PETER STEFANOVIC:
Let's go live to Canberra now and joining us is the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Treasurer, good to see you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning Pete.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Will the Tamil family be heading home to Biloela?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the Minister will make a statement later this morning. But I can confirm that the reports that the family will be reunited in Australia are correct. Obviously, this process that this family has gone for a long period of time on Christmas Island. The issues have been protracted through the courts. And I think this will be a welcome announcement later this morning.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So they will be reunited in Perth?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well the family will be reunited in Australia, and I'll leave the details to the Minister, to his statement.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So I mean, are you able to elaborate on under what circumstances they will be allowed to stay?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well Peter, I'd rather leave that to the Minister. He'll make a more detailed statement later this morning. But the good news, the positive development is that the family will be reunited on Australian shores very shortly.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Permanently?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well again, leave the details to the Minister. This matter has been protracted through the courts. But if you go back to why we have the policy that we do with respect to our borders, it's because we saw between 2008 and 2013, some 50,000 unauthorised boat arrivals come to Australia. We tragically lost more than 1,200 lives at sea. We saw massive cost blowouts. We saw tens of thousands of people go through detention. And it was a program and a policy that was not working. And it had, you know, a disastrous and devastating consequences. So we put in place a tough policy, a policy that has been effective, and a policy that you know, continues to prevent unauthorised boat arrivals coming to Australia. That being said, this issue goes back some time. And it has been playing through the courts for many years now.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Was it a mistake to send this Tamil family to Christmas Island?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, we have our processes, we have our policies, they have been effective. And every case is different every case, you know, will work through the system, as it does in this case through the courts. The courts have made determinations with respect to the refugee status of the family. And as you know that’s pretty clear. But they were pretty distressing images of the family being separated. And obviously, you know, the Minister has worked very hard over the course of recent days to reach this conclusion, and he will make his announcement later this morning.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
The family would still be in Christmas Island if the young girl didn't get sick, wouldn't they?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, I am not going to get into the counterfactuals. What I'll say is that we are going to make an announcement this morning that will see the family reunited in Australia. And that is good news.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Are you concerned that smugglers may well be looking at this as an opportunity now?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, you always see pretty nefarious actors, criminals indeed, seek to benefit out of people's miseries, and people's vulnerabilities. That is why we always have to be alert to the role that people smugglers play and their international networks. But we put in place very hard, tough, strong policies that are proven to be effective. And the Australian people welcome the fact that there is now some order that's been brought to our international borders, because clearly, when previous governments sought to weaken those laws, it had disastrous and devastating consequences, lives lost, cost blowouts, and tens of the thousands of people moving through our detention centers. So clearly, we had to take action, and we did, and that action has proven to be effective.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Do you have concerns though, that that could start up again, because of this?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, I'm very conscious of the fact that this is always there but I'm also confident that the policies we have in place, remain effective and will prevent unauthorised boat arrivals coming to Australia, certainly in the numbers that we've seen previously.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
What about people who are in detention now Treasurer? Do you have any concerns that they might try and have children while in detention and game the system?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, I know you'd love me to get into every counterfactual and every…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Well they’re legitimate questions.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
…and every hypothetical. We have laws with respect to families that have children, whether they're in detention or whatever their particular circumstances are having come as unauthorised boat arrivals, those laws remain in place. And again, the laws that we have put in place have worked effectively, to deal with the situation that we saw happen with the previous government, and they were, and that was a disastrous policy and that I think, you know, even many members of the previous Government would acknowledge.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay, into your wheelhouse now, new figures out today Treasurer, showed that the unemployment rate is heading for 4.5 per cent by June 2024, is that when Budget repair is going to begin?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the Coalition has been the party of lower taxes. You've seen that in the policies that we have introduced over successive Budgets now and in the last two Budgets Pete, we've cut taxes by more than $50 billion that will see more than 10 million Australian families get tax relief. But also around 99 per cent of Australian businesses be able to access a supercharged instant asset write off, which is seeing investment, particularly in machinery and equipment, reach the highest level in years. Treasury estimate that those tax cuts that we’ve provided both to households and businesses will create 120,000 jobs and see the unemployment rate be reduced by up to a full percentage point. That means our unemployment rate goes below 5 per cent next year. That is the forecast. And the last time it went below 5 per cent was between 2006 and 2008 for a sustained period. And then you have to go all the way back to the 1970s to see unemployment below 5 per cent for a sustained period. So the Morison Government is absolutely focused on creating more jobs. And one of the ways to do that is through tax relief. And as you know, the Australian people voted in favor of the Coalition at the last election and our tax cuts which we have legislated through the Parliament. The Labor Party has a bet each way, it seems to be Richard Marles versus Jim Chalmers. Richard Marles is saying he doesn't want to get in the way of an Australian and their tax cut, whereas Jim Chalmers is very negative and talking down the tax relief that we've legislated through the Parliament and no doubt he's looking, you know, to wind it back if given the opportunity so there is a dispute within Labor…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So when does repair begin?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, in terms of Budget repair, you saw more than $50 billion improvement in this year's forecast for the Budget than what we'd seen in the previous year that was forecast and the combination of a stronger than expected labor market also strong demand for commodities and higher prices had contributed to that better bottom line. But we're still in the middle of a pandemic Pete. I mean, we're still in a situation where we've seen lockdowns most recently in Victoria. And that has damaged confidence in investment. So our measures have seen Australia's economy performed as well if not better than anywhere else in the world. And just last week, we saw Standard & Poor's upgrade Australia while reaffirming our AAA credit rating. We've seen the best growth, economic growth over the last three quarters in more than 50 years. And the unemployment rate is 5.5 per cent when Treasury feared last year that it could be as high as 15 per cent.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Hey, just quickly, we’re out of time. But have you spoken to the Prime Minister is this trade deal going to get sorted in the next 24 hours?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I spoke to the Prime Minister last night and he was heading towards his meeting at Downing Street and he was pretty determined to advance Australia's national interests through a trade agreement with the UK. There were some difficult issues that they needed to work through. So we'll wait for formal word from the UK but one in five Australian jobs Pete, relate to trade. So a deal with our great friend and partner in the United Kingdom will be good news for Australian businesses
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Thanks for your time as always, talk to you soon.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.