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Assumptions on Victoria, WA behaviour in budget, admits Treasurer
By Mary Ward
There are a number of assumptions regarding state behaviour in last night's federal budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has told ABC News Breakfast this morning.
The first is that Victoria will move out of its lockdown as scheduled, and reopen by the end of this year.
"We have based assumptions for Victoria on what the Victorian government has said are their pre-conditions," Mr Frydenberg said, adding that a third wave in "a state like Victoria" would impact the economy by around $55 billion.
"It does underline the uncertainty in making forecasts during this time... we are facing a once-in-a-century pandemic, and primarily, this is a health crisis that's having a very severe economic impact.
"The federal government has also assumed Western Australia will have completely reopened its borders by April, and other states with hard borders – such as Queensland – will do so by the end of the year. If Queensland still requires Victoria to have reached 28 days without a case of community transmission before reopening to the state, that is quite a large assumption.
"Obviously, we need to [reopen] in a COVID-safe way, but Australia is having great success in reducing the number of cases and we, as a nation, have been doing much better than other countries, whether it's on the health front or the economic front... Australia has a brighter future, and together we will get through this," the Treasurer said.
NAB chief welcomes business budget
By Charlotte Grieve
National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan has praised the instant asset write-offs, tax cuts, research funding and stimulus measures in the business-focused federal budget.
"Business will drive our economic recovery. We must do everything we can to support and strengthen businesses right now and the budget measures announced by the government will certainly help to do that as we begin to transition from support to stimulus," Mr McEwan said.
NAB chief Ross McEwan.Credit:Eddie Jim
"In particular, the tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest and wage subsidies to create more jobs will be significant contributors to rebuilding Australia’s economy."
NAB is the country's business bank, and has deferred more than 40,000 loans for small and medium-sized businesses and guaranteed 6087 government-backed business support loans.
Mr McEwan, who is based in Melbourne and has not seen his executive team in person for six months, called on the private sector to support Australians through the recession.
"Getting businesses going again isn’t just the responsibility of governments. Companies like NAB must also step up. We all have a responsibility to do our part to ensure Australia emerges as a stronger global player on the other side of this.”
Follow the latest business news at our Markets Live blog.
JobSeeker may not drop to Newstart levels: Treasurer
By Mary Ward
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says JobSeeker recipients will need to wait until the end of the year for a decision on their payments, denying the absence of an announcement about the supplement last night means it will definitely disappear in December.
"Both the Prime Minister and I have made clear that, closer to the end of the year, we will make a decision about the future level of that payment," Mr Frydenberg told Ben Fordham on 2GB.
"And that will be based on an understanding of where the labour market dynamic is, because obviously you want to get that payment at the right level so that it encourages mobility in the labor market and people moving into jobs where they're available.
"The JobSeeker payment replaced the Newstart allowance of about $40 a day in March. Last month, the JobSeeker rate dropped by $300 a fortnight, due to a reduction in the extra coronavirus supplement available to those who received the payments.
War of words: Is this the 'Morrison recession'?
By Mary Ward
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Labor's habit of calling Australia's economic downturn the "Morrison recession" is "embarrassing".
The Prime Minister told Today that Labor leader Anthony Albanese was "the only person who doesn't understand there has been a COVID-19 pandemic".
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Parliament in June.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"I think that shows they are fairly clueless about what is going on ... frankly, it shows an embarrassing lack of understanding."
Appearing on the program later on Wednesday morning, Mr Albanese stood by the term.
"Doesn't he want to be the Prime Minister? It is the Morrison recession and this government was slow to react," he said.
"We had wages stagnate last year and consumer confidence going down and productivity going backwards. That is how we entered this period. [Mr Morrison] was very reluctant to put on wage subsidies [and] now he is withdrawing wage subsidies too early."
Mr Albanese denied the term was "cheap": "Have you ever used Keating recession about the 1990s? I think you have."
Victorian numbers: Six new cases, two deaths
And here's some good news for Victorians! The state has recorded just six new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Sadly, two more people have also lost their lives.
The number of cases brings the statewide 14-day average down to 10.2.
The number of mystery cases in the past two weeks is now 12.
Under the state's current road map, both figures need to be below five to trigger the next stage of easing by October 19.
Hundreds come forward for testing in Victorian town after link to Chadstone outbreak
More than 200 residents of the Victorian town of Kilmore came forward for COVID testing on Tuesday, after the virus spread to the area via a traveller connected to the Chadstone outbreak.
Jeroen Weimar, deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said anyone who visited a Kilmore cafe between last Wednesday and Saturday, where the virus was spread by a visiting Melbourne resident, should get tested and self-isolate immediately, even if they do not have symptoms.
Many had already done so, Mr Weimar said, and he praised the way the Oddfellows Cafe had handled the situation.
"They've done a fantastic job. Their staff member got tested as soon as she fell ill, they kept a really good register of all their customers and we've been in touch with all 177 customers in the last 24 hours to make sure they're okay, to make sure they're self-isolating and that they're going to get tested," Mr Weimar told radio station 3AW.
He also defended the state's contact tracing system.
"Our local contact tracing team have been all over Kilmore like a rash for the last day and a half.
"They've got hold of all those 177-plus people, they're supporting them that making sure they're getting tested."
Trump halts COVID-19 relief talks until after election
US President Donald Trump has instructed aides to stop negotiating on another round of COVID-19 relief until after the election.
Trump tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was "not negotiating in good faith" and said he's asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to direct all his focus before the election into confirming his US Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
"I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump tweeted.
Last week, the White House said it was backing a $US400 ($561) per week pandemic jobless benefit and dangled the possibility of a COVID-19 relief bill of $US1.6 trillion. But that offer was rejected by Pelosi.
This latest news from Trump's America is likely to affect the markets. Our top business journos will keep you up to date over at our Markets Live blog.
'I don't think it'll create 450,000 jobs'
By Rachael Dexter
One independent economist is sceptical about the government's claim that 450,000 jobs will be created through the new 'JobMaker' subsidy program that gives employers either $100 or $200 cash incentives to take on new workers.
"I don't think it'll create 450,000 jobs," Chris Richardson, of Deloitte Access Economics, told Radio National's Breakfast program.
Deloitte Access Economics director Chris Richardson.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"I think it's a lovely policy, but just think of the size of JobKeeper at just over $100 billion, this JobMaker [plan] is $4 billion. And so it is a real challenge."
While Mr Richardson said the government was "broadly doing the right thing" by throwing a lot of money at economic recovery and focusing on jobs, it was unclear whether enough money had been spent.
The economist said Australians shouldn't be scared of mounting debt or high spending, and the government couldn't spend too much money.
"Despite the pretty spectacular increases in debt, interest rates have fallen so much that the overall cost of the debt, the interest payments that the government's making across the next four years, will actually be lower than it was just a couple of years ago," he said.
But the success of the budget was ultimately out of anyone's control due to the lack of a COVID-19 vaccine, Mr Richardson said.
"It does rely on that hope, and the likelihood comes down to how well we do against the virus here in Australia [and] how soon a vaccine or other medical technologies, ride to the rescue."
Morrison wished Trump 'a great recovery'
By Mary Ward
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has wished US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, a "great recovery", he told Today this morning.
"I have wished him and Melania Trump a great recovery. COVID can knock you about," Mr Morrison said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Donald Trump in Washington last year.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
"I remember speaking to [UK Prime Minister] Boris [Johnson] not long after he returned to work [after his COVID-19 diagnosis]. It really knocked him about," he said.
"It is a serious virus. It has a fatality factor five times like we see with the flu and in many cases more than that.
Overnight, President Trump used his social media accounts to compare COVID-19 to seasonal flu. In response, Twitter put a warning on his tweet and Facebook removed his post.
"I wish [Trump] and Melania well for the rest of the campaign: which ever way that election goes, one thing that is sure is the Australia-US relationship has never been stronger."
Asked on ABC TV's News Breakfast if Australians should heed the US President's advice to not be afraid of coronavirus, Mr Morrison said the nation had a "uniquely Australian" response to the pandemic.
"Donald Trump doesn't run Australia. Donald Trump is responsible for the US and I'm sure Australians will look to the Australian government and the state governments to take their directions from the health authorities here."
Easing of health restrictions will lead to greater spending: Frydenberg
By Mary Ward
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the tax cuts included in the budget will only reach their full effect as states and territories ease coronavirus restrictions.
"The savings ratio has increased as a function of what has happened with the health restrictions," he told Sunrise.
"People have not been able to go to their local cafe or their local restaurant all their favourite holiday destination, because of those health restrictions. As we have success in suppressing the virus, and those restrictions are eased, more people will spend."
The Treasurer said the ATO was confident the cuts, backdated to July 1, would begin to feed into pay packets before Christmas. The backdated cuts would then be paid with next year's tax returns.
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2020-10-06 19:45:00Z
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