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

I thank the member for Fraser for his very important question, because jobs have been the No. 1 priority of this government from day one. That is why we moved so swiftly at the end of 2008 and in early 2009 to support jobs and to support small business. Because of our swift action we saved the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Australian workers. That is something that everybody on this side of the House is very proud of. We also made sure that we kept the doors open to tens of thousands of small businesses during that critical time. What that has meant for our country is an unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent, nearly half that being experienced in the United States and right across Europe. What it has also meant is that we have created in this country three-quarters of a million jobs in the past four years. Compare that to the fact that something like 30 million jobs have been lost elsewhere in the global economy.

Mr Billson interjecting—

See this speech in context