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

No, it is not a good question because, firstly, I did not attribute all of the result to the drought. I made that very clear. But, significantly, if farm production is down by 10 per cent and if it is 11.4 per cent down over the year, it is a major factor. In relation to productivity, the fall in the quarter of 0.4 per cent is largely accounted for by the large employment growth of 1.2 per cent or 117,000 people in the September quarter. So I suggest that the Leader of the Opposition should read the accounts more closely.

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