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

I acknowledge the distinguished service in the Australian Defence Force of the member for Herbert and his support, like others on this side of the House, for policies that have delivered tax cuts to more than 70,000 people in the electorate of Herbert.

The Australian labour market is undergoing a remarkable recovery. The unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent in December; 320,000 jobs have been created in the last three months; 90 per cent of the 1.3 million Australian workers who either lost their jobs or saw their working hours reduced to zero at the start of the pandemic are now back at work; the participation rate is at the record high of 66.2 per cent; and last week we saw the Reserve Bank upgrade its employment forecasts and its rate of unemployment, which will see the rate of unemployment fall to six per cent this year and 5¼ per cent by mid-2023. On the RBA forecast the employment rate is recovering three times faster in the COVID recession than it did in the 1990s recession. We're seeing strong numbers across the rest of the economy. We see strong numbers in the housing market, strong numbers in terms of automotive sales and strong numbers in terms of business and consumer confidence coming back.

Also today we have new data from the ATO about the JobKeeper program in the December quarter. It shows that 2.1 million Australians have graduated off JobKeeper and 520,000 Australian businesses have graduated off JobKeeper. Across Western Australia there was a 70 per cent fall in JobKeeper recipients in the December quarter. Across South Australia there was a 67 per cent fall. In Tasmania there was a 65 per cent fall. In Queensland there was a 64 per cent fall. In Townsville there was a 72 per cent fall. Across New South Wales there was a 60 per cent fall. Unfortunately Victoria, which has experienced a second wave, had just a 44 per cent fall. What these numbers show is that across the economy, in every state and territory, across all regions and across all sectors, we are seeing thousands and thousands of our fellow Australians graduate off JobKeeper.

There is still a long way to go. Australians are doing it tough still. Across many regions they are doing it tough and in many sectors they are doing it tough. But JobKeeper has been a remarkable program. It's been an economic lifeline for millions of Australians and it has played an important role in the strengthening of the labour market which we're seeing right now, this very day.

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