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

I am pleased to answer the question, because here we have, yet again, the opposition talking down our economy. The shadow Treasurer is referring to the June national accounts data, which is simply outstanding data compared to what is going on elsewhere in the world. It does not mean to say that there are not challenges in our economy; there are. We know that sectors suffer from a higher dollar. We know there are other structural forces impacting upon the manufacturing industry. We know that a cautious consumer is making life difficult in retail. But, having said all that, when you have an unemployment rate as low as ours, when you have growth in a quarter that is faster than just about any other developed economy, it does not help the economy if the opposition is constantly talking it down. In the United States—

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