TOM ELLIOTT:
Our guest is the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Mr Frydenberg, good afternoon.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good afternoon. Nice to be with you, Tom.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Firstly, I thought there was sort of a tacit agreement that the Federal Government would handle payments to individuals and the States would handle sort of support packages for business. Has that changed?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It effectively has, and that’s because we’re doing even more at the Federal level to support the State Governments. Obviously, Victoria’s now been through five lockdowns and our income support to households was provided during this most recent lockdown. Indeed, families were eligible from day 1, depending on the number of hours of work that they lost. But we also felt that it was important to provide further economic support to small and medium‑sized businesses across the state. Victorians have done it harder than anyone else around the country and, as you know, even though the lockdown formally has lifted, there are still restrictions in place that are making it very hard for businesses, whether they’re hospitality businesses, gyms, hairdressers, restaurants, cafes, to do their normal trade.
TOM ELLIOTT:
So, what sort of businesses would be eligible now that lockdown 5 has sort of finished, but we have ongoing restrictions? For example, say, I owned a cafe and normally I could fit in 20 people but because of density rules, I could fit in, I don’t know, eight, does that mean you might subsidise me for the 12 customers I can’t have at any given time?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
What has been agreed between the Federal Government and the State Government is for a $400 million fund on a 50‑50 basis to provide that sort of support to cafes, to restaurants; $5,000 grants, to around 30,000 businesses, businesses that are in the listed areas and cafes and restaurants are among them, creative arts are another, gyms, hairdressers are among others, and then there’s an extra $2,000 for businesses that are in the CBD because they’ve been hit as well. For businesses that don’t fall within those categories that have been outlined by the State Government, then they’re eligible for a hardship fund. They need to show that their turnover has been down by a significant amount and then they’ll also be eligible for a set of payments.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Okay, and I remember the last set of State Government assistance, if you were a sole trader or a business that turned over less than $75,000 per annum, you didn’t qualify; has that changed?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I understand that sole traders will be eligible for some of these payments, which is important and, as you know, the scheme that is now applied in New South Wales to businesses does provide some support for sole traders, and we’ve provided that into New South Wales on a 50‑50 basis. But I do think that it’s going to be tough in the weeks and months ahead for Victorian businesses; and they’re the engine room of the economy and we want them to stay afloat and, obviously, the more customers that they can get in the door, the better, and that’s where further easing of restrictions is important. And I saw that you earlier today referenced your hairdresser who is doing eight cuts a day ‑
TOM ELLIOTT:
A barber.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Barber, sorry. Great disrespect that I’ve shown. I rang my hairdresser after I heard you say that ‑
TOM ELLIOTT:
You just shave your head, don’t you? You don’t need a hairdresser to do that!
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
God only created a few perfect heads and the rest he put hair on, and yours is one of them, I suppose. But they do about 15 ‑ each hairdresser does about 15 haircuts a day there. On a Saturday they can do, you know, nearly double that, probably around 25 haircuts. So, for them, they’ve obviously seen a big hit to their bottom line, as they’ve had to close, and they’re hoping that gradually the customers come back.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Well, just on that, I mean, what about rent relief, because one of the other issues is my barber is a CBD barber and he just can’t pay his rent. He’s simply not paying it and eventually that will come to a head with his landlord. I understand there is some rent relief that’s coming in.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yeah. So, the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme, which is what the Victorian Government has focused on, is designed to support landlords who provide rent relief to businesses, and they’re setting up an $80 million hardship fund for those who provide rent relief for tenants with a turnover of less than $50 million. I think that’s a really good idea. That’s being paid for by the State Government because the Federal Government doesn’t have responsibility for commercial tenancies or indeed even for residential tenants. They are firmly within the remit of State Governments. So, we haven’t entered that space. That is where the Victorian Government is providing support.
TOM ELLIOTT:
I had a chat with another well‑known owner of bars and nightclubs here in Melbourne the other night and he said – his business is doing it tough; he admitted that to me. He said, “Look, we actually don’t want welfare. What we want is to be able to get on with doing what we know best.” In his case, that’s running bars and nightclubs. With a barber, that’s cutting hair. Can we look forward to a time soon when businesses can just get on with business?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Absolutely, but I think there is a tough road ahead and that’s because the Delta variant is more contagious and more dangerous. I did welcome the fact that the State Government moved quickly to get on top of the variant. Obviously, that’s quite different to what happened in New South Wales, and now they’re dealing with a longer lockdown, more punishing lockdown, and a higher number of cases. So, I think the Delta variant has put us into a different environment with respect to these lockdowns. But ultimately, we want to get to the time when we have enough people vaccinated that we can safely, or certainly safer than we can today, live with the virus and people can get about their lives in a COVID-safe way. Look at the UK. Tom, I’m sure you watch it very closely, but 130,000 people have died there. They’re getting 50,000 cases a day and scores of deaths still, yet they’ve got a higher vaccination rate. Now, a lot of those people are the unvaccinated part of their population, but it does show that when you do open up, if you’re not vaccinated, you lose a layer of protection and makes people much more vulnerable.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Final question. I know you’ve got to go. Could we have some sort of incentive put in front of us that if 60 or 70 per cent get vaccinated, we’ll guarantee that there will be no further lockdowns? I think people would really like a target, something that would motivate them to get vaccinated.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, certainly, that is the work that is being done by the Doherty Institute with a layer of economic analysis on top of that the Federal Treasury has been working on. So, the Prime Minister, myself and other ministers have been talking through that, and that will be discussed with National Cabinet later this week –
TOM ELLIOTT:
But you’d have to get the states to agree, though, because they are the ones that call the lockdowns.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, they’re certainly the ones that are making those health decisions about the lockdowns, so yes, it is going to be vitally important to have the state support for the road map out, and the road map is only achieved if we are able to get more people vaccinated. And the good news for your listeners is that around 200,000 people yesterday got a jab and more than a million a week are going to be getting the jab and, ultimately, we’re going to see more people across the country receive the vaccine.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Josh Frydenberg, thank you for your time.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
My pleasure.
TOM ELLIOTT:
Josh Frydenberg, the Federal Treasurer there. He’s had to rush off to another commitment, so we appreciate his time.