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

I would have thought those opposite should be interested in the national accounts. It goes to the core of our prosperity, it goes to the core of our capacity to create jobs, it goes to the core of dealing with the natural disasters that have so affected so many of our communities, it goes to our future prosperity—and I would have thought that those on that side of the House might have had some interest in these basic facts.

One of the impacts of the natural disasters is that they will be felt particularly hard in the March quarter. They are going to reduce output by something like $7 billion in the March quarter. That is a challenge for our economy, but it is a challenge we are up for. It is a challenge we can deal with because of the way in which we have built strength in our economy over recent years, the way in which the government responded to the global recession, the way in which we supported small businesses, the way in which we supported employment and the way in which we supported confidence in our economy. The consequences of that are an unemployment rate of five per cent and the creation in Australia over the last year of 330,000 jobs—a job creation effort the envy of the developed world. That means there are more Australians taking pay packets home, more Australians supporting their families, more Australians living in greater security because we got the economic decisions right—the fundamental economic decisions for the future of this country.

Because we are in a strong position, we can handle the savage impact of these national disasters, particularly as it will be felt in the March quarter, so we can rebuild for those people in Queensland, rebuild for those people in northern New South Wales and rebuild for those people in Victoria because we have got a responsible attitude to dealing with the fiscal challenges, to adhering to our strict fiscal discipline and to supporting our communities. (Time expired)

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