VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Josh Frydenberg is joining you now, the federal Treasurer, to talk about, to quote another Treasurer back in time ‘a rather beautiful set of numbers.’ Josh Frydenberg, good morning.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Good morning, Virginia. Good morning to your listeners.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Just as we managed through the GFC it seems that Australia is coming through the COVID recession pretty well, too.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, certainly yesterday were an encouraging set of numbers, the biggest quarterly increase in GDP since 1976. But while technically the recession may be over, the recovery is not. There are a lot of sectors across the economy who continue to do it tough. Think aviation, think tourism, because those international borders have been closed. So we’ll continue to provide very substantial support from the federal government to both households and to businesses to get them to the other side of the crisis. But, certainly, the numbers yesterday were better than what the market was expecting and even better than we were expecting at budget time.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Well, let’s talk about that recovery though and the patchy nature of it. We will hit a wall very soon if, for example, we don’t get our overseas workers back, if these bumper harvests aren’t picked, if they’re not sold on to China, and we’ll talk about that, if hospitality can’t fill the many jobs that they have. What’s your government’s plan to sort that problem?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, firstly, the key here is to get the virus under control, and we welcome, obviously, the progress in Victoria but also across the rest of the country, because this primarily is a health crisis with a very severe economic impact…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Well, that seems to be nicely under control now, thanks to a great deal that has happened here in Victoria. So, in terms of getting the labour market back that we simply don’t have here, they were sent away during the pandemic, how are you planning to get them back?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, we’re not going to open the international borders at a time when there is a threat to Australians’ health and safety. Our priority is to bring back Australians from overseas, and we’ve helped bring back tens of thousands over the course of this pandemic. But, as you know, the states are running their quarantine programs. It’s good that Victoria is now going to start to take some people now that the second wave has subsided in Victoria. But, obviously, we need to work very carefully through this system so in no way we can undermine the good progress that we’ve made on the health front.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
And our $35 billion international student market, the recovery will end if they don’t return some time soon. Can you guarantee that overseas students will be back for the 2021 academic year, that there’s some plan being worked out between the states and the federal government to get that big part of the economy back, too?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, there are only so many places in the quarantine process and our priority has been to get Australians back from overseas. We have been looking closely at the international student market, looking at the prospect of pilot schemes, talking to the sector and we’ll continue to work through those issues. But let’s not forget that while Australia may have been very successful in diminishing the number of cases here in our country, we have seen other countries with a substantial second wave of infections, and we can’t prejudice the good progress that we’ve made here at home by opening up our borders prematurely.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
It will be very alarming news this morning, Treasurer, for them to hear you say that there’s not a priority being given to that part of the workforce, the labour market that we don’t have here, in particular, to pick crops, to pick fruit and the like. A great deal of it will simply have to be ploughed in if that’s not solved. Is there really not a short to medium-term plan to deal with that?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Look, we are working with those relevant sectors. And, you’re right, they are having a bumper harvest this year with much better weather conditions than in previous years…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Sure, so what is the plan?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, there are Australians who can take these jobs, we’re working with the…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
They’re not taking up the jobs, and we know that.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, that is our priority – to get Australians into jobs, but also to support those industries and we’re working with them. But we’ve got a situation where Australia has been hit by a once-in-a-century pandemic. The health crisis may have temporarily subsided here in Australia because of our success in getting the number of cases down, but globally there’s been an uptick in the number of cases, and we can’t risk what we have achieved to date.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Okay. Well, we have to move on just because we have such limited time this morning, but of course, our run of economic recovery will fall apart and we can’t really get back on our feet without China. There is, isn’t there Treasurer, going to have to be some sort of compromise made between Australia and China. Experts suggest that if you gave up, if you simply gave up that legislation to cancel state government and university agreements that allows the feds to override those agreements, and if you gave that up that would help enormously with the relationship. You would lose nothing. Is that something you’d consider?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, I think you’re making an assumption there, which doesn’t seem to be based on fact…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
That you don’t have to compromise with China over something?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, if you read their list of 14 separate reasons and…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
I have. Treasurer, I have, and I’m not suggesting even 12. I’m suggesting one.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, I don’t think that we should be compromising on our national interest. Now whether it’s our free press, whether it’s the right of democratically elected politicians to speak their mind…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
No, I’ve not mentioned that. Treasurer, with respect, I’ve not mentioned that.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Okay, Virginia, you’re going to start on one and then next week you’ll ask me about the next one and the next one…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
No. It’s interesting to hear that China experts actually point to that. They say Victoria signed up to Belt and Road. That goes a long way towards building some trust and it costs nothing and it’s not compromising. But they say this bit of legislation, not the foreign interests one or the foreign ownership one but this one, would go a long way. Would you consider it?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I don’t accept the premise. I don’t accept the premise that if you compromised on that it would suddenly lead to a change in what is a challenging time in the relationship. The fact of the matter is Australia continues to advocate and to defend its national interest. A free press which the Chinese government have raised issues with, is central to our society. The right of democratically elected politicians to speak their mind is central to our democracy. When it comes to foreign investment we have put in place new protections for the national interest, which reflects the more complex strategic environment and economic environment that we’re confronting.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
While I’ve got you, Treasurer, I did want to ask, just reflecting back on the amazing situation that Victoria finds itself in now. If Victoria had opened up back in September, as you wanted, with daily unknown infections in the tens, can you look us all in the eye here in Victoria and say that we’d be in the same position we are right now with 34 straight days of no new infections if we’d done as you’d said back then?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I don’t regret any of the comments I made, and I’m not here to relitigate those issues. But…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
I’ve got listeners here this morning who say they simply won’t forgive you for all the criticism that you made at a time when Victoria didn’t need it.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
There are many Victorians who will never forgive the Victorian Government for the tragic loss of life and the tragic economic cost that’s been incurred by a second wave that hasn’t occurred in any other state…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
And that the federal government failed to prevent also in aged-care settings. We need to acknowledge that, too.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, again, the ADF was on offer. We know that. And we also know that I was one of many voices who raised their legitimate criticisms of what was occurring, including a head of the Victorian AMA, including one of Australia’s most successful businessmen, including former High Court justices…
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
But you can’t say that you would have had 34 straight days of no new infections right now if we’d opened up then, can you?
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Well, I can say to you that I think the cost of the lockdown, the way it was undertaken, has been enormous both in terms of the mental health of Victorians as well as in terms of the economic costs that we’ll see for some time. It should have never have got to that in Victoria because it didn’t get to that in any other state across the country.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Always good to talk to you, Treasurer. Thank you for making time for us.
JOSH FRYDENBERG:
Thank you.
VIRGINIA TRIOLI:
Josh Frydenberg there. I’m sure you’ll have a lot of responses, and I’d love to hear from you.