped a little. Will you continue to exert pressure on them?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, my pressure on the banks is to ensure that they serve their customers well, follow the law, and ensure that the life blood of the economy, credit, it continues to roll out because we're not out of this pandemic yet, but as you know, Karl, the economy is performing so much better than we had even expected in our most optimistic forecasts. Australia ahead of any of the major advanced economies in the world is now bigger than it was as an economy than going into the pandemic. There are more people in work today in Australia than there was going into the pandemic. The United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, the United States, Germany, France, none of those countries can tell a similar story of economic growth and strong jobs numbers like we can and that's a real credit to more than 25 million Australians.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Massive superannuation changes yesterday. That was a huge announcement. I have one question for you. If employees are going to be stapled to one fund for the entirety of their working life, what if they get stuck with a poor-performing fund? Will they be able to get out easily, change, chop and change? What will be the rules around that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Super Consumers Australia, the body representing the consumers, and the users of super, have said that's a fantasy, that's a fallacy of an argument, because people still retain the choice to move to new funds, or indeed to have more than one fund if that is what they choose. But what the Productivity Commission found in a groundbreaking report is that millions of Australians have unwanted, unneeded, unnecessary duplicate accounts because when they move from working in the hospitality sector to, for example, working in the retail sector, they will end up with two funds and they’ll end up having low balances in the funds that get eaten away by fees and charges. So we’re saying you have one fund that goes with you onto your next job and your next job after that, but if a fund is underperforming and they perform below a certain benchmark, then they have to notify in writing their members. And if they keep underperforming, they can't take on new members. So we're going to penalise those underperforming funds and then consumers can see how well their funds are doing by going online to a new online portal that we're putting in place to compare the performance of their funds both in terms of fees and returns, which gives people more choice. So these are the most significant reforms, Karl, in nearly 30 years. We achieve them through the Parliament in the face of fierce opposition from the Labor Party, from the unions, from the industry funds, and they are in the best interests of consumers. They will help drive lower fees and better returns.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Josh, jumping on an international flight yesterday, it was a pretty good feeling. We've got the taste for it again. So do you reckon you could kind of work on expanding the travel bubble because we wouldn't mind doing this as a bit of a regular thing, you on it for us?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Ally, I wouldn't mind you putting me in your suitcase and taking me on your next one, if you can fit, because, you know, it looks like …
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Don't worry, she's got plenty.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
…you're having a lot of fun.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I made him carry them yesterday. I've got this bad leg, I can't carry my own luggage. Thank you, Treasurer.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
What do they think of Louis Vuitton over there, hey? But…
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Yeah, exactly.
ALLISON LANGDON:
I don't have one of those.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Karl's got too many.
ALLISON LANGDON:
That's Karl’s. Exactly.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Louis Vuitton, cheap luggage.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It’s a serious question, Ally, which is when can we open those international borders. And we had an assumption in the Budget that the international borders would gradually reopen from the middle of next year. That's an assumption, not a policy decision. And as we get closer to that time and as the vaccine continues to roll out, and our medical experts continue to provide the advice, then we'll make decisions about the international borders. But we just don't want to take any unnecessary risks because the lockdowns that we saw recently in Victoria, they create much hurt, not just on the economic side of things, but they prevent families from catching up, businesses from opening, kids from going to school, and we just don't want to risk it unnecessarily.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
OK.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Alright.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Thanks very much, appreciate your time today.