Sharri Markson:
Welcome back to the Kenny Report. I’m joined now by Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar in Melbourne. Thank you for your time today.
Minister Sukkar:
Hi Sharri, good to be with you.
Sharri Markson:
Now the unemployment figures today is at 7.4 per cent but the real number, the effective unemployment, could be double this. Given these unemployment numbers, are you now considering extending JobKeeper?
Minister Sukkar:
Well, Sharri, the Treasurer will outline on the 23rd of this month, the way forward as far as the economic strategy of the Government. I don’t think that these numbers are of particular surprise to the market or the Government, quite frankly. We have seen over the last few months, the trajectory of unemployment. Obviously the JobKeeper program and other policies that we’ve put in place have meant that a lot of people haven’t ended up in that unemployment number but not withstanding that, we are aware – and have been for a while – that we were likely to get to this point. So, not a huge surprise but very sobering numbers and there are lives and individuals and families who sit behind those and in many instances are really sad, and in some cases tragic, stories. So we’re very focussed and everything that we do, and the Treasurer will outline next week, but everything that we do will be focussed on job creation, on helping businesses do what they need to do to keep employees or indeed add new employees and – as the PM outlined today – to provide Australians with the skills that they need to be able to meet those expected, and we hope, opportunities in the future.
Sharri Markson:
I mean you’re right, when you hear the unemployment figure, people sometimes forget that these are hundreds of thousands of families who will now struggle to feed their children, school and provide for their children, even keep their home. What does your modelling show about how much worse this is going to get by the end of the year, particularly when some of the benefits end?
Minister Sukkar:
Well again, Sharri, some of the forward projections are obviously going to be really impacted by a range of factors including how long lockdowns go for. Obviously this quite significant lockdown that we’re seeing here in Victoria – while not entirely unexpected – perhaps a fortnight ago, was not necessarily in most of our minds, so…interrupted.
Sharri Markson:
We’ll come back to you in just a moment. We’re going to go now to a live press conference in Melbourne…
Sharri Markson:
Coming back now to Assistant Treasurer, Michael Sukkar. Sorry for the interruption. I was asking you what your modelling shows about just how much worse the unemployment rate is going to get towards the end of this year. Do we have any indication, are you expecting the official unemployment rate to go beyond 10 per cent?
Minister Sukkar:
Well, Sharri, as I said, the Treasurer will outline a range of these things in response to the unfolding pandemic and will do so in more specifics next week. So, I’m not going to foreshadow any of that although I would note, as I was saying just before we went away, that obviously there are still a range of factors that mean that those sorts of projections are notoriously difficult. Again, today’s announcement from the Prime Minister as part of the JobMaker plan, today JobTrainer, $2 billion being committed to improve skills, $1.5 billion to extend the trainee and apprentice wage subsidy which is massive for those tens of thousands of apprentices and trainees who will remain employed because of the 50 per cent wage subsidy with this now being extended to large businesses, businesses that employ up to 200 people and another $500 million that will be matched by states and territories, to provide over 300,000 additional places for vocational education and training in areas where there have been demonstrated skills needs. So…interrupted.
Sharri Markson:
Minister, after the Prime Minister’s announcement, Labor has attacked the Government for having now plan to create jobs, saying that this will be a jobless recover. What is the Government’s plan to create jobs after the pandemic?
Minister Sukkar:
Well, all I would say in response to Labor is that there only prescription for any problem is higher taxes. That certainly doesn’t create jobs. Everything we have done, in the early stages of the pandemic, assisting families, households and businesses to remain afloat in very difficult times was the focus. Now coming out, everything that we’re doing is focussing on encouraging investment, encouraging people to take those risks – whether it’s in business or entrepreneurs – but other businesses just to remain afloat. Whether it’s the HomeBuilder program which we’ve seen has increased new home starts by 77 per cent, that’s tradies on-site, that’s manufacturers who feed into the construction supply chain continuing to work. Now with JobTrainer, making sure that we’ve got the skills for the opportunities that are going to come and of course we’ll have more to say next week and in the lead up to the budget. If you look at our record, few governments in our history have had a record of creating jobs as much as we have and we will continue that. Everything that we do will be focussed on ensuring that we have the right settings to do it. The Treasurer had a call – a finance ministers meeting call – with the US, the UK, Canada, to work co-operatively with them on how we can work together to ensure that all of our economies are pushing in the same direction because so many of them are large trading partners of ours. So I can assure you that everything that we’re doing is focussed on that and we’ve got the track record to do it, obviously the Labor Party is quite irrelevant to that.
Sharri Markson:
Okay, Minister, unfortunately we’re out of time. I did want to get to another few things today but we’ve run out of time because of the press conference with the shooting in Melbourne. Thank you very much, Michael Sukkar for joining me.
Minister Sukkar:
Thanks Sharri.