Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am moderately surprised to get a question from the Leader of the Opposition on the economy. I cannot recall the last time the Leader of the Opposition ever asked me anything about the economy. So in these very unusual circumstances let me address the Leader of the Opposition's question. I understand that the Leader of the Opposition is going into the budget lockup. When he does so, I suggest that he does look at that part of the budget that talks about the questions that he raises with me, and then he can come back tomorrow with a rephrased question. That is what I would say to the Leader of the Opposition first and foremost, because the image he has tried to create in people's minds is a wrong image.

As usual, the Leader of the Opposition comes into this place making wild and inaccurate claims about the Australian economy. We know, of course, that this follows a long stream of inaccurate claims about the Australian economy and particularly about Australian debt. We have had opposition spokespeople going around claiming that our nation is like one of the nations in Europe. They have been going around trying to spread fear in Australia about the circumstances of our economy. That is, the opposition have believed it is their mission to talk our economy down. The Leader of the Opposition should know, if he knew anything about economics, that in this country we will see net debt peak at less than 10 per cent. That is compared to economies in Europe where net debt is in the order of 80 and 90 per cent. The Leader of the Opposition knows that.

On questions of what will be in the budget, we will have plenty of time to address that. But I would say to the Leader of the Opposition that when we do work through the budget details revealed tonight he ought to come to this debate acknowledging that the Australian economy is strong in its fundamentals. He should stop talking the Australian economy down. He should acknowledge we came out of the global financial crisis strong because we supported the jobs of working Australians, the government working with responsible employers and trade unions to save 200,000 jobs. He should acknowledge that as a result we have an unemployment rate that is the envy of the world and is half of the unemployment rate being experienced by many in Europe and is well below the unemployment rate of the US. He should acknowledge that our economy has strong fundamentals. That does not mean that there are not Australian businesses facing stress and strain with a strong dollar, but talking our economy down will not help those businesses. And for the first time ever the Leader of the Opposition should walk in here on Thursday with an economic plan, not a load of old rhetoric.

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