Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that over the year, the economy grew 3 per cent, which is the fastest rate of growth since the 2012 September quarter during the height of the mining investment boom, and the 27th year of consecutive economic growth;

(2) recognises that strong employment outcomes have been accompanied by an elevated rate of labour force participation, particularly for women, and that wages can be expected to rise if economic growth remains strong; and

(3) calls on the Government to remain resolute in its effective economic management to ensure funding for the essential services we need.

I'm pleased to stand in the chamber today and speak about the positive outcomes being achieved across the economy as a result of this government's economic policies. Importantly, we are getting on with the job of governing the nation. Our government are proving that we do what we say we'll do. We're not just talking about creating economic policies to see jobs created; we've seen over one million jobs created in our economy since coming into office. We're not just talking about bringing the budget back into balance; we're working towards making that happen, and earlier than anticipated. We're not just talking about strengthening our economy; we are seeing evidence of our economy grow and strengthen.

I'm pleased to report to the House that the real gross domestic product for the June quarter has grown above market expectations, at 3.4 per cent through the year. Not only this, but we've seen the nation now in its unprecedented 27th year of consecutive economic growth, and the highest rate of growth since 2012, when we saw the once-in-a-generation mining boom. This is a stronger rate of growth than any other G7 country. The growth has been shared across the country among the states and the territories, and has had a broad base, meaning there is no particular sector doing the heavy lifting, as was the case during the mining boom. As we've seen, the strong employment outcomes are a result of the strong economy that we are seeing delivered. Jobs growth has been accompanied by elevated rates of labour force participation—importantly, particularly for women, where it has been near record highs.

More than 330,000 jobs were created in our economy last financial year, which was the biggest jobs growth since 2004-05. This is more than double the average that was achieved under the previous Labor government. Equally importantly for my electorate of Forde, we see across the country that 95,000 young Australians have found employment. This is the best financial year result since 1988-89, almost 30 years ago. The unemployment rate has declined, also reaching 5.3 per cent in July, the lowest level since November 2012.

But there are some spots that we need to be aware of. And whilst we've seen this job growth and the strengthening of our economy, we continue to focus, importantly, on reducing personal income tax to ensure that we have a lower and fairer income tax system. This is important because it puts more money in peoples' pockets. We recognise that families around Australia, in many electorates and including mine of Forde, are feeling the pinch. We have seen that in the national accounts figures, when, despite the fact that we saw over the past 12 months that the broader economic measure of wellbeing rose some 0.3 per cent for the quarter, to 3.7 per cent over the 12 months—which means that Australians are significantly better off, on average, than they were 12 months ago—we've at the same time seen that the household savings ratio has fallen to one per cent.

This is a reflection of the fact that families are doing it tough. That's why it's important—whether it's our personal income tax plan, which leaves more money in peoples' pockets and provides greater incentive for them to work or take a pay rise or do more hours—that they feel that their budgets will have some more flexibility in them so that they're not feeling so tight. Equally, my electorate of Forde has seen many small businesses benefit from our small to medium business tax cuts—some 15,000. In combination, these issues that we're focusing on as a government—reducing taxes, both for personal households and also for our small to medium business sector—go to underpinning a strong economy for the future of this country.

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