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

I thank the member for Curtin for her question and acknowledge her extensive experience as a vice-chancellor and as a leading legal academic before she came into this place. While those opposite will recklessly talk down the Australian economy, the Australian people know how resilient the Australian economy is. In the face of significant domestic and global headwinds—we've had a punishing drought, which has seen agricultural output down by around 14 per cent in the last two years, and we see continued trade tensions, particularly between the US and China, which the IMF estimate will see a fall in global GDP by around $700 billion by next year. But, despite all of that, the Australian economy continues to grow, in its 29th consecutive year of economic growth.

While other major economies like the United Kingdom, South Korea and Germany have experienced negative economic growth this year, the Australian economy continues to grow. We have a AAA credit rating. We've seen more than 1.4 million new jobs created. We have the first balanced budget in 11 years. The coalition and members on this side of the House will deliver the first surplus in 12 years. That will enable us to start paying down Labor's debt—debt that today sees an interest bill of around $19 billion a year. That's more than double what we spend on child care and nearly as much as we spend on schools. That is the cost of the debt that the Labor Party left the Australian people when they left office.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

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