NATALIE BARR:
Morning to you Treasurer. So this is the third time…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Morning Nat.
NATALIE BARR:
…in six weeks the Government has changed that criteria for income and business support, has your hand been forced here?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as the virus evolves, so does our response Nat, and what we're doing is providing the income support from day one of this lockdown in Victoria, as long as the workers lose the requisite number of hours per week. And as you say, a $375 payment if you've lost between eight and 19 hours a week, and if you've lost 20 or more hours a week of work then you're eligible for the $600 payment, and people can apply through services Australia.
NATALIE BARR:
Yes and it’s a great initiative and I’m sure Victorians are cheering but it seems it only has happened since the Victorian Government has been bullying the Commonwealth all week and saying that they been begging for crumbs and they’re about to launch a five-day lockdown, is that the case?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as the Commonwealth, we don't get bullied by anyone. The reality is, we've provided very significant support across the country, more than $300 billion in direct health and economic support since the pandemic began, but Victoria is going to its fifth lockdown, and their last lockdown was just over a month ago, so these are very trying days. Not just for the people of Victoria, but obviously, the more than 5 million people across New South Wales who this morning are also subject to lockdown orders. But our country will get through this Nat, we will come together and will support each other and importantly, we'll be stronger at the other end of this crisis. And just yesterday we got some very welcome news about the resilience of our labour market with the unemployment rate falling to 4.9 per cent, the lowest in a decade. This took into account the recent lockdown in Victoria, but it didn't take into account the most recent lockdown in New South Wales. So we will wait and see what happens with future jobs numbers, but certainly the numbers that we received yesterday are a sign that the economy is remarkably resilient.
NATALIE BARR:
Yes, they are great figures, you must be, you know, absolutely wrapped about those today. The underemployment figure, it’s risen to 7.9 per cent. How concerning is that, that people aren't getting enough work, I guess?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well a couple of points, the headline number is the unemployment number, and more than 50,000 new jobs were created, and it was the eight consecutive month the unemployment rate fell. With respect to underemployment, this was really off the back of what happened in Victoria, around 40 million hours of work were lost over the course of that month. And we've seen the hours of work that were lost in Victoria that were lost over that month spiked by more than 8 per cent. The unemployment rate that you refer to is still the lowest level it's been, effectively since 2014. So, there is resilience in the economy, despite that unemployment rate just ticking off the unemployment rate ticking off the back of what happened in Victoria.
NATALIE BARR:
Okay, we’ve got obviously big problems in Sydney with the lockdown and now Melbourne. How concerned are you that this will affect the economy as a whole?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Nat I think it will affect the economy. It affects investment decisions that get delayed, obviously the border closures prevent people moving more freely between states, supply chains get disrupted, and obviously people either lose their jobs or are not working the hours that they normally would. So it's very difficult for the economy, but again, yesterday's numbers show that we’re remarkably resilient. Ahead of any advanced economy around the world, our economy is now bigger than it was going into the pandemic and more people are in work today than going into the pandemic, so there is reason for Australians, despite the current challenges that we face to know that we'll get to the other side and we’ll be stronger for it.
NATALIE BARR:
Okay, we know you have to go Treasurer, thank you for your time this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
All the best.