NEIL MITCHELL:
On the line, Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Neil, and good morning to my fellow Victorians.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Well you, as a Victorian, you’ve been critical of lockdowns in the past. Do you support this one?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, obviously we’re dealing with a much more contagious and dangerous strain, so I do support the measures that have been taken. I think it’s going to be a very difficult, trying time for Victorians given it’s our fifth lockdown, and the last one was just over a month ago. But if we can get on top of this outbreak, then hopefully we can open up again and people can get back to work, businesses can open their doors and, importantly, kids can go back to school, too.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Yeah, it’s set a sort of a template, wouldn’t it? We’re viewing it - we’re treating it in a quicker way than New South Wales, so if this works better than New South Wales, there’s the template for the rest of the country, for the rest of the Delta problem.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, yeah, they’ve got a longer lockdown, obviously, in New South Wales. And, again, it’s trying times there. They haven’t had as many lockdowns as we have in Victoria, but let’s hope that they get on top of it because every state is effectively connected. We’re the one nation and a strong New South Wales or a strong Victoria means a stronger Australia.
NEIL MITCHELL:
So is it peace in our time? What is in - what is the compensation for business federally?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
So for business we will provide a - on a 50-50 basis substantial economic support if the lockdown goes into a third week. Now right now it’s only going for a five-day lockdown and any decisions will be matters for the state government. But our business support kicks in from the third week. What kicks in from the first day of the lockdown is our income support, our payments of $600 and $375. And people will be eligible for those payments depending on the number of hours that they have lost from the lockdown.
NEIL MITCHELL:
So why does business not get it for three weeks? They don’t get anything from the first week at all, don’t they? It only picks up after three weeks?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Into the - at the start of the third week they’re eligible for business support.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Why?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, because the state government is going to take on the responsibility of the business support in the first couple of weeks if the lockdown goes that long. As you’ll remember, at national cabinet they agreed a division of responsibility - we would take on income support, the states would take on business support. Given the lengthier lockdowns then we made a provision with New South Wales to provide the business support on a 50-50 split from the latter weeks of the lockdown. And that same offer has been made available to Victoria and if they go into a longer lockdown then, no doubt, they will capitalise on that.
NEIL MITCHELL:
So that potentially means businesses might get nothing from this five days. And remembering it’s not just five days; as you well know, this is on top of four other lockdowns. I mean, they’re on their knees and they’re getting a kick in the throat.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Neil, that’s not the case, because I would expect that the Victorian government will take steps to support business in this first week, as they did in the last lockdown just over a month ago.
NEIL MITCHELL:
So is that a nod and a wink in the discussions you’ve had? Can businesses relax a little?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I will leave those announcements to the Premier and to Treasurer Pallas. But yesterday I had a very good conversation with Tim Pallas and we worked together, and the PM obviously had a good conversation and a productive one with the Premier Daniel Andrews as well.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Yeah, it worries me, because they sent out a lot of letters. At the very time Daniel Andrews was speaking they were sending out letters to business saying, “No, you can’t have anything.” What about sole traders? What do they get? What are they eligible for?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, sole traders are eligible under our business support program. They get a flat thousand dollar payment a week.
NEIL MITCHELL:
After three weeks?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
From the third week.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay. So their businesses, the sole traders?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
And, again, whether it’s a sole trader or a business, they are eligible if their turnover is down by 30 per cent or more.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Do you reckon this is a fair package? I mean, I know you can’t…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I think it’s a very strong package. I mean, if you think about the support that’s available you can now in the case of a five-day lockdown, if you’ve lost between 8 and 19 hours, Neil, you’ll get access to $375. If you’ve lost 20-plus hours you will get access to $600. This is the amount that the JobKeeper rate was set at in the December quarter last year when Victorians were doing it very tough.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Well, not the compensation, but the whole thing, what’s happening in New South Wales and Victoria at the moment - and I’ve just got the local case numbers through; I’ll give you that - but what’s it costing us? What’s it costing the economy?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
About $100 million a day for the New South Wales lockdown is Treasury’s best estimate. And not too dissimilar number for Victorian lockdowns when they occur. I mean, the New South Wales economy is slightly bigger than the Victorian economy. The New South Wales economy is around a third of the nation’s economy whereas Victoria is about a quarter.
NEIL MITCHELL:
It’s going to set us back. It’s going to set back recovery. It must.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Definitely. Definitely. I mean, what we saw yesterday, though – and it’s worth remarking upon – is very strong employment numbers. We saw the unemployment rate fall to 4.9 per cent, which is the lowest in more than a decade. It’s the eight consecutive month where the unemployment rate had come down. We’ve seen more than 50,000 full-time jobs created, and it did take into account the Victorian lockdown of just over a month ago, but it did not take into account what happened in New South Wales with this lengthier lockdown. And I think it does show the remarkable resilience of our economy and particularly our labour market. Not forgetting the fact that this is the first recession Australia has gone through in nearly three decades, and ahead of the rest of the world we’ve seen more people in work today than before the pandemic.
NEIL MITCHELL:
But you’d love to say this will be the last lockdown this year. It won’t be will it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
You can’t say that. You can’t that.
NEIL MITCHELL:
No.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
And, Neil, we are dealing with a more dangerous and contagious variant with the Delta variant of Covid. And it is very difficult and it’s moving quickly, and that’s why the health authorities have made these recommendations.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Which reminds me, there’s more talk about a lottery to encourage people to get vaccinated. That’s - gee, if there’s not enough motivation as there is to stay healthy, what do you think of the lottery idea?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I’m open to all these incentives, whether it’s lotteries or free airline tickets or frequent flyer points. In fact, when I sat down with the business community and General Frewen just the other week, many of the businesses there were offering the idea of putting forward incentives to get people to get vaccinated. But, you’re right; people should get the jab because it’s in their best health interests and their families’ best health interests. It’s in the nation’s best health interests.
NEIL MITCHELL:
I know you need to get away, but 10 new cases, four of them announced yesterday. So there’s actually only six new cases all linked to current outbreaks. So that’s good.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, look, it’s all good news if we can get on top of this virus because everyone wants to see the economy open up. But we’ve done so much hard work as a nation and, indeed, as a state to get to the point where we’re now.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
And let’s just hope we can get through this together.
NEIL MITCHELL:
What people have to cancel - I’m getting a word that it’s your birthday tomorrow.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It is. It’s the half century tomorrow, and, you know, hopefully there’s a few more years left in me.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Fifty years old. The boyish grin has gone. All birthday parties off?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the hair’s gone, the boyish grin’s gone, but there’s plenty of things to celebrate as well. I’ve got great friends, I’ve got a great family, and I feel very fortunate and privileged to be serving as the Treasurer of Australia.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Thank you very much, Josh Frydenberg, federal Treasurer. He’ll turn his bloody birthday into a political message for mine. Okay, that’s where it stands. We’re sweating on a state government announcement. But reading between the lines, he thinks it’ll be all right.