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

I gather that outside this place there is currently storm and tempest. Can I just say that it pales into insignificance compared with the storm and tempest which rages within the ranks of the Liberal Party and the National Party—and, Mr Speaker, there is more light in this chamber now than is currently being brought to bear on the policy on climate change on the part of those opposite.

The question I was asked dealt with the confidence data which was out today and its impact on our nation building for recovery plan. My point to the House was this: nation building for recovery is being implemented; we intend to get on with the job of doing that. Secondly, we have to be prepared as a nation and as an economy for the fact that it will be a rough and difficult road ahead and, thirdly, if we are being responsible about it we will also put in place the long-term building blocks for a sustainable economic growth model for Australia for the future.

The reality we confront with the global economy is this: we cannot assume that the world will continue to grow for the next decade as it has for the last, because so many of the underpinning assumptions in the global economy for the previous decade will no longer be present in the future—in particular, the global financial imbalances which have underpinned so much of the activity that we have seen over the last decade. Therefore, how do you build a new model of economic growth for the future? The responsible course of action for Australia, the only sure answer to that, is productivity, productivity, productivity. That is the cornerstone of this government’s long-term economic development strategy. It is the one we went with to the last election, it is the one we have continued to implement since the election and it is the one that we will now embrace with full vigour going forward to the future as well. It is the right strategy for Australia. We are encouraged by the data which has been released today, but this country is by no means out of the woods yet.

See this speech in context