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

I thank the member for Barker for his question and acknowledge his experience as a lawyer and councillor before coming to this place. The member for Barker, like all those on this side of the House, understands that the Australian economy has been hit by a once-in-a-century pandemic and it has been hit hard. Many people have either lost their jobs or seen their work hours reduced to zero. As a response we have put in place measures, like JobKeeper, like JobSeeker, like the cash flow boost and like the $750 payments to millions of pensioners, carers, veterans and others on income support. We have helped save 700,000 jobs, and now the economic recovery is underway.

446,000 jobs have been created in the last four months alone. Consumer confidence is now up seven weeks in a row, having recovered 95 per cent off its lows earlier on in the pandemic. Consumer sentiment was up 11.9 per cent last week, the single largest increase in a budget month since the series first began in 1974. And this week Australia's AAA credit rating was again reaffirmed. As a result of this economic recovery underway, I was able to go and see it firsthand in the member's electorate of Barker, where I went to Murray Bridge and I went to Kookaburra Homes. I met Steve and his other staff, including apprentices, working on cabinet-making. That business employs more than 40 people but indirectly supports hundreds of jobs through the supply chain. Steve told us firsthand how the HomeBuilder program had seen a massive jump in sales, helping in his words, to secure his business into the future. This is the economic recovery that is now underway.

Now, in the budget we had a number of new initiatives to support businesses and families right across the country, like Steve's Kookaburra Homes. These included the instant asset write-off, which was expanded to allow equipment and machinery to be written off all in year 1; the loss carryback measure; and, of course, the income tax cuts for more than 11½ million Australians.

Now, we know that only one side of this House supports lower taxes for Australians. Those opposite don't; the member for McMahon took $387 billion of higher taxes to the last election—higher taxes on your income, higher taxes on your savings, higher taxes on your investments. Only those on this side of the House stand for lower taxes and leaving more money in Australians' pockets.

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