LEON BYNER:
So I asked Josh Frydenberg where do we stand?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the country is really at two stages when it comes to dealing with COVID-19, there's Victoria and there's the rest. When you look at the rest of the country, restrictions are being eased as the virus is being got under control and jobs are coming back, and we've seen, Leon, in the last two months some 340,000 new jobs being created and importantly that's been right around the country. In South Australia, we have seen 51,000 jobs come back. We've seen particularly strong growth in New South Wales, as well as Western Australia, and importantly, jobs are coming back for women and for young people as sectors like hospitality and retail start to open up. But Victoria is a very different situation altogether, we're subject to stage four restrictions in Victoria and it’s Treasury's analysis that up to 400,000 Victorians will either lose their job or see their hours reduced down to zero as a result of those restrictions.
LEON BYNER:
Treasurer are there any plans, as a result of Victoria's issues, are there any plans to continue the JobKeeper, JobSeeker as it is or are we still going to taper the amounts as planned?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We're continuing to transition that payment as a result of restrictions being eased around the country and people starting to get back to work. But it's important to understand that JobKeeper has actually been extended. It was initially legislated for a six month period. We're now saying that it will extend for a full 12 month period at the $1,500 a fortnight payment will come down in the first stage to $1,200, and then down to $1,000 and there'll be two tiers of payments based on the number of hours worked. But at $101 billion Leon, the JobKeeper program is the single largest economic support package that Australia has ever seen, and in the words of the Governor of the Reserve Bank Phil Lowe just the other day, JobKeeper has been a remarkable program that has helped keep people employed.
LEON BYNER:
What about JobSeeker, are the plans for that to be tapered still underway?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again we've said that it'll be tapered down to the end of the year and we will reconsider that program at that time.
LEON BYNER:
Okay, so as far as we are concerned, you really need projects brought forward don't you, and money being spent now to create jobs, that's really what you're trying to do, aren't you?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we are spending an enormous amount of money. We've committed at a federal level to $314 billion of economic support. As you know, every single dollar we spend is a dollar borrowed, and it's important to remember that. We also are looking to the states to continue to spend more, whether it's on infrastructure projects, whether it's on…
LEON BYNER:
So what I'm getting at is that if the states got projects on the table you wouldn't want them delayed would you? You'd want them, if anything brought forward so that work can be created?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
If there are opportunities to bring forward infrastructure projects, particularly at a local government level, which may be some of the smaller projects, and if they're shovel ready, then we would hope they go ahead sooner than later. Because they'll not only add to employment, but overall economic activity and that's important at this time.
LEON BYNER:
That's Josh Frydenberg the Treasurer.