LEON BYNER:
So I caught up with Treasurer Frydenberg about a $40 million package.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, the Morrison government and the Marshall government are coming together to support businesses and workers across South Australia. As you know with your recent lockdown, we made available the COVID disaster payments and that’s a significant amount of income support that is helping families. On top of that we’ve reached an agreement for a $40 million business support package. Now, this will see around 20,000 businesses that benefit. They’ll be eligible for a one‑off $3,000 emergency cash grant. They have to be businesses obviously located within South Australia. They have to have an annual turnover of $75,000 or more. They have to be employing businesses, and they have to have an Australia‑wide payroll of less than $10 million. And then, of course, their turnover has to be down by at least 30 per cent compared to the week prior to the lockdown. So that is what is going to be available. There’s also a thousand dollar emergency cash grant for non‑employing businesses – i.e. sole traders. This is welcome business support at a time that is difficult for businesses right across the country, including in South Australia.
LEON BYNER:
Is the application process pretty seamless?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it’s through the South Australian Treasury website. If you go there or you email smallbusinessgrant@sa.gov.au all the details are available. So you can either email smallbusinessgrant@sa.gov.au or visit the South Australia Treasury website. Those are the two options.
LEON BYNER:
Hospitality, performing arts, other performers, tourism, gyms, transport, a lot of people have been hit by this. So there’s a pretty wide range of people that would probably qualify, isn’t there?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, that’s right. Hospitality, as you say, tourism, recreation are among those areas that have been hit pretty hard by the restrictions. There are also major payments for major events that have been cancelled or experienced financial loss. And this program that we’ve done in partnership with the Marshall government is on top of what they had earlier announced to South Australian businesses. So there’s definitely significant support that is flowing.
LEON BYNER:
Treasurer, have you got a sense of how much COVID is costing us with these cancellations and totally different arrangements if, in fact, we have these events?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, look, it’s a very significant cost to the economy at large. The median market expectation is that the Australian economy will contract by around one and a half per cent in the September quarter. And obviously that flows from having our two largest states – New South Wales and Victoria – in lockdown. But by the same token, Leon, that is not as big a fall as we saw during the height of the pandemic last year when the economy contracted by 7 per cent in the June quarter. And while it may not be, you know, sufficient to alleviate the challenges that people in lockdown are currently experiencing, they need to know that the Australian economy is remarkably resilient. It has rebounded strongly from previous lockdowns.
Consumer confidence is more than 50 per cent higher today than it was back in March last year. Bank data is showing that consumer spending is 30 per cent higher today than it was in April of last year. And we know that the unemployment rate fell in the latest jobs data down to 4.9 per cent, which is the lowest in a decade. And one of the most common refrains from businesses that I talked to across the country was that they struggled to get more workers rather than needing less. And so I think we can be confident, optimistic, about our future, but that’s not to diminish the challenges that we face.
LEON BYNER:
What about the self‑employed?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
They’re also doing it very tough. But these grant payments that we’ve offered here to South Australia, also grant payments in New South Wales and in Victoria, are going to help those sole traders. We also put a range of incentives in place in the budget that will help them, whether they’re purchasing new equipment or the like. We also obviously provided tax relief in the budget which is not insignificant. I mean, as a result, for example, of our tax plan, if you’re a tradie on $90,000 a year, you’re going to be paying $7,020 less tax compared to what you would have before our plan rolled out. So it all adds to a very substantial economic commitment from the federal government.
LEON BYNER:
Any idea how much this is going to cost your Treasury budget, or don’t we know yet?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Leon, it’s substantial. We’ve committed more than $300 billion in direct health and economic support, and we continue to do what is necessary. So it is a very difficult time, not one that either you or I or your listeners could have anticipated pre‑COVID.
LEON BYNER:
Sure.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
But we had to do it, and we’ll continue to support the community.
LEON BYNER:
Well, commendations to you for keeping the ship so steady.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I appreciate that. And let’s get everyone, you know, back on their feet and hopefully to the other side of this virus sooner than later.
LEON BYNER:
That’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.