TONY JONES:
Good morning Josh.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning. Nice to be with you, Tony.
TONY JONES:
Yeah, well, thanks for coming on. Well, let's get the business out of the way first. It's not every day or every night, the Prime Minister calls a snap media conference. But he certainly did that last night to let us know about these changes to the rollout of the vaccine. In terms of an economic impact, how significant is that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
It's not insignificant in that we were hoping to roll out the vaccine to all Australians by October, and obviously, that timeframe will now be altered. But at the same time, there are more than 990,000 Australians who have already received the vaccine and many more will in the weeks and months ahead. But at every stage of this pandemic Tony, we have taken the medical advice. And the medical advice was very clear last night from the experts. Namely that there is this rare but serious side effect of blood clotting. Now it might only affect, you know, four to six people in every million who gets it. But at the same time, it's a risk that the public need to be aware of. And that's why the Prime Minister provided that advice last night to the Australian people, that is for those people who are under the age of 50 they're strongly encouraged not to take the AstraZeneca vaccine.
TONY JONES:
Well, can I just get a little personal for a moment? Have you had the jab?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I haven't as yet. But obviously, I was planning on doing so in the normal course of events and when my time and my turn would come.
TONY JONES:
Well, because I don't know if you want to be reminded of this, but you're only a couple of months, a few months, away from hitting the big five oh, so you're effectively right on the cusp…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
That’s right.
TONY JONES:
What do you, what are you going to do?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, based on the advice today, I wouldn't be having that vaccine before I turn 50, after I turn 50, if the advice remained the same at this at this stage, then I would have the vaccine. So I will just simply follow the medical advice at the time.
TONY JONES:
So as it stands at the moment, you wouldn't be having the AstraZeneca?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No, because I fall into that category, that age category under 50 and that's the strong advice. Obviously, the Pfizer vaccine is available to those who are under 50. But obviously, we're starting with the most vulnerable cohorts first, and I'm not in in one of those.
TONY JONES:
Actually, I must say I find it a little surprising you haven't had the jab yet given your position in this country?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I mean, that’s, there is an order of events. That obviously goes to the, to the people who are working on the front line in the health situation. the Prime Minister took the vaccine early, but that was appropriate. So did the Leader of the Opposition. Because it was important for him to take the advice and to show the confidence in the process
TONY JONES:
Are you playing Space Invaders or something, are you?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No, I'm in the car. And so apologies for that.
TONY JONES:
What's the noise?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
That’s just the sensor on the car that I'm in. And hence, apologies for that, Tony.
TONY JONES:
No, that's okay. Put your seatbelt on.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I wish I was playing space invaders! My seat belt is on, don’t worry.
TONY JONES:
I know it's on, I know, just before anyone jumps online. And just one final one. I know that there's been ongoing calls and the ACTU in particular leading those in many ways for an extension to JobKeeper. I mean, even given last night's developments, is there any temptation at all on your part to extend JobKeeper?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
No, there is not. This is a program that we initially put in place for six months, we extended it for an additional six months. And as you will remember, we tapered the rate and we introduced a two-tiered rate based on the number of hours that people worked. At a cost of around $90 billion, it's the most expensive and comprehensive economic support program that any Australian government has ever undertaken. But it was always meant to be an emergency measure, it was always meant to be a temporary measure. And we must remember that every dollar we spend is a borrowed dollar and we have now moved to the next stage of the economic recovery plan with more targeted support. And you've heard, that the Government announced support for the arts and entertainment sector for live events to be held, support for the tourism and the aviation sector with half price airfares, cheap loans that are available to businesses to help them get to the other side. But the Treasury Department has advised me that JobKeeper needed to end because as the economy strengthened, and we've seen plenty of evidence of that in recent weeks, with the unemployment rate coming down a AAA credit rating being maintained, and business and consumer confidence picking up, that as the economy strengthened, if we left JobKeeper in place, it would actually be counterproductive to the economy and prevent workers moving more freely to other jobs across the economy.
TONY JONES:
Sorry, I do want to ask you about this book that we've been talking about…
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Yes.
TONY JONES:
…in the lead up to the interview. The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku, who was essentially a Holocaust survivor. Do you want to tell us a little bit about it? Why were you so taken by it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, this is a remarkable book, by a remarkable man. Eddie’s turning 101 this month. And when you read the book, you can see his story of survival. But also you can see his story of confidence. And you can see the lessons that he is providing to the next generation. He talks about hate being a disease which may destroy your enemy but will also destroy you in the process. And he has never given way to hate and that's why the title of his book is the Happiest Man Alive. He talks about how, that is, happiness is in your own hands. He talks about the importance of friendship. He obviously talks about his own story. And it's a tragic story because he lost his parents in the Holocaust, he never got to say goodbye to his mother and he thinks about her every day. But the Holocaust itself is just such a tragic event. When you think, not just six million Jews lost, were killed, including 1.5 million children. But homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah Witnesses, political and religious leaders, the Roma, the Sinti, many other minorities were also brutally killed by the Nazi machine.
TONY JONES:
And I guess he had it doubly hard in many ways. Because just from reading the book, as I said, the Jews were suspicious of him because he was German.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, he was, but also he hid his Jewishness. And he was always worried about that coming out because obviously his life was in danger. But he was in the Death March. He was, as you said, in Auschwitz, which he described as hell on earth. But it's a remarkable tale of survival before he was discovered by the Americans hiding in the forest where he survived on snails and slugs and weighing only, he was only weighing 35 kilos, I think, when he was rescued and just an amazing story.
TONY JONES:
And you’ve met Eddie?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I have and can I tell you, when you meet the man, it lives up to all your expectations. He's as good, or if not better, than the person that springs from the pages in the book. He’s such a positive person. And he's such a wise person. I mean, he has this beautiful sentence Tony, where he says, please do not walk in front of me, I may not be able to follow, please do not walk behind me, I may not be able to lead, just walk beside me and be my friend. And he has all these sayings in the book which are very much his own which emphasises friendship and love, respect and of course, happiness.
TONY JONES:
Did it change you in some ways in meeting Eddie and when you actually left his company? Because you're someone that has an amazing schedule in terms of the workload and to try and find that work life balance, you've got a young family etcetera, did you come away from there with a different attitude?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
I certainly did. He gives you a sense of perspective on life. I'm sure many of your listeners today, as they’re driving from one appointment to another or picking up kids or meeting family members or attending a work appointment. Their lives are very hectic, but we have to remember the bigger picture and just how fortunate we are to live in the great country of Australia. And he talks about how much he loves his country, Australia because it gave him a new start on life. And he was able to put behind those horrors of his early years in Germany, and Europe. So it does give you a sense of perspective. And Tony, that's why I wanted all my colleagues in the Parliament, whether they are Liberal, National, Labor, Green, or Independent, to actually read these words. And so many of my colleagues have written back to me, sent me photos of them with the book, and many have asked for the opportunity to meet Eddie Jaku themselves, because they've been equally impressed with his words, but equally moved by his story.
TONY JONES:
Were you surprised by some of the feedback? Were there some of the Members that got back in touch with you and just thanked you for sending the book and the response and the impression that he made on them? Were there some politicians you thought, ‘oh I didn't think you'd be moved by it?’
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Oh, well, certainly. And many of them have not been exposed to the story of the Holocaust in the way that this book does. And so, they gave them a new appreciation. I mean, let's not forget that if there was a minute's silence for every victim of the Holocaust, the silence would last for more than 11 years. And it is important that we remember the past. I mean, Dwight Eisenhower, he became US President, but he was also the American General, who liberated the concentration camps. He said, when he came upon all those dead bodies, and the skeletal survivors, back in 1945, he said, there would come a time when some people in the world would deny that the Holocaust ever happened. And therefore we all had a collective duty to remind people of that. And I think Edie has certainly done his part, not only as a tour guide for the thousands of students and school kids that go through the Sydney Jewish Museum, but also in writing this book, doing a TED talk, and getting the message out to hundreds of hundreds of thousands if not millions, of Australians.
TONY JONES:
The Jewish Museum in Caulfield.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
He’s…
TONY JONES:
He's in Sydney. Yes.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
So yes. He is a volunteer tour guide…
TONY JONES:
Yes.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
…at that Jewish Museum. But as you know, there are museums in Melbourne and elsewhere, which are a good opportunity. And I've got to give credit to Daniel Andrews and the Victorian Government because they've also placed a great emphasis on Holocaust education and getting children in our schools in Victoria to go and visit the museum and to learn about it in their curriculum, which is a very positive development.
TONY JONES:
Well, as I said, it's a terrific book. And I can understand why you want as many people as possible to read it, not from a financial point of view, but just from a respectful point of view. So terrific to catch up with you on that, Josh, and thank you very much, and I'm sure a lot of people will take up your advice and read it.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well thank you very much, Tony. And I just think it's such an important issue for all Australians to be aware of, regardless of their race, their religion, their ethnicity, their background. We all have a lot to learn from the past.
TONY JONES:
Okay, thank you, Josh. Frydenberg, the Federal Treasurer there. The book, The Happiest Man on Earth, written by Eddie Jaku.