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

He says, ‘Oh, it’s the Australian economy.’ Is the shadow Treasurer suggesting that Australia is unaffected by movements in the global economy? Is the alternative Treasurer of Australia seriously suggesting that, given our exposure to (a) global financial markets and (b) global export markets, the level of growth in the global economy does not materially affect growth and jobs in this economy?

This government is unapologetic about stepping up to the plate to defend Australian jobs. Had we taken the advice of those opposite, what would have happened? We would have hundreds of thousands more Australians out of work. The result of our action is this: we now have the second-lowest unemployment of the major advanced economies. As a result of our actions and the actions of the Australian business community, Australia is the only economy of the major advanced economies not to have gone into recession. It is the only economy of the 33 economies in the OECD to have grown positively in the 2009-10 financial year. On top of that, we have registered the lowest debt and the lowest deficit. I regard that as a reasonable record of achievement so far, with much more to be done.

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