David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer ) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be able to contribute to this debate on a matter of public importance relating to the economy and to add just a few facts to the debate—a few facts that were missing from the contribution from the member for North Sydney. Members will note that at no stage during the member for North Sydney's contribution did we hear anything about the OECD economic outlook that was released overnight. It is an important document that provides a snapshot of where the various economies across the globe are placed at this point in time. It is an important document because it gave a very big tick to the economic management of the Australian economy. In fact, that document reported:

Restoring fiscal leeway while macroeconomic conditions are still favourable, and the terms of trade high, is welcome.

It gave a big tick to our return-to-surplus strategy and it noted the fact that the Australian economy is the standout performer of all OECD economies. In terms of growth, the Australian economy will grow faster than any of the other advanced economies over the coming two years.

In addition to that we have returned our budget to surplus. This is no trivial matter considering what is going on across the globe at the moment. It is worth reflecting on this point. If we have a look at the budget position here in Australia compared to other nations, what we see is that in 2011-12 in Australia we will be delivering a $1.5 billion surplus. That is 0.1 per cent of GDP—a surplus. Let us look at other economies in the OECD. Let us look at the United States. They will still be running deficits; their deficit will be 8.1 per cent of their GDP. The United Kingdom will be running a deficit at eight per cent of their GDP. Japan will be at 10 per cent of their GDP and Canada, another country that is resource rich, will still be in deficit to the tune of about 3.7 per cent of GDP.

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