Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management) Share this | Hansard source

In contrast—and I'll take the interjections from those opposite—our government has a strong plan for our economy, which is well known and which was voted on and strongly endorsed by the Australian people at the recent election.

It's a remarkable achievement that Australia is now in its 29th consecutive year of annual economic growth. Despite the challenges in the world economy, our government is delivering more jobs, lower taxes, better funding for infrastructure and essential services, and a budget that is returning to surplus.

On jobs and growth, thanks to our government's steady economic management, the Australian economy is continuing to grow, with employment growth more than twice the OECD average and about 300,000 additional jobs created in 2018-19. Job-creating policies are a big part of our government's economic plan.

On infrastructure spending, we're delivering an unprecedented transport infrastructure investment pipeline of $100 billion over the next decade that'll bust congestion and create thousands of jobs as it helps to boost our economy. That infrastructure boom—this record spending—is also a big part of our economic plan. We're striking city and regional deals to build the future of our cities and regions. This includes the City Deal for South East Queensland, which encompasses the Brisbane electorate I represent.

We're delivering lower taxes to hardworking Australians by providing $158 billion in tax relief in this year's budget, on top of the $144 billion in tax cuts legislated in last year's Personal Income Tax Plan. These tax cuts are a big part of our economic plan, as is the tax relief that we've been providing to small and family businesses—and I would note that the speech just before by the member for Rankin did not once mention the importance of small businesses when it comes to Australia's economy. We're backing those small and family businesses—

Ms Kearney interjecting—

See this speech in context