PETER STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer, good morning to you. What is your message to Victoria this morning?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Congratulations! This is a day that belongs to all Victorians. They’ve endured, as you say, the longest lockdown of any city in the world, in Melbourne. It’s been a really long, hard slog. But today they get that relief. And there is emotion in the air as people catch up with friends, kids go back to school and, of course, businesses reopen. Melbourne is finally free. Morning margaritas all round, Pete, because I think there’s a lot to celebrate today.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, the next step is all restrictions. When do you believe all restrictions should end?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, of course the next step is the 80 per cent double‑dose vaccination rate in Victoria, which is soon approaching. Having hit 70 per cent, they’ve started to see people being able to have visitors in the home, businesses reopen, hospitality with small numbers, hairdressers and the like. The next step is 80 per cent, where masks won’t be required outside and more people are allowed to go indoors to various hospitality venues. That’s all very welcome. And as we make progress then after that you’ll see even further restrictions ease. This is what learning to live with COVID is about. It’s no longer about the headline number of cases per day in any one state or country; it’s more about what is happening with hospitalisations, the number of people in ICU and on ventilators. Ensuring that we can obviously maintain the strength and the service required in our health system, but also allowing people to get their freedoms back, their lives back. And that will be a springboard for a very strong economic recovery as well.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Everyone, Treasurer, is talking about workers, though. We need workers, we need workers. There’s this huge shortage, which we’ve spoken about a few times now on the program. What are you doing about that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, firstly in Victoria we saw last month 120,000 jobs being lost in one month alone. That was around 90 per cent of the total number of jobs that were lost across the country. So, of course, as a first step we want those people who’ve seen their hours reduced to zero or, indeed, people who have lost their jobs to be rehired. And we’ve seen in New South Wales as they’ve reopened not only has economic activity picked up but also the number of job ads were up 16 per cent as a result of the opening up in that state. So I’m confident that that’s what will happen in the first instance in Victoria as well. With respect to workers coming from overseas, skilled workers and the like, more people coming for agriculture and the like, we’re making headway in putting in place plans to do that. First step, though, is to get the Australians back as quickly as possible without having to have home quarantine. New South Wales has made that announcement from 1 November. It looks like Victoria’s about to make that announcement as well. That is really welcome because that’s going to ensure freedom of movement for Australians, and that’s a great outcome.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
The New South Wales Premier – and you can see in the bottom; you won’t be able to see it, Treasurer, but our viewers will, the bottom of your screen, we’re about to go to the Prime Minister and the Premier and Alan Joyce as well about an announcement coming up – but Dom Perrottet, as you know, he’s got this idea – and it’s been borrowed before – but he’s got this idea of a big New South Wales to increase migration to kind of catch up. But has the damage already been done when it comes to migration as potential skilled workers look to other countries such as Canada where they might go to before Australia now?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I think Australia’s still a very attractive destination, Pete, for skilled workers, for international students and, of course, for tourists. And that’s critical to our economy as well. But what we have seen is the borders being closed from the start of the pandemic, and that was the right call because that helped keep Australians safe. But as a result, our population growth is the lowest in a century, and we’ve actually seen more people leave the country than come to the country for the first time in more than 50 years. So, in order to get our population growth back up to where it was that’s going to take time. That’s going to see the borders reopened. And, of course, we’re going to have to continue to sell Australia to the world to attract those skilled workers, those international students and those tourists.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Just on the Nats and net zero, Treasurer, the quid pro quo from the Nats is going to include economic safety valve for regions, as Jonathan Lea’s been reporting this morning. It’s going to include a pause mechanism if there is a negative impact as well. Do you support those demands? Are they reasonable?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, I’m not going to go into the details of any internal discussions between the Liberal Party and the National Party other than to say the Prime Minister’s heading to Glasgow. We’re committed to reducing our emissions. We’re committed to being part of the global effort, and we can do so at the same time we make our economy stronger. We’ve seen emissions come down, Pete, by more than 20 per cent since 2005. And at the same time our economy has grown by more than 40 per cent. And we’ve seen 3 million more people in work today than they were back in 2005. So it’s not a binary choice between a stronger economy and a lower emissions future; we can have both. That’s our plan, and obviously we’ll have more to say in coming days.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Well, you were out in front on the 2050 target on this show just a few weeks ago, Treasurer. Why not go harder on 2030 targets?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we took to the Australian people a 2030 target, and that was 26 to 28 per cent. Now, we’re on track to not only meet that target but to actually beat it. And when you compare our performance against the rest of the world –
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah, that’s a low base, though. You’re coming off a low base there.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we’ve actually been reducing emissions faster and stronger than other comparable countries. I mean, Canada’s reduced their emissions by less than a per cent. New Zealand by less than 5 per cent, China and India have seen their emissions go up. So Australia’s got a very strong story to tell with around $35 billion invested in renewable energy since 2017 alone. And we’ve put in place our technology investment road map, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen hubs, new interconnectors, Snowy 2.0. This is all about Australia strengthening our economy and reducing our emissions at the same time. We’ll continue to take action on climate change, but we’ll do so in a very targeted way and do so in a very considered way that it strengthens our economy at the same time.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Treasurer, just finally, how would you feel about Sydney pinching the Grand Prix from Melbourne?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No way. No way. I see they’re saying it’s going to remain in Melbourne. Obviously it’s one of the many great sporting events that Melbourne has, whether it’s the Australian Open, whether it’s the grand final at the G – been missing the last couple of years, but it’s coming back obviously next year – the Melbourne Cup, these are, you know, wonderful events that Melbourne hosts. And not only do we warmly welcome visitors from the rest of the world, we take visitors from Sydney as well.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah, you know that Dom Perrottet, though, he’s wily. He’s wily. He sees an opportunity here. Are you saying he’s got zero per cent chance of taking it from Daniel Andrews?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, look, I obviously want it see it stay in Victoria, and Victoria has a lot to offer. And no doubt, you know, Dom will try all the tricks of the trade. But, you know, hopefully we’ve got his measure down the Victoria.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
All right. Good one. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, good to chat, as always. Talk to you soon.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thank you.