MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Treasurer, good morning to you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you, Michael.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Now, firstly, I want to ask you, as a Melburnian, do you agree this is the measure the State Government had to take yesterday?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I do, but this is devastating news for all Victorians. Stage 4 restrictions, curfews, further restrictions on people's movements, school closures, nobody wanted it to get to this. But yesterday we saw 671 new cases., that was 98 percent of Australia's new cases coming from Victoria alone. Clearly these are very, very trying times. And we are at war. I mean, every Victorian is on the front-line, Michael, and everyone has a role to play. We can't afford any holes in our defences and that's why people need to follow the rules.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Okay. Now, this scheduled lockdown ends just a few weeks, or less than three weeks, before JobKeeper's $1,500 goes to a lower level. Surely, Josh Frydenberg, you'll now have to keep JobKeeper at $1,500 for Victorian businesses?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I think you just made an important point. The JobKeeper payment at around $1,500 as a flat payment continues out to the end of September, which is beyond the extended period of lockdown announced by Daniel Andrews yesterday. Now, JobKeeper is currently supporting around 975,000 Victorian workers. Our expectation prior to yesterday's announcement was about three-quarters of those would continue to be on JobKeeper after September. After yesterday's announcement, we think that number will even be higher and together with the cash flow boost, it has provided some $14 billion into the Victorian economy and JobKeeper will continue over the coming months to provide around $3 billion a month into the Victorian economy, around $100 million a day.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Jobs and businesses will clearly suffer. I mean, there are no two ways around that in Victoria. Is there any way the Federal Government is open to keeping JobKeeper at that $1,500 level for Victorian businesses after September?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we have announced JobKeeper as a national scheme and it's demand-driven and it's worked very well. In terms of the eligibility for JobKeeper, we are now looking at that in the context of the Victorian situation because you may have had Victorian businesses, Michael, that were not eligible for JobKeeper in the June period because, for example, they had strong retail sales in May or June, but they are, obviously, in the September period seeing a lot of hardship. So in that case, we are looking at some flexibility around the eligibility requirements for JobKeeper for businesses beyond the end of September. So they're the sort of things that we are looking at, but we have always talked about JobKeeper payments being at a transition rate, being a national scheme, and to step down over time.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
OK. Now, we have seen the effects of this virus on people who don't have sick leave, forcing them to make challenging and, in many cases, wrong decisions about going back into the community. Will the Federal Government fund fully-paid pandemic leave for Australians?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we're looking at this issue of pandemic leave. The Attorney-General is talking to the relevant stakeholders about it and, of course, we'll have discussions as well at State Government level and the Prime Minister's made those points very clear. Some major businesses, and I know Wesfarmers is one of those, who have already introduced 14 days of paid pandemic leave. And in the case of Victoria, the Government has announced a $1,500 payment for those people who don't have leave available to them, but are forced to isolate because they have either contracted the virus or they’ve been in contact with someone who has. So we'll continue to assess the situation and the Attorney-General will work it through.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
And just finally very quickly, before this, the Federal Government had unemployment tracking to hit 9.25 per cent by Christmas. You'll have to go back to the drawing board now won't you, and won’t therefore official unemployment go well into double digits?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the economic situation is very fluid and the events in Victoria make that very clear. I mean, the reality is it’s a country at two different stages. Outside of Victoria businesses are opening up, people are getting back to work and you saw that in the June jobs numbers, Michael, 210,000 new jobs, 60 per cent of whom were women and 50 per cent were young people, that was double what the market was expecting. But Victoria is a quarter of the national economy. This is a real kick in the guts to Victorian businesses which, as you say, will have an impact on employment. So we'll update those numbers come the Budget on October 6, but clearly the situation is moving very fast.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
It is indeed. Appreciate you joining us this morning, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nice to be with you.