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

I do thank the member for McEwen for that question, because I think today's news is welcomed, as is the report from the OECD just two days ago. That was not welcomed by the opposition, either. They did not have anything to say about that good economic news for Australia, just as they have got nothing positive to say about the news today—because they simply will not get out of their mud bucket to say something positive about the country.

It would be good if they stopped talking down our economy and got behind the fundamental strengths in it. I think the Australian people deserve that sort of positive approach, and that is what they get from the government. In our economy we do have solid growth returning to trend. We have low unemployment at 4.9 per cent. We have an exceptional record of job creation—over 800,000 jobs. We have contained inflation. We have a low cash rate and, of course, we have got this $½ trillion investment pipeline. These are things that we should all celebrate for Australia.

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