PETER STEFANOVIC:
We’re going to head to Canberra now and joining us live is the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg. Treasurer, good to see you. Thanks for your time, as always. So it’s looking likely that New South Wales, the extension will happen today for another week. Gladys Berejiklian says restrictions, though, in some form or another may remain until October. So are you considering any extra financial support on top of the relief payments that are already in place?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we’ve put those additional relief payments in place, as you say, for businesses and workers who have been affected by a lockdown that extends beyond a week. And we’ve worked in partnership with the state governments and the territory governments through the National Cabinet.
But we anticipated that there would be further outbreaks, indeed, lockdowns at the time of the Budget just a matter of weeks ago and we put $41 billion of additional economic support in that Budget, including the tax relief that’s rolling out, the infrastructure projects that are going to boost jobs and aggregate demand across the economy, the skills programs.
We have transitioned off those emergency payments like JobKeeper, which was the right thing to do, because we have seen our unemployment rate go down since then. But, Pete, I’ll await, like you will, a formal announcement from the New South Wales Government about the duration of their lockdown. But it does underline the challenges being faced by the new Delta variant, but also the importance of moving ahead as quickly as we can with those four stages of the plan that the Prime Minister laid out to National Cabinet last week.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. You are convening a roundtable with leading business figures today to improve the vaccine rollout. Treasurer, it is July. Why wasn’t this done in January?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The Morrison Government has worked very effectively and cooperatively with the business community from day one of this pandemic. And you’ll remember last year we put in place systems and processes and plans with the business community to provide mortgage relief, to provide rent relief which supported households and businesses through this pandemic.
Today we’re gathering with more than 30 business leaders representing the top companies across the nation but also the industry groups; more than seven and a half million workers are going to be represented by the people around the table today. It includes the CEOs of Coles and the Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, and also Wesfarmers, as well as Qantas and also Virgin.
We’ll have the senior people around the table, and we’re looking at how we can work cooperatively with this vaccine rollout, whether it’s around premises, logistics, communication, engagement with local communities. I think it’s important as more supply of the vaccine comes on.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah. I mean, it doesn’t matter who you get there; it doesn’t change the key problem though of supply. You don’t have enough vaccines.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, more supply of the vaccines are coming online every day. As you know, we’ve got about 300,000 of the mRNA vaccine coming in now each week. That picks up at the end of the month and in August to 600,000 to 700,000. It gets to 2 million a week by October-November and so more vaccines are coming online. But, importantly, more people are getting the jab, and that’s going to ensure that we can move ahead with that four-stage plan.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Well, the point of this meeting today, isn’t it, you want to have the vaccine coming into workplaces in the same way that the flu shot is delivered by a lot of businesses.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, businesses are very keen to help in any way that they can. So all options are on the table today. And we’re looking at not just the opportunities to cooperate but what barriers may exist at the moment for that cooperation to occur.
We’ll be talking about logistics, we’ll be talking about premises, we’ll be talking about community engagement, we will be talking about communications, because the businesses involved and the various industry groups have great resources available to them.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yep, okay. Following the loss of the Grand Prix in your state; Victoria has blamed your government for the slow rollout because of that. Do you need a rethink when it comes to the drop in international travel caps?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I think the Victorian government are the masters of distraction. The reality is Victorians are scratching their heads this morning because just a few days ago they were reading on the front page of their local papers that the Victorian Government were asking the Federal Government to reduce the caps of arrivals into Australia.
Now they’re saying that those reduced caps are the reason why they cannot host the Grand Prix this year. Victorians, as you know, love their sport. It is the nation’s capital when it comes to major sporting events. But we lost the AFL Grand Final last year up to the quarantine phase in Victoria, the Melbourne Cup was not a major spectator event in person at least.
The Australian Open was just held, and now they’re losing the Grand Prix this year. It’s very disappointing for Victorians and Victorians are scratching their heads as to the reasons being given by their own State Government.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. And just finally, just briefly, Julia Banks, she has been very critical against yourself and against Scott Morrison as well. Are there bully boys within the Liberal Party?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, I haven’t shared those experiences that have been reported in my time in parliament, but also Sarah Henderson was out there yesterday saying the same and Katie Allen, you know, a distinguished medical researcher before going into parliament, was also saying the same. So, look, I supported Julia Banks when she was in parliament. I campaigned with her. I was disappointed, like the Prime Minister was, that she left the way she did. But that’s the end of the matter so far as I’m concerned.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, Treasurer, thanks for your time.