PETER STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So, will Victorians receive Federal support for this five-day lockdown?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yes, they will, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria - namely, that they’ve lost a certain number of hours over the course of this lockdown. We’ll be providing that support to Victoria, bearing in mind that they experienced their most recent lockdown just over a month ago. And this is the fifth lockdown Victorians have experienced. It’s a very difficult time for millions of Victorians right now.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So, what will the rate be for the individual?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The rate will be $375 a week if you’ve lost between 8 and 19 hours of work a week. And if you’ve lost more than 20 hours or more of work as a result of this lockdown, then you’ll be eligible for the $600 payment. And you apply through Services Australia. There will be no liquid assets test.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Right. So that’s the same as the seven-day lockdown? The five-day lockdown now the same for the seven-day lockdown for individuals who are affected?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The key is how many hours you’ve lost over the course of that lockdown. If it was a three-day lockdown and you’d lost the requisite number of hours, you’d also be eligible. The key is the number of hours, Pete, that a worker has lost. Because we recognize that this is a very difficult time and that the workers need that support, and the Federal Government is providing it.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So, if there is a three-day lockdown down the track they’ll be entitled to this money as well?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The agreement will be struck today at National Cabinet is the intention and the Prime Minister will be discussing it with his counterparts from the various states and territories. But what we’re putting on the table is that the income support will be available from that first week. Obviously, it will be paid one week in arrears. Someone’s eligibility will be determined by the number of hours that have been lost over that period.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Oh okay. So how would that be if it was only a three-day lockdown, though, in a pro rata basis? Would you have to divide that figure by, and work out a daily figure, and then that’s what that individual would be entitled to? Is that how that would work?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, very clearly, if it’s a three-day lockdown and you’ve lost 10 hours of work over the course of those three days, you’ll be eligible for the $375 payment. If it’s a three-day lockdown and you’ve lost 20 or more hours of work, then you’ll be eligible for the higher payment. The clear point is it’s the hours lost that will determine how much you receive.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Understood. Okay. Now, what about the businesses? How much should they be entitled to for this five-day lockdown in Melbourne?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, our approach is the same as we adopted with New South Wales and, again, we’ve made it very clear that we will provide business support in the event it’s a lengthy lockdown. Now Victoria has only announced a five-day lockdown, so I don’t want to presuppose what will actually happen with the length of their lockdown. Our business support would be available from week three. It would be based on a 50-50 split with the state government involved. It would vary between $1,500 and $10,000 a week depending on the size of the business and its wage roll. And, again, what we’re seeking to do here is to ensure that businesses keep their head count, and that would be one of the commitments of those businesses receiving that payment. As for what the Victorian government will do for business, as you know, in the most recent lockdown prior to today’s one, they did announce their own package of support for business in the first two weeks. And I would leave those decisions and announcements to the state government.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
The streamlining of these figures, Treasurer, is this an admission that Victoria has previously been short changed?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No. As the virus evolves so does our response. And we’re obviously dealing in real time with very difficult situations with the new, more contagious, more dangerous strain of COVID – namely, the Delta variant. But we also recognise that Victoria went into a lockdown just over a month ago. Our response is to provide both income support and business support to enable businesses to keep on their employees, to ensure that they’ll be able to meet their fixed costs which are incurred, regardless of whether customers are coming through the doors, like rent, like utilities. And, as you know, when we announced our package of support in New South Wales, it had very broad support from the leading business groups, whether it was the Business Council of Australia, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or the Australian Industry Group, and small business as well. So, what we’ve always sought to do here is to rapidly get out support to those people most in need because we want our economy to be healthy and strong on the other side of this crisis. And, as you know, Pete, just yesterday we got some more economic data with the jobs figures for the month of June, and it showed that the unemployment rate had fallen to 4.9 per cent, the lowest in more than a decade. More than 50,000 new full-time jobs were created, and, importantly, the youth unemployment rate got down to its lowest level since 2009. So that’s a sign that our economic plan is working. That’s a sign that the economy has bounced back strongly after its first recession in nearly three decades.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
They’re great figures, there’s no doubt about that, Treasurer. But the sun is not going to shine very long on that front because there will be a hit, won’t there, from this lockdown in New South Wales and Victoria?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, we’re certainly expecting to see the impact of the New South Wales lockdown in the next job numbers and, indeed, in terms of our economic growth forecasts. These numbers did take into account the Victorian lockdown just over a month ago, and you could see that in the number of hours of work that was lost – around 40 million hours of work was lost in Victoria alone with hours lost increasing by 8 per cent. But what we do know is that the overall health of the economy is strong. The fundamentals are strong, although we are going through a pretty difficult time, particularly in our largest two states.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
If Victoria nips this in the bud within five days, is it the new gold standard?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, every circumstance and every state and the cases that they encounter are different. I mean, the Delta strain, yes, it’s in Victoria and, yes, it’s in New South Wales. But how it originates, how it spreads, the response by the various health authorities, you know, will be slightly different depending on the jurisdiction.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
But would you prefer a prefer a hard and fast? Is that better? Is that better for business and the economy?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, the health advice has got to guide that particular response. But these lockdowns are very difficult. And in Victoria this is the fifth lockdown that the public is experiencing. And it definitely takes its toll, both not just on the economy, Pete, but also on people’s mental health and wellbeing.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Yeah, okay. Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, as always, appreciate your time. We’ll talk to you again soon.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.