LEON BYNER:
Josh, good morning, and thanks for joining us.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Leon, and nice to be with your South Australian listeners.
LEON BYNER:
Now, give me your observation on this unemployment number, which is remarkably low, what, 3.9 per cent, us and Tasmania.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it’s 4.2 per cent for the nation, but South Australia is leading the charge at 3.9 per cent. It was down by 0.7 percentage points, so a very strong result for South Australia. Steven Marshall and his team can be very proud of that outcome. But overall these are a remarkable set of numbers. As you said in your introduction, Leon, the unemployment rate is at its lowest for more than 13 years. And of the 65,000 jobs that were created in the month of December, two‑thirds were full time and over half of those jobs went to young people aged 15 to 24. So we now have a situation where 1.7 million more jobs have been created since the time when we came to Government. One million more women are in work than when we came to Government. The youth unemployment rate, the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate are all lower today than they were under Labor.
LEON BYNER:
Josh, which is the sector that’s leading the charge here offering the work, by far?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it’s across the board. We’re seeing strong jobs growth in the mining sector, in the construction sector. You know there are job vacancies in the hospitality sector and professional services are in high demand. And you've got a number of factors that are occurring simultaneously. You’ve got closed international borders. Or they’re opening up, but not obviously to see the same number of people coming in as we saw pre‑pandemic. That’s creating a tighter labour market as well. But the economy is going strongly, even despite the challenges that we face. And we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact particularly, Leon, as the Labor Party set us a very clear test at the start of the pandemic. They said the Morrison Government will be judged as to what happened with unemployment, and that would be the test.
LEON BYNER:
Now I want to get your comment on the supply chain here. Because there’s been a lot of comments. I mean, the building sector is a very big user of what comes through the supply chain. And there seems to be supply chain issues, and I know you talk to a lot of people in that space. What can you tell us?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, there is real pressure on the supply chains, and that’s because of a high level of absenteeism due to Omicron. So I visited recently a Coles distribution centre where a large number of their staff had been off. Yesterday I was at a cafe where they, the owner, had to cover for 28 shifts earlier in the month because people could not turn up for their shift because they either were a close contact or had contracted Omicron themselves. The trucking industry has been impacted. But this is why we’re working to a plan through National Cabinet to reduce the isolation requirements, which is helping to alleviate some of that pressure. We’re also putting in place a plan for the schools to open so that that obviously is good news for the students and the teachers.
LEON BYNER:
Do we need to bring in more workers, Josh? Do we need to do that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well we obviously have an opportunity now to attract more international students, more backpackers, more skilled workers. But we also are training up Australians, Leon. And we’ve got a record number of trade apprentices who are in work today, and we’ve ticked over a million people who are employed in manufacturing right now. So there are some positive signs about training up Australians to take up the jobs that are available.
LEON BYNER:
So in our situation, SA, what do we need to keep doing and doing more of?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well obviously consumers need to keep spending, businesses need to keep investing, and you need to continue to maintain your prudent action to get across or to get on top of the Omicron variant. No‑one can avoid what is now a highly infectious or contagious variant of the disease. But we can take steps to mitigate some of the pressures that are caused as a result.
LEON BYNER:
Do you think we can make up the slack that we lost when we were in somewhat a lockdown mode across the country in various states?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it did hit the economy big time, and that was not just in the unemployment rate spiking and lower economic activity but in other key indicators as well. But we’ve seen a very strong rebound. So I think we are making up lost ground, Leon.
LEON BYNER:
All right. So what’s the call for assistance you’ve had from various sectors of the business community, because I know many have put their hand up. What do you say to them?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I mean, obviously the best thing we can do for them is to try to address some of these workforce issues, because they’re very real. And that’s why working through National Cabinet and the good offices of Steven Marshall and the other Premiers and the Chief Ministers is very important. The National Cabinet took a decision not to reduce further the isolation requirements down to five days. But, you know, we continue to maintain that issue under active consideration. You have to also look at what’s happening around the rest of the world, Leon. They are making adjustments in order to live safely with the virus.
LEON BYNER:
Tell me, do you think there’s going to be a demand to continue to possibly even increase our reliance on international workers?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, with international workers there is an important role for them in the economy. Skilled workers are very important. In the agricultural sector we’re working to get more from the Pacific Island states, which is good news for them and good news for us as well. But it’s also a priority on training up Australians to take the jobs, and we’re partnering with the states with the JobTrainer program, we’re underpinning apprentices with a wage subsidy program and a whole host of other measures.
LEON BYNER:
Josh, thank you for coming on this morning.