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

I do not pretend to this House or to the Australian public that every working family in this country is enjoying to the full the very strong and prosperous economy we now have. There are some who are, through no fault of their own, missing out. But, if you look at the proper measures that affect the living standards of Australian families, those measures suggest that they have fared better under this government than they did under the previous Labor government—and not only that but that they will fare better through a continuation of this government than they would under a Rudd Labor government. That is what this debate is all about: whether working families were better off under Labor than they are now or would be better off under Labor in the future than they are now.

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