Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Impressive economic figures from last week show that our growth is up, employment is up, labour market strength is up and the labour price index is at a very disciplined 4.1 per cent. Glenn Stevens from the RBA said that labour market supply flexibility is the most responsible factor for making such favourable outcomes possible. We know that Labor blames China for our economic boom at the moment. The reality is, of course, that it is the supply side—labour market flexibility—that is making all the difference, and we have seen employment growth over the last two years. I challenge Labor to drop their foolish union fed and funded objection to labour market flexibility and to allow us to move away from their alternative, which is a 19th century industrial relations platform. They need to leave it behind, quit the lies and drop their resistance to that key part of the Australian economy that is moving us forward. We can ill afford the obstruction by Labor and the refusal to have an up-to-date, internationally competitive labour market.

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