Gilbert:
Good afternoon Minister, with the stimulus what is your sense of it, obviously there are a lot of unknowns with the coronavirus, but do you feel it’s enough to keep us out of recession?
Sukkar:
Well Kieran we have been working pretty solidly on this package for a little while now and we think, of course, that it is a package that is significant enough, addresses the immediate challenges that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have outline and for us the objectives are quite clear; to keep small businesses going, to ensure they can hold on to their employees and to the greatest extent possible try and improve confidence in the broader economy. This is a really significant package, its immediate, we think it will be effective. But as the PM and the Treasurer, and I have said throughout the day, this is an issue that is moving quickly, and you know at this point in time you don’t rule anything in or out, but I think a significant package it is that I hope will deliver on the outcomes we’ve addressed today.
Gilbert:
What’s the aim then from the Government’s perspective from the Prime Minister’s address to the nation tonight? It’s not just about the economy is it? It’s about a message about, surely, reassurance and one of calm given some of the isolated scenes we have seen around the country of the panic buying and so on?
Sukkar:
I think that’s right Kieran, I think it’s more about reassurance and doing what the Prime Minister has done, really since the outbreak of coronavirus, and that’s to be as open with the Australian people as possible. So there is always a fine line to walk, I think Kieran you know and your viewers know that people are nervous out there, and we want to make sure we can give them an honest appraisal of the situation, but also reassurance, where that’s appropriate and I think the Prime Minister’s address tonight will hopefully do that. Of course, I expect that he will touch on the package that was announced today, because that does go to reassurance, reassuring those people who run a small business or those people who are fearful for the hours they’re doing, or their job. Giving them that economic security and confidence as well is an important part of the reassurance, quite separate from the reassurance we want to give people about their health and the, quite understandable, nervousness people have with respect to the health issues that coronavirus represents.
Gilbert:
What do you say to the critics, the Government’s critics, who argue that this is essentially the Government admitting that the criticisms levelled at Labor, with their cash injections, were misplaced because essentially, this is going early and it’s going households, in a similar way with those payments of $750, albeit not right across the board?
Sukkar:
Well Kieran, I’d say this is not about Labor. Labor shouldn’t try turn into being about themselves. The GFC was a long time ago. This is about 2020 and the challenges we face now. Of course we think we will be able to deliver this package in a way that avoids many of the mistakes that they made. But today is not about them it’s not about us criticising what occurred over ten years ago but actually addressing the immediate issue.
Whether that is keeping apprentices in their jobs, whether that’s giving small businesses the cash flow that they need to continue to operate, to continue employing people.
Whether it’s putting money in the hands of those people whether they are pensioners or Newstart recipients or Veteran payment recipients. Whatever that might be, providing that reassurance throughout the economy, providing that confidence that we think the economy needs because as the PM and the Treasurer have rightly said Kieran, this is a really significant health issue that has massive economic consequences, but if you look at the fundamentals of the Australian economy, once we get through this, we think we can build bigger and better.
But it’s about getting everyone through this as unscathed as possible, not just the strong amongst us who can get through it but everybody. Getting them to the other side unscathed, and making sure they are in the best possible position to take advantage we hope, of a strong economy on the other side of the health problems.
Gilbert:
Absolutely, it’s a good point because there’s no good saying that’s it’s one per cent of fifty percent of the population that gets it that gets gravely ill because that’s still a lot of Australians that gets sick and might die as a result of this virus.
Do you understand why a lot of people are urging, including Bill Shorten for that matter, he’s coming on the program shortly, he wants more drastic social separation measures now?
Do you think there’s room for the government, I know the PM has said that he has got on the front foot on this and got ahead of this at various stages, but is it time for the government to get ahead of social separation measures and just stop mass gatherings?
Sukkar:
Well Kieran, the reality is, we’ve taken advice from the medical professional from the beginning and I think we’ve been on the front foot. We were very swift in putting in place a travel ban to China, we have been pretty swift in our broader medical response working in cooperation with the states and territories. I think you can expect that we will continue to try and stay ahead of the curve but this is moving very quickly and the advice, as you’ve seen, an issue that has started in China and seen to be a China centric issue is now a bigger issue in many different parts of the world so we are keeping a close eye on it, we have shown and demonstrated we’re not shy in taking decisive action and I think that will guide the response of the PM, the Health Minister and the Treasurer going forward.
Gilbert:
Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar appreciate your time.