Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Boothby for her question and acknowledge her deep background and experience, particularly working for the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and as a journalist prior to entering this place. She, like other members of this House and across the nation, know the significance of the economic shock that has occurred both globally and domestically as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. We've seen some 33 million jobless claims being made in the United States. We've seen here in Australia the Treasury forecast GDP to fall by some 10 per cent and unemployment to rise to some 10 per cent, and we've seen the information that I detailed in the House yesterday: new house sales falling dramatically and new motor vehicle sales falling dramatically as well as falls in consumption and in business investment.

We have made some $320 billion of financial commitments, and central to our financial commitments has been the JobKeeper program—a record wage subsidy that will assist in maintaining the formal connection between employers and employees, for example Central Audio Visual. This is a family owned business in South Australia, in Adelaide, that provides TV screens, lecterns and microphones for conferences, expos, AGMs and sporting events. Ashlea Malcolm, from that business, contacted the member for Boothby and said that as a result of the limits on outdoor and indoor gatherings they lost thousands of dollars worth of bookings within hours. With no income, they had to make the heartbreaking decision to stand down all their staff without pay, and their hardworking and loyal staff were left without income.

According to Ashlea Malcolm, the JobKeeper package has helped save their business. She said that it has 'acted like a glue for small business owners and employees'. They've spent the last six weeks devising in-house training programs to upskill their technical crew, and they've spoken about the mental health advantages that it's had for their staff to be on the JobKeeper program. They've also benefited from the cashflow boost, as well as the arrangements that we have been discussing with the banks to provide deferrals of loan repayments. Ashlea Malcolm says to the member for Boothby—and it's important for this House to recognise this—that, given that their industry relies on large gatherings, they'll be one of the last to return to normal but they're fortunate that the concerns of small business owners were listened to and acted upon by the Morrison government.

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