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

I thank the member for Grey for his question. He knows that Australia's comeback has begun. Australia's comeback from the COVID-19 recession has begun. Our recovery has begun. That has been acknowledged, not just by the Australian people, but of course by the financial credit rating agencies, in particular Standard & Poor's. The Reserve Bank of Australia have also acknowledged this.

Australia's comeback has begun. And that is on the basis of an important comeback recovery plan that was set out by the Treasurer in this year's budget. It builds on the significant decisions and actions taken by this government to ensure that we have been able to move through what has been a very difficult year for all Australians as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the most difficult decisions that were taken in the early part of this pandemic were about how we had to gear down the Australian economy in those early months. But our government was always committed to ensuring that, as we had to gear down the Australian economy, it would not be stuck in neutral, and that we would have to move it out of neutral and gear up again. That has been the policy of our government as we 've been moving to have the Australian economy get into the next gear, to open up again, to move forward and not stay stuck with the restrictions and the other limitations on the economy going forward, particularly into 2021.

In the member for Grey's electorate there are 1,200 job vacancies. We want to see Australians get into those jobs in the member for Grey's electorate. The same is true particularly in rural and regional electorates all across this country, as well as through our major cities and suburbs. The Australian economy is beginning to recover. There are jobs and we want to see Australians go into those jobs. We are transitioning the supports that we have, through our JobMaker and JobSeeker programs, to get Australians back into those jobs. I know Australians don't want to be on government support. They want to be in jobs. They want their businesses open. They want to look forward to the future with confidence. Our budget provides that plan. The investments that we've made have provided that support so Australians can go into the next phase.

As Australians gather around this Christmas, and they come around as families, I want them to look forward to a 2021 with great confidence, knowing that under this government's policies they will be able to do just that. They will be able to go to university and training places that are available, to businesses that are open and to jobs that have been made available, because businesses are open and investing and looking forward again. The year 2021 is going to be far stronger than 2020. The reason for that is the great perseverance and commitment of Australians. It's also because of the great support that they're getting from this government. On that note, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.

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