Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

In the time remaining I want to thank everybody who has participated in CID for their questions—particularly the members for Ryan, Wentworth and Goldstein but of course all members who have contributed. In essence, a number of the questions asked focused on to what extent we were focused on our private sector led economy and recovery. Clearly, the data we saw on Friday, with an unemployment rate of 5.1 per cent, vindicate the decisions taken by this government.

I know figures like 5.1 per cent unemployment are not good for the opposition because it vindicates the decisions taken by the government. But it shows that backing the private sector, whether it's through measures such as instant asset write-off, tax loss carryback, lower tax rates for small businesses, helping them with their workforces with the apprenticeship wage subsidy or helping the residential construction industry with the HomeBuilder program, as we did in last year's pandemic response, have combined to ensure that Australian businesses can keep the foot on the economic accelerator. We have led the world with our economic response to COVID-19. It's vindicated those decisions. The decisions we've taken in the Finance portfolio with respect to what has been expansionary budget spending has ensured that not only those jobs are protected but also we have grown the economy. There are more Australians are jobs today than there were in March 2020. The unemployment rate is lower than when we inherited it from the Labor Party. The Labor Party have tried to draw an equivalence between the global financial crisis and the pandemic. The pandemic is 40 times worse economically. There is no equivalence that you can draw between the two. That's why we are right to continue with this strategy. We will continue to support a private sector that recovery of the Australian economy to ensure that we remain at the front of the pack.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Prime Minister and Cabinet

Proposed expenditure, $2,470,858,000

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