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

I thank the member for Bonner for his question and I acknowledge his hard work, on behalf of his constituents, to ensure that they are able to get through the COVID-19 crisis. We saw it in today's national accounts, but we have been seeing it throughout the year—and that is the havoc being wreaked by this once-in-a-century pandemic. To put it in context for the House, at the height of the GFC in 2009, the global economy contracted by 0.1 per cent. That was the only time the global economy had contracted in 40 years. The OECD are now saying that the global economy will contract this year by a full six per cent, and we've had the World Bank saying that more economies will contract this year than at any time since 1870. We've had the International Labour Organization say that effectively 500 million full-time jobs have been lost globally as a result of COVID-19.

We approached this economic crisis from a position of strength. We had delivered the first balanced budget in 11 years. We inherited an economy where unemployment was at 5.7 per cent and we brought it down to 5.1. So we were able to respond by putting in place economic support measures like the JobKeeper program, like the cash flow boost, like the $550 coronavirus supplement and like the new incentives for the instant asset write-off and the 50 per cent accelerated depreciation. The initiatives on our watch have helped, according to Treasury, save 700,000 jobs. The unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent. It's expected to go to around 10 per cent by year's end, but it would be five percentage points higher but for the economic support that we have put in place.

Now, we know that a quarter of the national economy is Victoria, and its being subject to stage 4 restrictions has seen a huge drag on the national recovery. But our focus is on our JobMaker plan; bringing forward infrastructure investment of up to $10 billion; getting greater flexibility in the labour market, like we did with the passage of the JobKeeper legislation just yesterday; providing 340,000 new training places and a skills package which is in partnership with the states and the territories through the good work of the Prime Minister and the national cabinet; and, of course, cutting red tape, which is making it easier for businesses to do business. Our focus is on helping Australians get back to work. The road to recovery will be long, the road to recovery will be hard, the road to recovery will be bumpy, but we will be with Australians every step of the way.

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