Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Braddon for his question. He has been a successful small-business person who has been involved in concrete manufacturing and a number of agribusinesses and he understands the importance of a strong economy.

Let me remind the House that, when the coalition came to government, unemployment was rising, investment was falling, and we inherited $240 billion of accumulated deficits, which had reached three per cent of GDP. Wind the clock forward to today, and we have delivered the first balanced budget in 11 years; full-time jobs growth is now the strongest in 12 years; and welfare dependency is at its lowest level in 30 years. The coalition has helped create 1.4 million new jobs and opened markets right around the world for Australian businesses to export to nearly two billion new customers.

Our economic plan, which involves more than $300 billion of legislated tax cuts, which involves a $100 billion of an infrastructure pipeline, which involves creating 80,000 new apprenticeships, which involves cutting red tape and which involves entering into new free trade agreements, is helping to create jobs—because this is what the coalition does. The coalition pays back Labor's debt; the coalition reduces taxes; and the coalition creates millions of new jobs. But I'm asked about any alternative policies and any threats to this approach. We know the member for Rankin likes to tax a lot. In fact, the member for Rankin was knighted for his services to higher taxes before the Speaker took away his knighthood! The reality is the member for Rankin was the co-architect of $387 billion with the now silent member for McMahon, who sits there wallowing in his silence because he knows that the retirees' tax, the housing tax, the higher income tax, the family business taxes and the superannuation taxes were put together by him and the member for Rankin, and they are still on Labor's books. You can't trust Labor with the public's money. Only the coalition will create a stronger economy.

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