Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

What an embarrassing performance from the member for Moreton. We shouldn't expect too much more, but it's disappointing nevertheless. When you have to hold up Wayne Swan and his panic and his cheques to dead people as what we should be doing, you know that Labor have really lost the plot. It was a perfect example of the difference between the Labor members opposite and this government. On that side of the chamber, they're so busy talking down the economy. They can't accept the facts and they're so busy pointing back to their spiritual hero, Wayne Swan. 'Oh, the glory days!' they think. They're so desperate to go back to those glory days, but the fact of the matter is that this nation is dealing with some serious challenges.

I talk to the families in my electorate of Ryan, and they say to me: 'With the serious challenges that this economy is dealing with, that this nation is dealing with—bushfire recovery, coronavirus—thank goodness the coalition government are the ones that won at the last election. Thank goodness that they're busy dealing with the issues that matter to us and our families rather than Labor, who are pining over their political games in this place, who are so busy calling divisions that they can't even think up questions about the major issues that are facing our nation, like coronavirus. Thank goodness that the Australian people aren't saddled with $387 billion worth of new taxes as we go into these important issues that we have to deal with as an economy.' It is just incredible.

We know the Australian people are resilient. They are incredible people. They bond together and they help those who are doing it tough. We are about supporting them as a resilient nation. And we can do that because we have a budget which is back in balance. We have tax cuts for 10 million Australians, despite Labor trying to stand in the way of that. So we've got more people with more money in their pockets based on their spending priorities, not Labor's spending priorities. What we don't have is $387 billion worth of taxes. That's how we deal with the bushfire response. That's how we deal with the coronavirus response. That's how we deal with the drought response. They acknowledge these things, but Labor members will only acknowledge it through gritted teeth. They'd like you to think that these things are just small issues. 'Don't worry about those. The more important issues are invites to the White House and email trails over here.'

But the important things to the people of Brisbane, to the people of Ryan, to the Australian people, are making sure that this nation recovers from the bushfires and the drought crisis, and making sure that they get through the coronavirus with a resilient economy. When it comes to doing exactly that, what's important is the facts about our economy—facts that Labor do not or won't acknowledge. Australia has entered its 29th consecutive year of annual economic growth. The IMF is forecasting Australia to grow faster than the US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and the UK. This means that, as far as you can be prepared for something like the coronavirus, Australia is in a better position than those other comparable nations.

We have brought the budget back to balance for the first time in 11 years. We have maintained our triple A credit rating. We are one of only 10 developed countries to maintain our triple A credit rating. Employment growth is more than three times what we inherited from Labor. Under this government 1.5 million jobs have been created. It used to be that the Labor Party was the party of jobs. No more—they have well and truly given up that mantle. They have given it up willingly, because they are too interested in pandering and responding to Twitter than they are in looking after the workers of Australia. We take a completely different view. We believe that we are here to support the Australian people by getting them into a job. We have done that to the tune of more than 1.5 million jobs created. Earlier this month the RBA Governor himself said that Australia's economic fundamentals remain strong and provide a solid foundation for us to be optimistic about the future. (Time expired)

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