NEIL MITCHELL:
Josh Frydenberg, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning. Nice to with be you, Neil.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Despite these good figures, there's tough times ahead with all that lot, aren't there?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
There are certainly head winds in terms of the global and domestic economy. The Ukraine disaster, crisis is going to impact oil prices, and we'll see that play out here at the bowser. The floods will have a big clean‑up bill and, of course, we're providing immediate support to thousands of people across New South Wales and Queensland. With respect to Omicron that you mentioned, we have spending data from the first two months of this year which actually shows it was up by 4 per cent on the corresponding period the year prior.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Business confidence has gone up and job ads are still more than 30 per cent higher than going into the pandemic. I'm pretty optimistic – more than a glass half full – when it comes to the economy, Neil.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Petrol prices, have you got any modelling, what they're likely to go to?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, it does depend on what the price of a barrel of oil is.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Yep.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The price has jumped above $100 for the first time since 2014‑15, and, as you know, some people are paying $2 a litre, and that's a significant jump.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Do you think it will go higher?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It could. It is very much a function of the international price, and these geopolitical tensions play directly into that.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Any chance you could cut the tax on petrol, just temporarily, to ease the price at the petrol station?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I've heard many suggests about that in the lead‑up to the Budget. I wouldn't rule in or rule out particular measures because that's not a game we're going to get into. But, as you know, the excise from fuel goes directly to funding transport infrastructure projects which are really important from Victoria to the rest of the country.
NEIL MITCHELL:
The Budget, in these times, though, it's going to be tough to have a pre‑election budget. Would you say it will be tight rather than generous?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I've certainly brought to an end the emergency economic support payments, firstly, with JobKeeper. I was criticised for bringing that to an end, but it was the right decision. The COVID disaster payments, both for business support and households, we brought that to an end as the economy was recovering. Again, Labor was asking for those payments to continue. They've made more than $80 billion of extra spending commitments since COVID began. We've brought those emergency measures to an end. But the Budget's going to be focused, Neil, on continuing to roll out our economic plan, locking in the recovery. You'll see investments in skills, infrastructure, both transport and energy, manufacturing continues to be a key focus for us, the digital transformation across the economy and other measures designed to guarantee the essential services that people rely on.
NEIL MITCHELL:
You've mentioned infrastructure a couple of times. The opposition is suggesting that they'll put money into Victoria's suburban rail loop, which your government's ruled out in the past. Will that be reconsidered?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We have no plans to reconsider that at this point in time. But we've, you know, invested in other projects across Victoria. And, you know, we'll continue to do so. And, you know, you'll see more of the infrastructure commitments in the budget for Victoria, too.
NEIL MITCHELL:
I don’t want to get too complex, but I was reading per capita GDP is the highest for two years. That's per every head per population in the country. Much higher than when we have immigration at a level of 250,000. Is having – I think it was double, really, the immigration levels – the per capita GDP, per capita wealth, in fact, was ahead, well ahead, of when we have immigration. Is that a signal to have a rethink on immigration?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Firstly, I think Australia is stronger for having a very well targeted and considered immigration policy. We're all migrants unless we were First Australians – namely, our Indigenous people. And, I think, you know whether it's a skills program or…
NEIL MITCHELL:
Yeah, but it's hard to argue per capita GDP was significantly higher without immigration.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, getting the immigration settings right is an important part of growing our economy. But it's also an important part of being a harmonious, successful, tolerant, decent society. I think we can manage both things. I think we can have a strong migration program but at the same time have a very strong economy.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Okay. I know you've got to get away. Just quickly as a Jewish man, when you saw Russia target the Holocaust memorial in Ukraine, what was your reaction?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Outrage. Hurt. You know, 34,000 innocent souls lost their lives there back in 1941 at the hands of the brutal Nazi occupation. And President Zelenskyy in the Ukraine, whose shown great leadership through this crisis, is of the Jewish faith, and he made this very powerful speech where he talked about Babi Yar, this memorial, being an important part of Kyiv, an important part of Europe, a place of prayer and remembrance and that the missiles that came from the Russian forces on Babi Yar killed the Holocaust victims for the second time. They were his words. And he pointed to the fact that the Russians, when they were occupying previously Ukraine under the Soviet Union, they built a sports complex over it, they built a tourist centre. They've tried to erase the history of that very, very important and terrible period. And so I felt the outrage. But whether you were Jewish or not Jewish, I think you felt the same thing about the insensitivity and brutality of the Russian forces.
NEIL MITCHELL:
And you watch the kids suffering now. It's just horrendous.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Oh, well, this is completely outrageous, what is occurring. But what's at stake, Neil, here, is more than the sovereignty of one nation and 44 million very desperate soles now in Ukraine. It's actually the future of the international rules‑based order, which has helped underpin international and European prosperity for the last 70 years. Russia was the aggressor here. They didn't act in self‑defence. Ukraine never threatened Russia. And you've got a lot of countries from Poland to Latvia and Lithuania and, of course, other European states who are asking the very valid question – who is next? And it's quite remarkable what has actually just transpired in the last few weeks alone. Germany, which has been obviously relatively pacifist since the end of the Second World War, has now sent lethal military aid directly to the Ukrainian forces. Sweden, which has, you know, tended to be a pretty neutral country, is doing the same thing. And this is a remarkable change in the psyche of Europe, and I think for the broader world as well.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Thank you for your time. How's the PM today? Have you spoken to him? Is he all right? Is he going okay?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yeah, we've been in contact this morning. We were speaking last night. He's got the case of a bad flu, but as you and I and I think 6 million other Victorians know, we can live safely with COVID rather than going back to those terrible lockdowns.
NEIL MITCHELL:
Thank you for your time. The Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg who, of course, had COVID himself and knocked him round a bit. But he's back in action.