Subjects: Hong Kong visa measures, attracting global talent

​JOURNALIST: Let's bring in Alan Tudge the Australian Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure joining us from Melbourne. This latest warning out of China. Is that a concern for the Australian Government?

ALAN TUDGE: This is what China's going to say, I mean all I would say is that we are acting in our interests in accordance with our values and certainly the decisions which we have made to offer visa pathways for people who are in Hong Kong into Australia is consistent with what we always do. Australia is an immigrant nation and we're constantly chasing talent from around the world and right now the circumstances have changed in Hong Kong and there'll be people who will be looking to set up shop elsewhere. And we're encouraging people to consider Australia.

JOURNALIST: What is Australia doing to attract people to set up shop in the country and what's the response been so far?

ALAN TUDGE: Well we've only just announced that we will be providing a five year visa pathway for Hong Kong residents to come here for five years and then convert that to permanent residency and ultimately to citizenship should they choose. We’ll be specifically targeting students and the really seriously talented individuals in Hong Kong who will be able to contribute greatly to the economy back here.

In addition to that though, we'll also be targeting some companies who may be looking to move their regional headquarters elsewhere. We know for example there's been some media companies, financial services companies and consulting firms that have indicated publicly that they would be looking to move and set up their regional headquarters somewhere else. We want to make it attractive for them to consider Melbourne or Sydney or one of our great cities for them to set up shop.

JOURNALIST: Australia is very competitive around the world and it would welcome in some Hongkongers who would choose to move. But I'm curious to get your take on how this might impact Australia's already very fragile relationship with China. This latest travel warning really seems to be a symbol of the fact that this relationship is rapidly deteriorating. What type of pushback are you expecting from Beijing?

ALAN TUDGE: Well I’d just like to make a couple of points in relation to that though. I mean first up we have a mutually beneficial relationship. In fact our trade relationship right now is as large as it has ever been. And even the first half of this year our trade is up compared to the first half of next year.

We've also got very good people to people linkages in large part because there's about over a million people who have Chinese heritage in Australia and of course they have great networks back to Hong Kong and to mainland China. So that aspect to the relationship is also good.

Of course we have differences from time to time Dan on other aspects of the relationship and that's inevitable given that we're a liberal democracy and they're not, they're a communist regime, but we work through those sensibly. We disagree with the travel advisory, it's wrong, it's factually incorrect. Australia is one of the safest places in the world and we always welcome people to our shores.

JOURNALIST: What about on the security aspect though. Just recently we've seen Britain moving to essentially ban Huawei from the country as Australia has already done. Now the United States is actively considering a ban on some Chinese social media companies like TikTok for example. What’s your take on this? Is TikTok and WeChat and other Chinese social media apps a threat to Australia’s national security?

ALAN TUDGE: We will always protect our sovereignty and our national security and make decisions along the way to that end.

We made a decision some time ago to not allow Huawei to build our national broadband network and I know that other countries have also made similar decisions. We haven't made decisions in relation to those apps that you're referring to but across the board we're always making sure that our national security is strong – that we're protecting ourselves from foreign interference and that we will continue to act in our interests and according to our liberal democratic values.

JOURNALIST: How does Australia make it attractive for businesses already in Hong Kong to move to Australia when for instance the corporate tax rate in Australia is higher when you compare it to many Asian countries and indeed places like Hong Kong.

ALAN TUDGE: That's a good question and through a few mechanisms: one will be through the visa pathways themselves because in essence we're saying that if a company does move their regional headquarters out to say Sydney or Melbourne then we will ensure that all of their critical staff can come out here and have a visa and a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship. So that's important.

We'll also of course look at the financial aspects that you refer to. In some respects offering boutique financial arrangements to individual companies who may be considering looking elsewhere. But finally, I'd say that you know, Australia has I think the greatest and most enviable lifestyle in the world. I mean everybody is aware of our beautiful beaches; our clean environment; the freedom which we enjoy; the sunny climate. And so if you want a great lifestyle there is no better place in the world – I would put to you then then one of our great cities or indeed in our regions.

JOURNALIST: We are speaking to two Australians so you don't have to sell that point too hard right now. I wanted to follow up on the coronavirus of course in the state of Victoria where you are right now. We are seeing the second wave – do you believe that Australia reopened too soon?

ALAN TUDGE: No. There's specific issues that have occurred here in my home city of Melbourne which has led to a spike in the virus outbreak and it's meant that we've had to have some further restrictions here in Melbourne. Now we'll get on top of that. We're working together to do so but also just want to keep this into perspective as well.

Now, Melbourne has four million people. We've got about 1800 active cases. Sydney itself is a population of five million people and there's only about 20 or 30 active cases there. So in the scheme of things Australia is still one of the safest places in the world from a COVID perspective. But you're right. We have had a small spike in Melbourne and we're very rapidly getting on top of that.

JOURNALIST: We also can't let you go without getting your take on the state of the domestic economy today as well. Look, the country is in recession. There's about two and a half million people in Australia looking for work and now the Government's on track for a record deficit this year and next. What is the taper tantrum if you want to call it that – going to look like when we see the JobKeeper subsidies being axed in September and how actively is the Government looking at perhaps extending this program as the Opposition has suggested?

ALAN TUDGE: We're looking at that at the moment and we'll be able to make announcements later this month in relation to this program, which is essentially a wage subsidy program, which has kept people connected to their work. Listen, we are in recession just like many other countries. But I would point out that the last quarter of results that have been published we had a negative 0.3 per cent contraction in our economy whereas the OECD average was about a 1.8 per cent contraction.

So relatively, Australia is still doing pretty well. Now, we're in recession and it’s the first recession that Australia has had for 30 years and it's devastating for those hundreds of thousands of people who are now out of work and that becomes our absolute focus going forward is to get people back into work and grow the economy again. In part that's what our reach out to the super talent in Hong Kong and elsewhere is about and that's what us encouraging regional businesses to relocate down here is about as well.

JOURNALIST: Minister, look we really appreciate your time today. Thanks for the conversation. Thanks for joining us here on CNBC. We look forward to seeing you again soon.