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

Fifteen thousand jobs, I am advised, in the middle of 2009 had gone from the major companies across the various sectors of Australia. I would simply ask people to reflect on that fact. I am advised by various ministers behind me that that the fall in employment in the sector could have been by as much as 15 per cent. The rest of the economy, backed by a government stimulus strategy, continued to generate employment, including in retail, including in small business and including in the rest of the economy, because we got in there and we worked together to generate further activity, further profits and, therefore, further employment. Therefore, the overall argument that employment was somehow held up as a consequence of a 15 per cent shedding of jobs by the mining industry during the GFC is palpably untrue.

Again, let us simply confront a few facts here, because what we have dealt with is the hypocrisy of the opposition’s claims concerning previous campaigns. But, on this theme, let us also reflect on how the share price is going for the member for Dickson. The member for Dickson’s share prices have been doing very well—

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