PETER STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer, good to see you.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to see you.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
So the economic front, on the up again and heading into a sweet spot over Christmas.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, the Australian economy is hotting up as we approach summer, Pete. This is really good news, positive economic data once again – 350,000 new jobs created since September. And we have also seen in that time 1.2 million people come off the COVID Disaster payments as we hit the 70 percent vaccination rates and the 80 percent vaccination rates in Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT. And these people didn’t go on to welfare, these people went back into work because at the same time we saw the number of people on income support come down. So this is another proof point that our economy is turning around, that the recovery has real momentum. We saw consumer confidence was up this week. We know that job ads are more than 30 percent higher than going into the pandemic. We know that Australia has retained its AAA credit rating, one of only nine countries in the world to do so from the three leading credit rating agencies. Even after the biggest economic shock this country has seen since the Great Depression, unemployment today is actually lower than when we came to government. But we can’t take the recovery for granted. There are global and domestic risks, and that’s why we need to remain eternally vigilant.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Just on to the final sitting fortnight of the year. You’re halfway through. Many regard it as a week of chaos on the floor, Treasurer. Do you agree with the Prime Minister that the New South Wales ICAC is a quote, “kangaroo court”?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Pete, the Prime Minister was making the point that you need to get the balance right between procedural safeguards, procedural fairness and obviously the need to tackle corruption at all levels. When it comes to the New South Wales ICAC, it has seen the departure from politics of three Premiers. It’s taken the career of three Premiers. Now two of those Premiers did not have adverse findings against them – Nick Greiner and Barry O’Farrell. The third, Gladys Berejiklian, is now going through that process. It’s really important to understand the need to get that balance right. We have a proposal for an integrity commission at the Commonwealth level. We’ve allocated $150 million to it. We’ve put out an exposure draft of legislation. We’ve consulted extensively with stakeholders. It has two separate divisions – a law enforcement division and a public sector division. It has the powers of a royal commission. It has independent oversight. Yet the Labor Party are not satisfied. They continue to want to play politics with that issue. If they supported it, it would become a reality. But clearly they’ve got other things in mind as we head into an election.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Just on Gladys Berejiklian, though, she resigned, and don’t you think there were questions to answer by giving huge grants to a secret boyfriend? You’ve got to admit, if that was the Labor Party you’d be all over that like a cheap suit.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I’m making the point that three Premiers losing their jobs – in the case of two of them not adverse findings against them, and we’ve yet to see obviously the final outcome of the issues involving Gladys Berejiklian. But it’s got to get the balance right. And it’s got to ensure that the public maintain their commitment and their confidence in our political system, but at the same time, our political system can continue to operate as it is required to do. And we’ve got many challenging issues right now, whether it’s dealing with COVID and the economic recovery or whether it’s national security issues like the announcement just last night that we were deploying Australian Federal Police and Australian Defence Force personnel to the Solomon Islands. There are many, many big issues on the government’s plate right now, and we continue to focus on them.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Are you laying the groundwork for Gladys Berejiklian to run for the election next year?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I don’t think Gladys Berejiklian’s made any decisions about her future.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Do you want her to?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Obviously she’d be most welcome. She’d be most welcome in federal politics. I think she’s a wonderful leader, an incredible politician, and she’s a good person to boot. And I have a very positive and constructive relationship with her. But they will be decisions she will need to make in her own time. But I would hope her career in public life is not over yet.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Okay. Treasurer, there is a photograph of you and Bridget Archer that we’ll show you now to our folks that aren’t aware of it. It has been misinterpreted. Just for clarification, can you explain what happened?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, actually, Bridget Archer very kindly put out a tweet yesterday explaining that I was just checking on her welfare. She’s a very good friend. We, in fact, had dinner earlier in the week together. And her decision to support that motion obviously saw a bit of pressure, and I was just checking to see how she was, and she really appreciated it. And we spent some time later that afternoon and talked through a lot of those issues. She’s a very good person. She’s a great local member in her electorate. She’s a valued member of our Coalition, and to boot she’s also a good friend. I was just checking to see how she was. And she has said very publicly that she really welcomed that gesture.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Sure. So you spoke to her again. Is there any hard feelings?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No, certainly not. The conversations were very, you know, very fruitful, very constructive. And obviously she’s an important member of our team going forward.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, as always, good to have you with us. We’ll talk to you soon.