Category: josh frydenberg

Australian Treasurer to End Support Payments, Puts Pressure on States to Open Up

The Australian federal government will pull back business and individual support payments once key vaccination milestones are reached, a move that could compel state and territory leaders to move away from readily locking down their jurisdictions each time COVID-19 cases emerge. On Sept. 29, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg outlined a plan that would see billions in…


Australian Treasurer to End COVID-19 Payments, Puts Pressure on States to Open Up

The Australian federal government will pull back business and individual support payments once key vaccination milestones are reached, a move that could compel state and territory leaders to move away from readily locking down their jurisdictions each time COVID-19 cases emerge. On Sept. 29, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg outlined a plan that would see billions in…


Australian Treasurer Signals for Home Loan Crackdown Amid Rising Household Debt

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has met with regulators over the need for plans to address the ballooning levels of household debt. Last Friday, Frydenberg spoke about the current state of the housing market with the Council of Financial Regulators, chaired by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Philip Lowe and which members include the…


Businesses ‘Waking up to the Fact’ They Must Diversify From China: Australian Treasurer

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australian businesses are keenly aware of the need to diversify trade away from China amid increasing strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Frydenberg’s comments follow a speech he delivered last week, calling on Australian businesses to adopt a “China-plus” strategy, which would build on the strengths of existing…


Economic Growth Figures Mask the Real Pain of Australians Under Lockdown

Commentary Headline economic numbers do not reflect the hardship many Australians are enduring under prolonged lockdowns. The thousands of Australians who have had their jobs and businesses destroyed will find little solace in the fact the June quarter saw growth in Australia’s economy that has staved off a second official recession in two years. The…


Australia Weathering China Storm: Treasurer

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has given an update on Australia’s economy, saying it has weathered Beijing’s economic coercion and is encouraging businesses to continue diversifying away from the China market. The treasurer’s comments come just days after former Prime Minister Paul Keating wrote a scathing op-ed critical of the Morrison government’s handling of bilateral ties. Frydenberg…


Treasurer Rejects Calls for Profitable Companies to Repay JobKeeper

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has rejected calls for companies that profited while receiving JobKeeper to repay the subsidy which was put in place to cushion business owners and workers from the economic impact of the CCP virus pandemic. The ABC reported that around 35,000 companies had doubled or tripled their turnover, compared to the same quarter…


Australia Considers Regulation of Apple, Google, WeChat Digital Payment Services

The Australian government is considering new laws that would standardise regulation across the digital payments industry and likely encompass the payment services of Apple, Google, and Chinese tech giant WeChat. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is considering recommendations from a recently published report—Payments System Review—that considered whether the old regulatory architecture for digital payments set up in…


Industry Groups Urge Senate Against Publishing ‘Name and Shame’ List of JobKeeper Recipient Businesses

Industry groups have warned against calls to reveal the names of all large employers who received JobKeeper payments despite recording profits. Independent Senator Rex Patrick passed a motion, with the support of Labor, ordering the disclosure of all large companies who received the wage subsidy, how much they received, and how much they paid back,…


Lockdowns Devastate Small Business and Leaves Economy Dominated by Large Corporations

Lockdowns have disproportionately affected workers for small businesses compared to large businesses, according to an analysis by the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). The analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) unemployment data found that between June 26 and July 17, 420,000 jobs were lost—or 20,000 a day. The New South Wales (NSW) jobs sector…