Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

That report from Ernst & Young today said that the number of companies intending to pursue an acquisition in the next 12 months has more than doubled from 32 per cent six months ago to 66 per cent now. Other key findings: 96 per cent of the 150 companies surveyed believe the economy is improving or stable, up from 80 per cent a year ago; 90 per cent are confident in corporate earnings, up from 46 per cent a year ago; 72 per cent are confident in credit availability, compared to 46 per cent a year ago; and 75 per cent are confident in short-term market stability, compared to 20 per cent a year ago.

That might just be the reason why under us this year job creation in Australia has been running at around three times the speed that it did under Labor in the last 12 months of their last year. Three times the speed is not enough: is that what you are saying? It is not enough to have around 15,000 new jobs created every month in Australia under the coalition compared to 5,000 a month last year under Labor. That is not good enough for Labor. It is not good enough for Labor who left a budget mess that we have set about fixing. It is not good enough for Labor who left a regulatory mess that we are now in the business of repealing. It is not good enough for Labor who left a logjam of environmental approvals for major projects, which this Minister for the Environment has cut through to the tune of $800 billion. It is not good enough for Labor who after six years in government were unable to land a free trade agreement with Japan or Korea, and in the first 12 months we did. It is not good enough for Labor who let the infrastructure of Australia degrade. Under us and our budget we are rolling out the biggest infrastructure program in Australian history.

They are the facts. They are the facts that deliver prosperity; they are the facts that deliver jobs. The only friends of the Australian economy are the coalition and the Abbott government.

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