Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

This is a budget which invests for the future of our country. It is a budget which has additional investment in road, in rail and in water and it is a budget which has significant reform of the taxation system in respect of business taxation, personal income tax and, of course, superannuation. In terms of the outlook the honourable member for Kingston asked me about, the government’s updated economic forecasts are that the GDP will grow by 3¼ per cent in 2006-07. Robust commodity growth is leading to strong business investment, which is expected to drive growth over 2006-07. Business investment has grown 75 per cent in the past four years and is expected to stay high in 2006-07. Although household consumption is expected to slow, some of that will be taken up by business investment and improvements in exports, as I said earlier.

The government’s management of the economy has seen unemployment fall to a 30-year low. Since this government was elected 1.7 million new jobs have been created in the Australian economy, with unemployment falling to five per cent. The government has put in place a budget which will keep Australia growing in a low inflation rate environment, which will balance the budget and return a surplus for the ninth time in 10 years, which will be consistent with keeping people in work and which will be consistent with giving Australians the opportunities that they deserve in one of the stronger growing economies of the world, which is now debt free and which has great opportunities for the future.

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