Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The largest developed economies are struggling to grow. The UK, Japan, Germany, France and Italy all recorded zero or negative growth in the three months to June. And this problem combined with the impact of 10 interest rate rises in a row, left to the country by those opposite, is slowing our economy. But there are grounds for optimism in all of this because we have a substantial budget surplus and, of course, as we have seen today from the latest figures from the bureau, commodity prices are also at a record high, and that is a good thing. And, as we saw from the capex figures the other day, business is continuing to invest. As the Prime Minister said earlier, we also have $40 billion put away in our investment funds to invest in the productive capacity of the future, to lift the productive capacity of the economy, and to deal with the inflationary challenges that this country faces. So what we will do is to control those things that are under the control of domestic governments. What that means is a disciplined fiscal policy. It also means investing in the productive capacity of the economy. Of course, that is more difficult when those opposite want to use the Senate to punch a hole in the budget surplus. But, as the Prime Minister said earlier, we on this side of the House are absolutely determined to invest in nation-building projects, to lift the productive capacity of the economy and our international competitiveness, because what we are battling here is 12 years of neglect from those opposite. But we have put up our hand to accept responsibility for fixing it, and we are putting in place a long-term strategy for the future. We will not make the same mistake that those opposite made. They celebrated prosperity but did nothing to achieve it into the future.

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