LEON BYNER:
Morning Treasurer, thanks for joining us.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you.
LEON BYNER:
Australia's economy is going to grow by 4.5 per cent according to the International Monetary Fund. What does that mean for South Australia?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it means more jobs and it means that Australia is recovering strongly with the momentum building in our economic recovery from the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression. And Leon, this is another proof point that our economy is moving in the right direction. This is off the back of the unemployment rate falling to 5.8 per cent with 88,700 new jobs created in February. This is off the back of our AAA credit rating being maintained. Business and consumer confidence coming back to its pre-pandemic levels, as well as business investment and investment in housing, particularly by first home buyers, also having a big jump. So this is all good news for the Australian economy despite the challenges that remain.
LEON BYNER:
On the business of JobKeeper, it looks as if the withdrawal of JobKeeper has not in any way diminished the growth opportunities.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, JobKeeper was always a temporary program, initially was for six months, we extended it to twelve months. But as you and I have discussed in the past, it was a program that had a specific end date. And you can't keep an economy wide wage subsidy of that size going indefinitely. Our economy needed to transition to the next phase of our recovery and that included targeted support for sectors like aviation and tourism. And we've heard from the airlines, more than 300,000 of those half price fares have already been snapped up. Targeted support to our arts sector, the business investment incentives that continue, the new training places, the tax cuts which continue to flow through, all of which are adding to economic activity and obviously the creation of more jobs.
LEON BYNER:
And your thoughts on the travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
This is another positive development. It's a credit to both Australia and New Zealand in the way we've managed the virus – that we can put in place this travel bubble. Hopefully, it's the first of a number that can be put in place over time. But the Trans-Tasman route is our busiest international route; more than seven million people coming back and forth on an annual basis pre-COVID. And this means billions of dollars that can be spent in our two economies in the tourist sector at a time when they need it.
LEON BYNER:
Now, what about the roll out of the vaccine? Are you totally happy that we've got this right and the timing is good?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the momentum again is going to continue to build. More than 850,000 people have already received the jab and we are getting thousands of GPs involved in that process. And we have a sovereign manufacturing capability with CSL making the AstraZeneca vaccine under licence, which is going to be very helpful for Australia in terms of getting that additional supply, something that other countries do not have access to. So I'm confident that the momentum and the rollout will continue to build.
LEON BYNER:
Now, you're in the process of figuring out the next budget, which is not too far away…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Head down.
LEON BYNER:
Obviously, COVID is a big part of this, isn't it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Of course. And we'll continue to see the Government support job creation and support the recovery. Because while we're seeing these positive economic data points, there are still significant challenges. We know that there are sectors, there are regions across the country that are doing a tough. People in the CBDs are not all back at work yet, the tourism sector still hurting because of the international border closures, international education. There are sectors that are doing it tough. And so that's why we have to continue to provide the necessary targeted support to get Australians to the other side of this pandemic.
LEON BYNER:
That's Josh Frydenberg, the Federal Treasurer.