KARL STEFANOVIC:
Beautiful day in Sydney. Well, there’s plenty to talk about this morning with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who joins us now from Melbourne. Josh, good morning to you. Nice to be with you this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning Karl.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Firstly, sad news overnight about the death of John Elliott. He was the former boss of your beloved Carlton, not to mention a one-time Federal Liberal Party President. How do you remember him?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, he was a larrikin. He was a larger‑than‑life figure who will leave a very lasting legacy and will be sorely missed. He had a huge impact, Karl, on the sporting world, on the corporate world, and on the political world. He was president, as you say, of the Carlton footy club. We shared that passion. And he was President of the Liberal Party and, you know, you never were in doubt as to where he stood. Your cameraman here, Leon, was just telling me that his dad was John Elliott’s driver for 10 years…
KARL STEFANOVIC:
He’d have some stories.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
…and when John Elliott asked him which footy team he barracked for, he said, “Fitzroy”, and he said, “No longer. If your dad’s working for me, you’re barracking for Carlton, son”, and now he still barracks for Carlton. There are all these amazing stories around the place of the impact he had.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Yeah. Really beautiful words there, Treasurer. Thank you. Look, I tell you what, it’s been a pretty rough week for your home city of Melbourne, hasn’t it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yes, it’s been very sad to see those images of the large demonstrations, the violent demonstrations, the desecration of the Shrine. It should never have happened and, obviously, we’ve called it out for what it is. It’s important that people get vaccinated, but it’s also important that the economy opens up. My concern, my focus is to hopefully see that construction sector come back because more than 300,000 people rely on – their livelihoods rely on the construction sector opening up.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Queensland could keep its border shut for Christmas. Annastacia Palaszczuk has hit back at federal criticism of her tough stance. She’s clearly fed up with all that criticism. Have you spoken to her at all or does she need to be brought into line with powers that you don’t have?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I have a good, constructive relationship with my counterpart in Queensland, but if Annastacia Palaszczuk were to keep these borders closed at 80 percent vaccination rates, that would be a very bad decision. It would cost Queensland jobs. It would divide Queensland families. It would be inconsistent with the national road map and it would be delaying the inevitable because we need to learn to live with the virus. If you look in the United Kingdom, if you look in the United States, there are thousands of cases each and every day of COVID but people are getting on with their lives in a COVID‑safe way. That’s what we need to do here in Australia and people need to be rewarded for getting the jab, as they are doing in record numbers.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Do you know what, though, her point is that they’ve got tremendous freedoms, more freedoms in Queensland now than anyone who opens up at 80 per cent in the other states. From her perspective, from a Queenslander’s perspective, it makes sense, so why would they change and alternate it? And you can’t do anything about it, so you’ve got to live with it.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Karl, you know as well as I do that Delta has changed the game. Here in Victoria, Daniel Andrews thought he could defeat the virus and then he had to accept that the elimination strategy doesn’t work. And tomorrow or the next week or the next month, you could see an outbreak in Queensland or indeed in Western Australia and in other states. So, it’s really important that we get rid of this mentality that we can eliminate the virus. We can’t. We have to learn with it. And that means getting people vaccinated. That means putting in place the relevant restrictions, but it also means opening up our borders because for too long families have been divided here.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Treasurer, you are throwing your weight behind zero emissions by 2050. Have you run this past your Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We had a good conversation last night. We’ve been speaking every day and this speech is very much about pointing out the reality in financial markets. You see, whether it was the Industrial Revolution, whether it was the digital age, financial markets have reacted to these structural shifts and climate change is no different. It impacts upon Australia because we’re so heavily reliant on foreign investment. We have about $4 trillion of foreign investment in our country. About half of our Government bonds are bought by foreign investors and about 20 per cent of bank lending is supported by offshore borrowing. So, whether it’s a household mortgage or whether it’s a business loan that you get from your local bank, you’re actually getting that that in part from foreign borrowings. It’s so important that we continue to be an attractive place for investment here in Australia and that we don’t get penalised. That’s why I’m making it very clear that we have the right regulatory frameworks here in Australia but also that we stick to our emissions reduction plans and targets because that’s a very important thing too.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
When I read that this morning, Josh, I almost heard Matt Canavan choking on his breakfast steak.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, you can’t please everyone all the time and that’s why you go into politics, to do the things that matter and to do the things that are important to you and your community. And, of course, you know, we haven’t taken any final decisions on this. We are progressing the issue internally. But, Karl, we also have a very positive story to tell. Our emissions are down by more than 20 per cent since 2005. That’s double the OECD average. That’s faster than New Zealand, Canada, Japan and the United States. And some of our oldest businesses like BHP or Rio Tinto, they’re actually at the cutting edge of new innovation and technology, and so people need to understand there are great opportunities for Australia out of this clean energy revolution.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Have a great weekend. Just quickly, a tip?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Haha. The Dees, you know, they’d have to go back to 1964, Karl, to see their last premiership. Back then the Beatles were travelling around Australia, the cigarette was smoked on by the players at half‑time and you could get a beer for 20 cents.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Those were the days.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Those were the days, mate, back then.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Whack a dart in your mouth at half‑time. Thank you, mate. We’ve got to move. Thank you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, that’s what they were doing.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I know.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Take care.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
You too.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Bye.