MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Treasurer, the Courier Mail I think sums it up pretty well this morning in my view. It's not calling you Josh Frydenberg, it's calling you "Dosh Frydenberg". You're throwing a lot of money around to win votes, aren't you?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, a couple of points there. Firstly, we're banking the dividend of a stronger economy with the bottom line improving by more than 100 billion dollars, so we've actually seen revenue upgrades off the back of having more people in work and fewer people on welfare, and we've put that to the bottom line. So, we see our deficits actually more than halve over the forward estimates. At the same time, we are providing cost of living relief now for Australian families. That's really important because it's the number one topic of discussion around the kitchen tables around our country is cost of living and the higher fuel prices, the higher food prices. So, we've made some temporary, some targeted, some responsible decisions and put in place measures to deliver that cost-of-living relief, including $420 through our tax system to more than 10 million Australians. A $250 payment to millions of pensioners, to veterans, to carers and others on income support. We're making medicines more affordable and accessible for more than 2 million Australians. And of course, we're cutting in half the fuel excise, just as New Zealand and Ireland, France, Germany and other countries have done.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Okay. It is very temporary, for instance, when it comes to this $250 one‑off payment to pensioners and other welfare recipients, concession card holders. It falls in April which will be right smack bang in the middle of the election campaign. What happens in May? What happens in June? What happens in July? Cost of living pressures won't ease.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
So as you know the pension is indexed twice a year and most recently in March the indexation for the pension was lifted by the equivalent of more than $20 a fortnight. So that will see, over a six-month period, a pensioner get an additional $260. On top of that we’ve made this $250 payment and of course this will deliver…
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
But I'm talking about, if you’re really seriously about easing ‑ excuse the interruption ‑ easing cost of living pressures, why does it stop in April this one‑off payment which again is in the middle of the election campaign?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, what Treasury have forecast is that you'll see a higher inflation rate this year but then it actually will start to moderate. So, it goes from 4¼ per cent down to 3 per cent and it falls after that and that will help alleviate some of the pressures that Australian households are under. But the main driver of higher inflation right now is actually international factors, and particularly an oil price which has increased by more than 50 per cent a barrel since the start of the year off the back of events in Ukraine. This is what Australians need - relief at the bowser right now and that's what we are delivering.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Inflation will stay fairly elevated, it's 3 per cent forecast for the next financial year. We saw the full extent of the real problem Australians are facing in the budget papers this year. Real wages down 1½ per cent, they'll only increase according to these forecasts by 0.25 per cent next financial year. That's not a great sell for hard‑pressed Australian workers, is it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well you're right that you will see inflation at an elevated level this year, but that's why we're providing other economic support like through our tax system with this low and middle-income tax offset, which we've boosted by $420, which actually will mean that if you are on 60, 70, 80 or $90,000 you will see $1,500 in your pocket from 1 July when you put in your tax return. If you are a two-income family with those levels of income, you'll be $3,000 better off. So actually, providing relief and more money to the pockets of Australian families through the tax system with existing measures.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
A bit of action behind you, the Prime Minister has walked out doing another network. He joins us a bit later on. So I turn to the Prime Minister and this devastating spray unleashed by Concetta Fierravanti‑Wells, a Liberal Senator, a long‑term Liberal Senator last night in the Senate under parliamentary privilege. She accused the Prime Minister, who's standing not too far away from you, of being a bully, an autocrat, she said he lacks a moral compass and is not fit to be Prime Minister. What do you make of that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, firstly, the Liberal Party had its Senate pre‑selection on the weekend and I understand some 500 delegates from the party reached their decision and that decision is respected. The second point I would make is that the Prime Minister's been a fantastic partner for me in helping to steer the economy through the greatest shock since the Great Depression. The numbers that we saw in the budget last night show that growth is higher, unemployment is lower, wages are strengthening, and these aren't just numbers on a page, they're actually real people's lives, and to know that we've avoided the experience in the 1980s and the 1990s recessions when the unemployment rate remained elevated for some eight to ten years, and to have avoided that, and this time round we're having an economic recovery which is actually leading the world, faster and stronger than the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Italy, France and Germany is a real credit to 26 million Australians, but also shows that our economic plan is working.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
But this is the view, I go back to Concetta Fierravanti‑Wells, of a long‑term, a loyal Liberal Party soldier. Again, she's accused the man standing not too far away from you in the Prime Minister's courtyard this morning of being unfit for his office.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it won't surprise you I have a very different view and the Liberal Party has its own internal processes for pre‑selections and the members made that decision on the weekend.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
So, you're saying it's a case of, she's been dumped to an unwinnable position. Are you saying it's simply a case of sour grapes with Concetta Fierravanti‑Wells?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I'm just saying I obviously strongly disagree with those comments, but I can only tell you about my own experience as being the Treasurer and the Deputy Leader of the party, that the Prime Minister and I have had an outstanding close working relationship. It's one that has helped deliver such a strong economic outcome for our country. There's still a lot of work to do. There have been setbacks along the way. Australia has faced a once in a century pandemic. But as you know, Michael, the story now is one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, one of the lowest mortality rates in the world, and now one of the strongest economic recoveries in the world, and it's one thing to talk about our record but it's also important to talk about our plans for the future. That's what I laid out last night. Further investments in our regions, further investments in infrastructure. That's what will create a stronger economy.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Out of time, Treasurer. Josh Frydenberg, thanks for your time this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Always a pleasure.