RAY HADLEY:
Treasurer, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Ray, nice to be with you.
RAY HADLEY:
Good to be with you. There has been criticism that you're going to wind it back, but as I see it, we need to wind it back because there are people out there who think they’re better off to sit on their bums than get to work.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
The first thing to say is the jobs are coming back and people are taking those jobs when they’re becoming available. We’re seeing that with the unemployment rate falling to 6.6 per cent. Let’s not forget that Treasury said it could reach as high as 15 per cent if it wasn’t for our support. So, our support whether it has been the JobKeeper program or the cash flow boost, has helped keep a lot of those restaurants and food and hospitality businesses, accommodation businesses that you’re talking to, actually in business through the height of this crisis. Some $6 billion in JobKeeper alone went between April and September to accommodation and food services businesses. We do recognise that those payments need to taper off. JobKeeper is scheduled to end in March and, as you know, the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement has tapered down as well, that is also scheduled to end in March.
RAY HADLEY:
How far is it tapered down as of now? I’m talking about JobSeeker, not JobKeeper.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
In terms of JobSeeker, we’re down at $150. As you know, it was a $550 payment at its peak. It has come down quite substantially.
RAY HADLEY:
Are you getting, I mean, kickback from some of those people who enjoyed the double up through the virus?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
We’ve actually seen the bottom 10 per cent income decile across the country have a 20 per cent boost to their income since the start of the pandemic. So we’ve seen those in the numbers. That has helped challenge some of the inequality that has been out there, but at the same time, this government support can’t continue indefinitely and with the restrictions being eased, the virus getting under control, people can get back to work, Ray.
RAY HADLEY:
I’ll talk to one of your colleagues about this, but both made the point, both the restaurants made the point, about Centrelink where they’re given a range of numbers that they text - and I suspect that these people must have applied for a certain number of jobs to continue the payment - and they don’t even answer the text message, let alone make an appointment to come and see about a job. So, there are some problems. Look, JobKeeper, JobSeeker saved us, there is no doubt about that, but for the people, particularly those from the Labor Party, saying it has to continue, well, if it continues, no one will ever go back to work.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
As you know, the Labor Party will always spend more, but they will also tax more. We saw that very clearly at the last election with their proposal which still sit on their books. We’ve always said that our economic support through the crisis had to be temporary, it had to be targeted, it had to be proportionate to the challenge we face. But as soon as we could come off those payments, we would. We’ve put in place in addition to JobKeeper and JobSeeker and the cash flow boost, other support payments like for travel agents, like for the construction industry with the HomeBuilder program, and of course, the tax cuts are still flowing through, Ray. Your listeners are going to see more than $1 billion a month over the next nine months into their pockets as a result of the tax cuts that we’ve legislated. So, there is a lot of support out there for the Australian community at this very difficult time.
RAY HADLEY:
Okay, I will chase your colleague, Michaelia Cash, to see what happens with these Centrelink people who don’t reply to text messages. Thanks for your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good to be with you, mate.