ALLISON LANGDON:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg joins us now. Treasurer, thank you so much for your time. We can put a figure on the Victorian breaches, and it's a hell of a price.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yeah, these are devastating days for Victorians. We feel very much like we're in the eye of a storm, and people are locked down in their homes, looking after their loved ones, hoping that the worst will pass. The reality is that what is happening with the Stage 4 restrictions, curfews, business closures, school closures, will really hit the economy hard as well as taking a real emotional toll on the community. What we've announced today is an expansion of the JobKeeper program, a $15.5 billion commitment, of which around $13 billion will go towards businesses in Victoria to help them get to the other side of this crisis.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Is it enough?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It's a very substantial commitment, Karl. I mean, already we're now going to have JobKeeper at $101 billion. The single largest program that any Australian Government has ever undertaken in terms of economic support. We'll have around 1.5 million Victorians, that's nearly half their private sector work force, on JobKeeper during the September quarter and about 4 million Australian employees on JobKeeper. That's a substantial number of people that the Government is helping get to the other side.
ALLISON LANGDON:
With so many on JobKeeper, it is set to be reduced from $1,500 to $1,200 a fortnight from September. It's going to make things really tough for a lot of people. Will you review that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, the $1,500 payment goes out to the end of September. That's even beyond the six-week Stage 4 restrictions that were announced by the Premier in Victoria. And when it transitions down to $1,200 for the December quarter, that's still 80% of the minimum wage. We have to recognise that you've got the situation in Victoria and then you've got the rest of the country. We're very much at two different stages in responding to the coronavirus. Jobs are coming back outside of Victoria. We saw that in the recent job numbers, with around 60% of the 210,000 new jobs going to women, and around 50% to young people. So the economy is remarkably resilient, but obviously we must make progress on the health front.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Josh, Treasury's economic update two weeks ago was based on Melbourne's initial lockdown only being six weeks. It was out of date basically the minute you spoke. What makes these numbers any more reliable?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, Karl, we're living in unprecedented times, with a once in a century pandemic, and it's a very fluid situation. So economic forecasting is difficult at the best of times, let alone in the situations that we are in. We can only make forecasts based on decisions that are taken, and in this case, the six-week lockdown in Victoria, and really hope that progress is made in stemming the tide of new cases.
ALLISON LANGDON:
Treasurer, this wasn't your stuff-up. You can't get in there to fix it. We know that Victoria has said "no" to help from yourselves and also from states up until recently. Yet you're the ones writing the cheques. Do you reach a point where there is just no more money to be spent?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, there were obviously major mistakes made with the quarantine issues in Victoria, and the Premier has acknowledged that, and there's an inquiry that is going on. But my focus as the Treasurer of Australia and the Prime Minister's focus is on helping the country get through to the other side and particularly helping Victorians who are doing it very tough at the moment. So everything that we do, day and night, is designed to help us get to the other side and if we have to provide additional economic support we will, but we're already doing so in record amounts. I want to point out to your viewers that we have now committed, as a Federal Government, more than $300 billion of economic support. The states have contributed $42 billion. So we would welcome them to even contribute more.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Josh, isn't it impossible to make any kind of economic predictions moving forward? I know, with interest, big business has really muscled up in the last couple of days when they were having a go at the Victorian Government and that was fair enough. They've kind of got what they want now. Do you think that we're going to need, well, what sort of figures are they going to base it on coming out of this?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I was speaking to business leaders today, Karl. I spoke to the head of the Business Council of Australia, representing the largest employers, I spoke to the head of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce, I spoke to people from the hospitality sector, all of whom have welcomed the announcement today, but they realise how tough it is right now. We passed on these concerns after meetings I had with the business groups, passed on the concerns about supply chains to the Victorian Government and I'm pleased that they've made some amendments, because you must take business with you. Nine out of every 10 jobs in this country are in the private sector. And you've got to acknowledge that business knows a lot about their supply chains, and obviously that must be factored in, particularly when you're introducing such drastic Stage 4 restrictions.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I know you had a busy week, talking to businesses all week, particularly Tuesday night was a busy one for you. Always appreciate your time. Thank you.