Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

This is a devastating day for Australia. The COVID-19 global recession and pandemic that has impacted the world has impacted Australia. Australians know that's the case. Australians knew many, many months ago that this day would come, and this day has come. As the pandemic continues to have its impact—not just here but all around the world—there will be further difficult days ahead. That is why the government acted with the most unprecedented act of intervention to support Australians in their time of need. As harsh, severe and heavy as this blow today is on Australia, we know that as a government we have acted to seek to cushion the blow as much as we possibly can. That has been done at a great cost and a price worth paying for the peace of mind, the assurance and the confidence of Australians so that, despite these heavy times, they know that the government has stood up and been there not just for today but for the future as well.

Australia will recover and Australia will grow again. The jobs will come back and they will support the lives and livelihoods of Australians, as they have in the past. Our plan for that to occur is to build on the resilience, strength and enterprise of the Australian people and to build on the businesses they run, the jobs they have in those businesses and the efforts they will put in—whether it is the skills that they need or the infrastructure they need, whether it is being able to keep more of what they earn and have the hard-earned reward for their effort—to ensure they can have available to them in their own lives and in their businesses what they need to invest in their future, to ensure that our federation works better and to ensure the many projects that are necessary, whether on water, on energy or on transport, will continue to be rolled out. Almost $10 billion of infrastructure has been brought forward just for the purpose of supporting those jobs. The energy costs that must come down and have been coming down, more importantly, will support affordable and reliable energy into the future to drive those businesses into the future.

This is the JobMaker plan the government has been rolling out and will continue to roll out and that Australians can rely on. They know that when Australia is under economic threat the wise and experienced hands of economic management matter, and that is what the Australian people know of this government. But today, for them, it is a heavy day and we stand— (Time expired)

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