Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Sturt is obviously not keen on hearing this data. But it is important that the House reflect on the fact that every one of the major advanced economies has fallen into recession and Australia has not. I say to those opposite that, therefore, when it comes to economic growth, Australia is the fastest among the major advanced economies and with unemployment we have the second lowest of the major advanced economies. On top of that our net debt is the lowest of the major advanced economies and our deficit is the lowest of the average of the major advanced economies. These are the data which represent the impact not just of government policy action but also of the decisive contribution by individuals in the Australian economy as well—the men and women of business and small business in particular.

We have some 35,000 construction projects currently underway across the country. These are important projects for the nation. I notice in this respect that there is a debate within the Australian community about the future of the nation’s construction sector. The building and construction sector is critical for the economy. While this sector is full of hardworking and law-abiding people helping Australia to build towards recovery, there are also plainly problems. There has been a history of violence and threats of violence in parts of this sector and these cannot be ignored and nor will they be ignored. There is a determination within the Australian government to get this right. We will honour our election commitments and have indeed a tough cop on the beat. We will honour this commitment in a fair and responsible way for the sector, for the economy and also, most importantly, to support economic recovery.

We are not out of the woods yet. There is much work to be done. The government’s strategy is to lift the economy up through nation building for recovery. I would again contrast that with the strategy embraced by those opposite, which is to continue to talk the economy down.

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