MICHAEL ROWLAND:
We're joined by the Federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, live from Parliament House.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Michael. Nice to be with you and Lisa.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Great to have you on board. I want to start with the Brittany Higgins rape allegations. You may have seen The Australian and News.com this morning are publishing text messages between Brittany Higgins and another Liberal staffer in April 2019. The other staffer said he raised the alleged rape with the Prime Minister's office and the person in Scott Morrison's office was mortified to hear about it. That is at odds with what the Prime Minister is telling us.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the Prime Minister gave a statement earlier this week and I'm not aware of any difference to that statement. The Prime Minister also laid out, Michael, as you know, a detailed series of processes to help improve the culture in Parliament House but also the support that is provided to those in need, including having the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet conduct a review, asking our colleague, Celia Hammond, the former vice-chancellor of the University of Notre Dame, and is familiar with related issues within an institutional setting, asking her to work on improvements, as well as an independent, bipartisan and cross partisan review of the culture in Parliament House and we look forward to receiving responses from those reviews.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
That's important. And I want our viewers to hear about steps being taken to ensure this doesn't happen again. But I want to ask you - these text messages, on face value, blow the Prime Minister's argument about the timeline on when he and his office first heard out of the water, don't they?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, I'm not aware of any difference to the statement the Prime Minister made earlier this week about the timeline for his office knowing and also for him knowing. These are very serious issues. The Government has taken them very seriously and as you would expect us to do, Michael.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
If Brittany Higgins was your staffer and she came to you alleging she had been raped, how quickly would you tell the Prime Minister, personally?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, my first priority would be to provide the support to that staffer and Linda Reynolds has made that very clear in the Parliament as well as making an apology to Brittany, because she felt that at all times she was providing that support. I would also want the relevant authorities to know. They're the most important people to know and to follow up those allegations.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Speaking about the relevant authorities, we do know Linda Reynolds sat down with a senior officer from the AFP to talk about the rape allegations. Does that strike you as odd that she didn't use that opportunity to go one step further and at least inform the Prime Minister?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, I'm not party to those discussions...
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Would you? I'm asking your personal views? Would you inform the Prime Minister?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I know you'd like me to get into a whole series of hypotheticals. I wasn't involved in that situation. What I do know is Linda Reynolds cares very deeply about this issue, about her staff and always being there for them and that's what she tried to do through this process. But obviously she's also made an apology because there was a sense that that support wasn't provided.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Do you believe Brittany Higgins?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Of course I believe Brittany Higgins and I also believe the Prime Minister and I also believe Linda Reynolds and I believe that the support needs to be provided to Brittany but also we need to improve the culture within Parliament House and that's where our focus is.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Okay, let's go to Facebook, Treasurer. The tech giant is showing absolutely no signs of backing down. Is that it for Facebook in Australia when it comes to news content?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, I hope not. Mark Zuckerberg and I have been in contact yesterday. We spoke yesterday morning but then we were subsequently in contact and we agreed to talk later this morning. We'll see where those discussions go and we can find a pathway going forward. Yesterday's actions by Facebook were unnecessary. They were heavy handed. They've generated a very strong reaction here in Australia and this code is going to be very important in terms of protecting Australia's national interest but also protecting public interest journalism in this country. Let's not lose sight of the fact that Google have, in good faith, come to the table and struck successful negotiations with Channel Seven, with Channel Nine, with News Limited. I understand they're making good progress with the ABC as well as other key partners and that's going to see very significant sums of money flow into public interest journalism in this country. That's money that wouldn't have flowed without the code being on the table. So our resolve is very firm. We are seeking to pass that legislation through the Senate next week, but there's something much bigger here at stake than just one or two commercial deals. This is about Australia's sovereignty. We're in a world where there has been a revolution in the digital economy. We're very conscious of that. That's why we commissioned the ACCC to conduct this ground-breaking report. If this was so easy, Michael, other countries would have done it before, so we're trying to succeed where they have failed.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Just quickly before you go, JobKeeper, we know, ends in a little over five weeks' time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
That's right.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
As you would know, businesses in your home city of Melbourne and in places like Cairns, are crying out for JobKeeper to continue because they are still struggling and I know the Government has a range of other support measures in place to help businesses but nothing really compares, does it, to a direct wage subsidy. My question to you - is there any scope at all for the Government to extend a form of wage subsidy for struggling businesses in Melbourne and Cairns after the end of March?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We've made it very clear that we are not looking to extend JobKeeper. It was always a temporary program, initially for six months and then we extended it for 12 months, at an estimated cost of $90 billion, it's the most expensive program Australia has ever undertaken. But the good news is that over 2 million Australian workers and over 520,000 Australian businesses have actually come off JobKeeper in the December quarter. Now, you're right, there are sectors of the economy, there are regions across Australia who are doing it tough and we're looking at other targeted support in addition to what we have already announced with respect to infrastructure training and the like. But it's also important to understand, Michael, Treasury did a review last year of the JobKeeper program and it found that the program had a number of characteristics and key features that created perverse or adverse incentives in the workplace in the event that the market, the Labor market and economy were strengthening, particularly about hampering the mobility or reallocation of workers across the economy as the economy strengthened. It's Treasury advice that we have accepted, that the program ends.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Out of time. Treasurer, thank you so much for joining us on News Breakfast.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.