Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

That stirring address ended with a mention of ships, which of course reminds us that, during the six years of the Labor government, not one naval vessel was commissioned, not one ship. We have had to pick up that six years of neglect.

The honourable member talks about the economy and he complains about the economy. Our economy is growing, as at the last quarter, at a three per cent real rate. That is higher than any of the G7 economies. It is considerably in excess of the OECD average. It is doing well in all of the circumstances, where there are real global economic headwinds. Of course, we are transitioning from a mining-construction boom led economy to one with sources of growth and job creation that are more diverse. We are transitioning much better than other similarly resource dominated economies, which of course would be Canada and Brazil.

The honourable member reminds me that I have been Prime Minister for six months. He has cast his judgement, he says, on behalf the Australian people on my prime ministership. Well, I can note that consumer confidence has risen 11 per cent since mid-September, and confidence in the economic outlook has increased, with economic conditions next year estimated to be 20 per cent higher and economic conditions in the next five years 10 per cent higher than mid-September. That may be a more reliable indication of what Australian consumers and investors are thinking.

The government has undertaken, in the six months since I became Prime Minister, one substantial policy commitment after another. First, we committed to an innovation and science agenda, which will bring more Australian ideas to market. It will connect our best research and developers with the business and industry contacts that they need to commercialise their investment. It will ensure that start-ups, who struggle to get access to capital—

Ms Macklin interjecting—

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