NEIL BREEN:
Joining me now is Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg. And he'll announce a $125 million support package for our arts industries today. Good morning to you Treasurer.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, nice to be with you Neil
NEIL BREEN:
How many jobs are you trying to save with the $125 million?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Up to 90,000 jobs, this will support, as well as around 230 specific projects, whether it's going to be fringe festivals, blues festivals, theatre companies, other touring musical acts, this is all designed to support jobs in an industry that's been hit hard by COVID. And whether they’re the crews, back of house, whether they're the artists themselves, this program has been successful already and the Government's provided $75 million. So this is a substantial increase within the new $125 million.
NEIL BREEN:
How do businesses or companies access it Treasurer?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, what they do is they approach the Office of Arts, and then the Australia Council and there's a Creative Economy Task Force, who make recommendations to the Minister. The grants can be anywhere between $25,000 and $2 million. And they can obviously be used for the pre-production as well. So the money can be put to work straight away to get events up, which may take a bit of time.
NEIL BREEN:
Yesterday Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy was talking about maybe 150,000 jobs, and 110,000 small businesses being at risk after the $90 billion JobKeeper scheme ends on Sunday. We've got 1.1 million workers, I think, he said, still on JobKeeper, are you worried about what will happen next week with jobs in the Australian marketplace?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well what the Secretary of the Treasury did say to the Parliament yesterday was that it's appropriate for JobKeeper to end because there's a number of adverse incentives within the program that if you left that in place, an economy wide wage subsidy, then it would hamper workers moving across to other new jobs. And so he did say that the transition was manageable, that the labour market would adjust and that the unemployment rate would continue to trend down over time. So just because JobKeeper ends Neil, doesn't mean the Morison Government’s support ends. As you know, we've got substantial other packages including the aviation, the tourism package, which is designed to get more tourists on the ground in Queensland and therefore support more jobs, we've got the tax cuts that have already put $9 billion into people's pockets with another $12 billion to come, we’ve got infrastructure projects that we are rolling out early, we've got new training places. And if you look at what JobKeeper has achieved, it's been very successful to date with 77 per cent of those who were on JobKeeper in Queensland, now graduating off it.
NEIL BREEN:
Treasurer, is the Federal Government worried about the overheating housing market? ANZ bank bringing out predictions yesterday of 17 per cent rises in housing prices across Australia. This year, we've got to be happy that housing prices have held up. But it does seem overheated.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well for most people, including myself, and probably you too, Neil, our house is our number one asset. And when its price goes up, we feel more confident about our economic security, our economic situation, that also gives us more confidence to go out and spend in the economy. If you're a small business, you can often mortgage your house to expand your small business as well and leverage off that. So it is important that people feel confident that the value of their home is going up, not down. That being said, the regulators watch very closely, the housing market to ensure that it does remain stable, and they'll continue to do so. And, of course, there have been programs that have been temporary, like HomeBuilder, which have seen a lot of people start to build new homes and buy land. And that is obviously also encouraging more activity across the housing market.
NEIL BREEN:
Yes, well, Treasurer, it's good for me and you, but not great for our kids, I suppose.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we're trying to help get more people into the housing market. And that's where HomeBuilder has been so as successful, as well as other programs that we've been putting in place around affordable housing. And so we've got initiatives that are designed to leverage people’s savings to get into the housing market, designed to provide them with a bit of extra support from the Federal Government and that seems to be working.
NEIL BREEN:
Treasurer it appears as though a reshuffle is on the cards, with Christian Porter maybe not coming back as Attorney General, Linda Reynolds, not as Defence Minister, Michaelia Cash, the new AG, Peter Dutton to Defence, when can we expect an announcement on a new look ministry?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well Neil, there's been a lot of speculation, but it will be just that until the Prime Minister makes his announcement. But obviously, we continue to support our colleagues. It's been a difficult time, both Linda and Christian have been on leave from the Parliament. And it's been a tumultuous time more broadly across the Parliament for everyone involved over the course of the last month. But my unequivocal focus is on delivering a Budget in a matter of weeks’ time, early May, and of course, it was really pleasing to see those recent job numbers which defied the market expectations despite all those who sought to talk the economy down when we saw 5.8 per cent national unemployment, and we saw 88,700 new jobs being created, all of which were full time.
NEIL BREEN:
Well, the only certainty is Treasurer, you'll still be the Treasurer, no whatever, no matter what happens. Thanks for joining us this morning, Josh Frydenberg.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to be with you Neil.