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

The opposition put the test of our budget last time as what it meant for unemployment. I note that, at the time we brought down our first pandemic budget, unemployment was at seven per cent. Today, it is at 5.6 per cent. By the Labor Party's own standard, the economic recovery plan that we put in place in our first pandemic budget has met their test and has exceeded it. But this is not the first time. It was the Leader of the Opposition who said back in July of last year, '400,000 more will join the unemployment queues by Christmas,' but indeed 300,000 jobs were created during the same period. He said the Morrison government had no plan for jobs and no plan for recovery in June of last year, but yet another 500,000 jobs were created after that.

During the course of this pandemic this government has acted in concert with Australians and with other state and territory governments to do one important thing, and that is to put Australians back in work. Today there are 13.1 million Australians who are in jobs. Before the pandemic, there were 13 million. The Cassandras and the Chicken Littles over there have on numerous occasions said that people were literally going to go off cliffs. That is a direct quote from the Leader of the Opposition. But the alternative—

Mr Albanese interjecting—

He asks. He said on 19 June:

The truth is, today is exactly 100 days until JobKeeper stops and people literally will fall off a cliff.

That's his exact quote. That's the hubris and exaggeration of the Leader of the Opposition. If there's a person who cannot be believed in this place it is the Leader of the Opposition, whose economic credibility is in complete and utter tatters. (Time expired)

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