MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Treasurer, good morning. Let's get it out of the way early, what's your tip for tomorrow night?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Sorry to disappoint you, Michael, I'm a big of the fan Doggies but this time I'm going with the Dees. I mean you have to go back to the early 60s to remember when they last won a premiership. Back in the days when the Beatles were travelling around the country, and you could get a pie or a beer for 20 cents. Those days are long gone, and I think they are deserving of a premiership after their great season.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
I think it's going to be a hard day for them anyway, but we'll press on. Let's talk about this big speech you're giving today. Do you support Australia committing to net‑zero carbon emissions by 2050?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well I certainly see it in our interests being part of these global agreements and many countries over 100 have agreed to net‑zero, so we're making progress internally in respect to that target. We haven't made any formal decisions yet, Michael, but today's speech is about the changes that are occurring in financial markets as a result of climate change. Whether it's been the industrial revolution or the digital age, financial markets have always factored in these significant structural shifts and climate change is no different, and this is having an impact on Australia because we're so heavily reliant on foreign investment, whether it's direct foreign investment, which is worth around $4 trillion today, whether it's our domestic banks that get about 20 per cent of their funding from overseas, or indeed whether it's our government bonds, about half of which are bought by foreign investors. I want to make sure that Australia on the one hand is not disadvantaged by this structural shift in financial markets and on the other hand can take advantage of it by getting new investments in renewable energy and other sustainable initiatives.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
So on that basis, and you've been quite vocal about what capital markets are doing, we can all see it, so on that basis capital markets would think it's an absolutely crazy idea to fund a new coal fired power station in Queensland, right?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, capital markets will make the decisions based on what they assess as risk. We're already seeing –
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
But you know that the portfolio of that capital market –
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
– that with the portfolio of assets they're investing in it.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
– there's no fund manager in the world, no finance body that's going to get behind this coal fired power station the Government has committed to at least doing a feasibility study into.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, governments can make decisions, capital markets can make decisions, but you talk about fund managers, I talk in the speech about how the biggest fund managers in the world, the Fidelitys, the BlackRocks, they're investing in low carbon initiatives. But it's also important that we invest across the economy, as well as in traditional industries like manufacturing, like agriculture, like the resources sector. Indeed many of those companies in those sectors are actually at the cutting edge of innovation, and unless we get them to have a smaller carbon footprint we won't get to net‑zero, and that's a very important message that Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, has been talking about. Don't just blacklist what he calls brown assets or just don't just invest in green assets, you need to smooth the transition across the broader economy.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
The Prime Minister, I mean he can't go to Glasgow, right, without having already signed up to net‑zero 2050?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, Michael, you know very well that we're having those internal discussions. There are of course differences of opinion on many of these issues. We work them through behind closed doors as opposed to in front of them, most of the time I dare say, and hopefully we get the right result. Certainly my speech today is about informing the public about the significant change that is taking place in financial markets as a result of climate change where investors are reassessing risk, reassessing what they consider to be good value. We need to have the regulatory frameworks in place to ensure that investors can make timely and informed decisions, but we also need to prosecute the case for reducing emissions as we are.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
How much of this is you as a Treasurer, and I get it you're speaking as a policy maker, but also how much is this you, Josh Frydenberg, member for Kooyong? It's an inner seat in Melbourne, you've got a margin of 5.7 per cent, you suffered a 7 per cent swing against you to the Greens at the last election. Seriously, you talk about having to bring the Nats on side, how nervous are you about going to the forthcoming election with the climate policy you have at the moment?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, I remember at the last election, Michael, probably doing the same sort of interview with you. People were, you know, having doomsday predictions and expecting us all to be turfed out. It didn't happen like that. What actually happened was that we prosecuted the case for sensible, costed policies to reduce emissions. If you look at the facts, our emissions profile as a nation is down by more than 20 per cent on what they were in 2005. That's around double the OECD average. It's a faster reduction in emissions than Canada, than Japan, than New Zealand, than the United States. We've put in place a technology investment roadmap for about $20 billion of investment in renewable energy and other similar initiatives are being undertaken. That's going to leverage around three to four times that in terms of private sector investment. We're obviously focusing on hydrogen. We've got new partnerships with other countries like the UK, the US, Singapore, Germany. We've got a lot of work under way. It's about communicating what we're actually doing so the public understand that we are making very significant progress in this regard.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
We're also covering this morning, moving to another topic, the Tamil family, the Nadesalingam family. Your colleague Alex Hawke, the Immigration Minister has granted three members of that family a 12-month bridging visa, not four‑year‑old Tharni. Why can't Alex Hawke use his public interest power to free this four‑year‑old child from community detention so this family can go back to Biloela in Queensland?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, I can certainly understand the sympathy with the family and that a lot of people want to see this issue resolved in the best interests of the family. At the same time we've got legal processes in place. There's been legal cases that have been afoot, and we've also got our border protection policies. The particular details of that case are handled by the relevant Minister. You can put that to him. But what I can say is that we always are seeking to ensure that where there is flexibility, we can implement those changes but at the same time ensuring that we've got a border protection policy with integrity.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
But we're talking about a four‑year‑old child here, Treasurer. I mean how does that sit with you as a father?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well I can tell you that it's very important that we have, as we've always had, a generous humanitarian policy intake with respect to refugees –
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Is what is happening here –
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
– and people seeking asylum in this country.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Is what is happening here humanitarian in your view?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again there are legal policies afoot and you are asking me to put myself into that position. The Minister will make determinations based on the evidence that's available to him. As you know, there are many victims for the failures in border protection policies over the years. We've avoided lives being lost at sea, we have avoided, you know, some of the catastrophes of the past. Our focus is ensuring we have an orderly program and that we also have a generous humanitarian offshore resettlement program.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Just very quickly, Treasurer, before we go, we are out of time, but I do want to ask you about John Elliott. He died at the age of 79, a big political figure, a big business leader.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yeah.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
What's his legacy in your view?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well he had a huge impact on the corporate world, on the political world, on the sporting world. He was a very proud Victorian. I think his legacy is that he certainly championed at the Carlton Football Club much change that led to premierships, within the Liberal Party he was very committed to good government, and within the corporate world he was a bit of a raider, he was a bit of a larrikin, and he was a larger-than-life figure. So he will be sorely and sadly missed, and my thoughts today are with his family because he lived a very full life, and he certainly had a lot of friends.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Okay, we'll leave it there, Treasurer. You don't want to change your footy tip before we go?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Michael, I'm sure I'll get a message if the Dogs get there but you've had your fairy tale already this decade. Let's leave it to the Demons to even things.
MICHAEL ROWLAND:
Expect that message tomorrow night. Treasurer, thanks for joining us.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thank you.