NEIL MITCHELL:
On the line Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, nice to with be you, Neil, and your listeners.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Just a quick, well quickly, I’m confused. Does the federal government support vaccine mandates or not?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as you know, the vaccine rollout has been voluntary and it’s been very successful with now Australians having passed the 85 per cent double‑dose vaccination threshold. We did make it mandatory in very limited circumstances, aged care and disability workers, and that’s because of the more vulnerable cohorts. Now you’ve got...
NEIL MITCHELL:
But it’s not mandatory at the moment. I’m sorry, we haven’t got long. It’s not mandatory at the moment. What Victoria is saying is you don’t have to be vaccinated, but if you don’t, you can’t go into these various shops and things. Does the government support that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I totally support the right of shop owners to determine who comes into their premises…
NEIL MITCHELL:
No, no, but they’re being told by the government that they have to do it.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
And that is a decision that the state government has to answer for. That is not our policy. That is their policy. And the good news is with the vaccination rates increasing quite dramatically the transmissibility of the virus has reduced, the number of people with serious illnesses has reduced. So at some point in time there’s going to have to be a transition, Neil, for those non‑vaccinated people to be able to be incorporated back into Australian life.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay, at what time? I mean, you’ve got your backbench tub‑thumping about this, so it’s important. Is that time now or not?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, it depends on the level of vaccination rates and the health advice. But I would say, the more restrictions that can be eased the better. As you know, in Victoria we did endure a lot and Melbourne particularly as the longest locked down city in the world. But having been out in the CBD on Saturday night the place was pumping, and Victorians are very relieved I think…
NEIL MITCHELL:
But, Treasurer bottom line, does Victoria need these rules that restricts unvaccinated people going to the places they do, or do we not need them?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, they’re not the federal government’s rules, they’re the state government’s rules.
NEIL MITCHELL:
I understand that.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
So that’s what Daniel Andrews has to explain. I know that the voluntary rollout has been very successful. I know the fact that more and more people every day are getting the jab and, you know, I do welcome that. But as to shutting out those anti, the people who have not had the vaccination, that is going to be a question for Daniel Andrews.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay. Well, it’s going to be for you, because your backbench in the Senate is jacking up about it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No, but we’re against the bill. We’re going to vote against the bill that Pauline Hanson is bringing. As to what some members of our government do in terms of joining the crossbench, you know, they will make their own decisions. But we’re not green lighting that. We’re saying we’re against that bill being put forward by Pauline Hanson.
NEIL MITCHELL:
You haven’t been reluctant to answer Daniel Andrews through this. He has said that the Prime Minister is cuddling up to extremists. Surely with the way the bitterness is flowing, this national cabinet’s finished, isn’t it? How can you possibly sit down around the table with this sort of nastiness going around?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, firstly, I utterly reject that claim by the Premier. I think, you know, watching him the other day say, “Well I’m not about to get into a fight with the Prime Minister, but…” you know, and then launch into a pretty personal attack, I thought, you know, that was unseemly. I have seen the comments of the Prime Minister and they are very clear. He said that he has condemned the violence and the threats and the intimidation. They have no place in Australia’s public policy debate. That’s what our Prime Minister has said. So I thought it was a bit of a phony fight and a bit of a deflection, unfortunately, from the Premier.
NEIL MITCHELL:
So can national cabinet go on in this environment or is it days limited?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I think national cabinet will go on, but obviously it won’t meet as regularly as the virus and COVID response goes to the next stage. But the fact that Premiers and the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers come around the same table, just as we do as Treasurer’s through the Council on Federal Financial Relations, Neil, I think that is important because we do need to compare notes. And ultimately we’ve got one goal here, that’s to protect the community and to see the economy recover.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay. Petrol’s closing in on $2. House prices are boiling. Cost of living is going up. How are we supposed to pay the bills when wages are not moving?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, firstly, wages have been moving at 2.2 per cent. But, as you know, inflation – and you just pointed to that – has spiked. We have seen, since we came to government, the CPI, the inflation number, run at 1.8 per cent average per annum. Under Labor it was 2.7 per cent. Electricity prices have come down by 10 per cent since December 2018. We’ve made changes around child care which have helped reduce those costs. We’ve passed very significant tax cuts that sees one of your listeners, whether it’s a nurse or a teacher, on $60,000 a year $6,480 better off. But there are obviously some international factors at play with respect to petrol prices, both the supply and the demand issue. And I think it will find its equilibrium.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay, and we pay the bills. So you think it’s going to settle?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I think, firstly, it is challenging. Cost of living is challenging, and no‑one denies that. We do have historically low interest rates. So if you have a mortgage of $500,000 you are $600 better off a month compared to what interest rates were under our political predecessors. That’s a fact. Now, I can’t tell you that interest rates will stay as low as they are today indefinitely, but the fact is we are seeing people’s servicing on their mortgages come down as a result of those low interest rates.
NEIL MITCHELL:
And just finally, I know you’re going to allow 200,000 visa holders into the country, including students etc. When? When will they land? We need them.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the PM will make that announcement later this morning. But the good news is, Neil, this is the next sensible stage of our opening up as an economy. We’ve already made announcements around Australian residents and Australian citizens being able to come into the country without quarantining if they have been double vaccinated. So too with skilled migrants who are an important part of the economy, as well as international students. The international student market is worth $40 billion to Australia. And when I’ve met with business leaders from all sectors of the economy, the number one pressing issue for them right now is workforce shortages and the need to get those skilled workers in, whether it’s in construction, in mining, agriculture, hospitality or IT and professional services. So the announcements we’ll make today will see the borders open to those particular cohorts. And I think that will strengthen the economy, and it does show what the benefits from having a high vaccination rate are.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Thanks so much for your time. Is there any chance we can all get in the boat and row in the same direction instead of this nonsense and sniping that’s going on?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, as I said, I think the Prime Minister’s comments were, you know, totally understandable. He made it very clear…
NEIL MITCHELL:
He was politicking a little bit. He was getting out your mantra that, you know, keep government out of our lives, but he did make the point that he didn’t support any extremists but then he sort off went off in a little political talk.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No, I’d actually challenge that, Neil. I think this idea that we have got any, in any way would support the intimidation, the violence that we’ve seen is just ridiculous. I mean I came out, as you know, quite publicly and said the depiction of the Premier in a Nazi uniform was totally unacceptable. It showed a complete lack of understanding of history, a lack of sensitivity, a lack of any, you know, appropriate public policy debate. And so, too, with the gallows and the nooses that were being paraded through our streets. That is totally wrong. I don’t think that is acceptable in any debate and in any state or territory across the country. At the same time, the Prime Minister was making a very, I think, important point that as we move to the next phase of our COVID management we will see restrictions eased. People don’t want those lockdowns again. They want to have their lives back, they want their freedoms back and they want their jobs back.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you.