John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

As was my custom with his predecessor, I always check before I accept as gospel what is quoted by the opposition in relation to statistics. But I can confirm that, since Work Choices was introduced, 165,000 new jobs have been created. I can confirm that unemployment has gone to a 30-year low. I can confirm that industrial disputes are lower now than in 1913, a year before World War I broke out. And I can confirm that, when Labor was in office, real wages recessed by 0.2 per cent. They have risen by 16.4 per cent in the time that we have been in government. I am very happy to confirm all of those facts.

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