LAURA JAYES:
Treasurer, thank you for your time. People are waking up to the news this morning that many venues from midday will be closed. Why?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Because these are places of social gathering and what we need to do is put in place social distancing to protect the public from the spread of the coronavirus. So the Prime Minister clearly set out the position of the National Cabinet at 9:00pm last night and that was based on medical advice and, as you say, clubs, casinos, cinemas will close from midday today, restaurants and cafes will move to takeaway only and what we are trying to do here is flatten the curve to reduce some of the pressure on our health system because this is a global pandemic, a health crisis, like the world has not seen before.
LAURA JAYES:
That's true. How long do you expect this to be in place? The Prime Minister last night said this is stage one, we might see stage two, but obviously it's constantly under review?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as the Prime Minister said, they will be assessed on a monthly basis but he's prepared the nation for challenging times for six months at least, and certainly in our $189 billion package of support for the Australian economy, we've put in place measures that will go for six months or more.
LAURA JAYES:
New South Wales is keeping schools open, but today will strongly recommend that children stay at home. This is a small divergence to what the Prime Minister said last night. Are you concerned that that might effectively close schools if parents hear that message?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the Prime Minister was very clear last night that the medical advice is that the schools will remain open. Now, obviously, Victoria works on a different timetable for its school term but schools have committed to remain, and states have committed to keeping their schools open, and obviously after the term break, to come back, but that will be based on medical advice at the time because obviously the situation is evolving day by day.
LAURA JAYES:
You are about to pass an historic package of measures through the Parliament today. That is why, of course, you are in Canberra. At this point, Treasurer, is stimulating the economy futile? Is this more just about saving what you can and softening the blow for the other side, wherever that may be?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, yesterday's $66 billion package was not a stimulus package, it was a safety net package. It was about cushioning the blow for millions of Australians who are going to do it really tough, Laura, over the weeks and months ahead. Tragically, people will lose their jobs. Some businesses will close. But we're doing everything within our power to keep Australians in a job, to keep businesses going and the measures we announced yesterday also include a new coronavirus supplement of $550. They involve a record support package for small businesses which will get up to $100,000 based on the size of their wages bill. We are joining with the banks and other lenders in co-guaranteeing small business loans to help build that bridge to recovery. We're loosening the regulatory restrictions so businesses and people can trade through what is a very difficult period. We're giving early access to superannuation, $10,000 this year and $10,000 next year, recognising the hardship that people are under, and we're providing another $750 payment to people that are on income support, more than five million Australians, including pensioners, people on the Carer's Payment, the Disability Support Pension, the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. These are people who are going to need the Government's support and the fact that we have balanced the books means that we have the financial firepower to respond during this crisis.
LAURA JAYES:
For this to be a success, you're going to have a run of hundreds of thousands of people trying to access these payments. So have you bolstered the infrastructure in place, through the structures that already exist, have you put more people on? Are more phone lines open? Are you expediting this process so that money gets into people's pockets?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Absolutely. That's a real priority for us and, as you know, we've waived the waiting periods that people would have otherwise had to comply with in order to access this money. Services Australia is going to be beefing up with more than 3,000 new staff coming on to handle what is going to be an abundance of claims. So we really are doing everything we can at the Federal Government level to support the Australian community at this really challenging period.
LAURA JAYES:
And just to confirm, Parliament will sit for today and today only?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, let's wait and see how quickly we can get the legislation through. We had a very constructive meeting with Anthony Albanese and his leadership team last night. I'm very confident that we'll get this legislation through as quickly as possible, whether it's one day or two will depend. But the quicker we get it through, and we get the support to the Australian people, the better.
LAURA JAYES:
Treasurer, really appreciate your time this morning. Good luck, we need it.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to be with you.