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

I can tell the member that, as a result of our policies, we're providing important income and business support to the people across the states of New South Wales and Queensland, which are in lockdown. As I've said publicly before, the costs of the lockdown are immense. In the case of New South Wales it's around $180 million a day. In the case of when Victoria was in lockdown, it was around $100 million a day. In the case of South Australia, when they were locked down, it was more like $30 million a day.

The reality is that lockdowns cost the economy significantly. They have an impact, obviously, on the labour market; they have an impact on economic activity; and they have an impact on people's wellbeing. That is why we are providing an unprecedented amount of economic support to those people in need. Today, I've joined hundreds of businesses in a series of zoom calls to remind them and to provide them with details of the economic support that is flowing.

But people across Australia, particularly those who are in lockdown right now, need to understand that the fundamentals of the Australian economy are strong. They need to understand that the Australian economy is resilient and they need to understand that, as we bounce back from the lockdowns that we have seen, the economy comes back very, very strongly. Our economic performance throughout this pandemic has been ahead of other advanced economies around the world.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

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