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

I thank the member for Fisher, who in a previous life was an apprentice carpenter and is somebody who understands the importance of apprenticeships. That's something that was backed in last night's budget. But, importantly for the member for Fisher, more than 63,000 taxpayers in his electorate got a tax cut last night and more than 7,000 businesses in his electorate will be able to access business tax incentives as a result of measures in last night's budget.

At the height of this pandemic, Australia was staring into the economic abyss. Treasury feared that unemployment could reach as high as 15 per cent and that GDP growth could fall by more than 20 per cent. The Morrison government responded with an unprecedented amount of economic support—now $291 billion—with programs like JobKeeper, which helped support 3.8 million Australians in a job; JobSeeker, which helped support 1½ million Australians who were out of work; and the cash flow boost, which supported 800,000 businesses and not-for-profits. As a result of those measures we have seen Australia become the first of the major advanced economies to have employment rise above the prepandemic levels with, today, 75,000 more Australians in work since the beginning of the pandemic.

In last night's budget, we announced further investment in skills, with $2.7 billion for more apprenticeships. We announced more money for the JobTrainer program so we can support 450,000 training places. We supported new measures to incentivise employers to take on the long-term unemployed. There's investment in foundational skills: maths, English and computer literacy. We announced in last night's budget $15 billion of new infrastructure spending to keep our 10-year pipeline going. And, of course, in last night's budget we announced significant tax relief which will support more than 10 million Australians, low- and middle-income earners, get up to $1,080 in their pocket as a result of measures supported on this side of the House. This side of the House believes in lower taxes, this side of the House believes in a stronger economy and this side of the House believes in creating more jobs. That's what last night's budget will deliver.

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