PAUL KENNEDY:
Treasurer, thank you for your time this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
Nice to be with you, Paul.
PAUL KENNEDY:
The Prime Minister has offered as much support as Victoria needs, we're led to believe. What has the Commonwealth Government been asked to provide at this point?
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
We've already provided and deployed over 220 ADF personnel and there will be more to come. We've also deployed some 800 Commonwealth officials to help in the various health tasks. As you know, we've got some broad income and business support packages in place right across the economy. For example, the JobKeeper and the cash flow boost together injected more than $10 billion into the Victorian economy. So it's a combination of health supports, like the 28 respiratory clinics that we've funded in Victoria that have supported more than 55,000 tests, together with the various other programs that we have in place.
PAUL KENNEDY:
I want to ask you about JobKeeper and JobSeeker in a moment. But firstly, just on ADF - are you satisfied that Victoria is using the military in the best possible way? Not deploying them to the towers? And we're told that they're going to be part of setting up a perimeter around Melbourne along with the police. Are you satisfied that they're being used well by Victoria?
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
I'm satisfied that the Victorian Government will make the decisions they need to take. And obviously, the Prime Minister and the Premier have been speaking regularly through this crisis. And the Premier is aware of the support available to him from the Commonwealth. He's publicly acknowledged that that said whenever he asked for help from the Prime Minister, the answer has been a yes.
PAUL KENNEDY:
Banks are extending their loan deferral scheme but only for those in genuine need. Can you give us an example of who might qualify for that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
If somebody has lost their job and they’ve got a residential mortgage, or indeed, if their business has been closed and they have a commercial loan, then they would be cases where the customer would need to talk to their bank and I understand that the bank is going to be very supportive of their customers. I mean, the initial 6-month loan deferral period has been very helpful. Some $266 billion in loan payments have been deferred. That’s about 800,000 customers, about 60 per cent of which have been residential mortgages. So the decision by the regulator and by the banks to have this extended for another four months is very welcome.
PAUL KENNEDY:
Treasurer, I note there that the Reserve Bank made a statement yesterday. I found it interesting after hearing what's happening in Victoria. One quote was that the pandemic was promoting firms to reconsider their business models. In Victoria, that got just got a lot harder, business got a lot harder. What changes are you considering making to JobKeeper and JobSeeker that you can tell us about right now to provide certainty to some of the business owners we've been hearing from?
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
The first thing to say is that the JobSeeker and JobKeeper programs are already legislated to the end of September. So even with the 6-week lockdown announced by Premier Andrews, that takes it out to the end of August.
PAUL KENNEDY:
But after that, there's going to be that really awkward and tough reopening measures again, which might last a couple of months past that.
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
There's going to be another phase of income support, the details of which will be announced on July 23. We recognise that some sectors are going to recover more slowly than others. For example, the tourism sector as a result of the international borders being closed. We've announced a number of sector wide specific packages for housing, for the arts, for tourism. But we also recognise that the recent events in Victoria are being to be an impediment to the speed and the trajectory of the economic recovery across the nation.
PAUL KENNEDY:
Will you consider making that announcement sooner? Particularly for those Victorians? July 23 seems a long time away now considering people will have to make decisions about their futures in the next couple of days?
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
People are making decisions. Obviously in the knowledge that the JobKeeper and the JobSeeker programs extend to the end of September. What we are announcing on July 23 is an economic and fiscal update, which will give people a sense of where the economy is at, and obviously, developments in Victoria are very serious. They pose not only a health risk, but also an economic challenge as well.
PAUL KENNEDY:
What are you doing with childcare in Victoria for the next six weeks in lockdown?
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
Dan Tehan has already made some announcements this morning to ensure the viability and sustainability of that sector, including some flexibility in that program. Because what we want to see, Paul, is we want to see those childcare providers stay open, even when the children may not be able to attend because of some of the restrictions.
PAUL KENNEDY:
And is it very similar to what the situation was with lockdown one?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, there are some small changes here. I heard Daniel Andrews talking about some of the cafes remaining open and obviously some people can go to work. And it hasn't been applied across the whole state. As you know, it's focused on Metropolitan Melbourne and some areas. But the next few weeks will be absolutely critical, Paul, because we need to stem the tide of these new cases. And if we're successful in Victoria, that will be a benefit to the whole nation.
PAUL KENNEDY:
I just want to ask you about schools, finally. What do you want to see in Victoria with schools? The Premier saying that Year 10, 11 and 12 will go back next week. The rest will have a week off and then we might be back to online learning. The Federal Government had a lot to say about schools and whether they should be open earlier. What's your stance now?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
This is a very fluid environment, and obviously, we want to see as many kids in school as possible.
PAUL KENNEDY:
You want the schools to go back in Term 3?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Again, these are decisions that the state Government will take based on the medical advice available to them. But you know, if kids can get to school and be physically present, that's a lot better than learning online.
PAUL KENNEDY:
Thank you for your time, Treasurer.
JOSH FRYDENBERG :
Good to be with you.