James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity provided by the Leader of the Opposition to talk about the priorities of this government and the decisions it has made in the interests of the people of Australia. Yesterday, a momentous decision was made by the National Security Committee of Cabinet to dramatically reopen the categories of and exemptions for people entering our country—to reopen our international border—effectively saying that people who have the proper vaccination status and of course the proper visa status will be able to enter our country. I'm particularly excited about the international tourists, who will now be able to return to our country and start spending money in our economy.

It's been a difficult two years, I know, for businesses in my own electorate that rely on international tourism. I'm lucky enough to have Penfolds Magill Estate in the centre, at the heart, of my electorate, and they are a significant attraction for overseas tourists. I know that particularly northern Queensland and other areas that rely on international tourists have had it very tough over the last two years, so it's great to see our government taking the first opportunity, when health and other advice says it's safe to do so, to reopen our border.

This is an example of a very significant decision that this Morrison government has taken in the interests of the people of Australia. It was, of course, just as significant to close the international border. To have closed our international border in that way has never happened in my lifetime and nor probably in the lifetime of anybody in this parliament. It was necessary. It was important. It has kept us safe. But it was just as important that we took the opportunity yesterday to reverse that decision, apart from the vaccination restrictions that remain sensibly in place.

The decision is very important to our export businesses. I know my former employer Michell Wool was significantly impacted by people being curtailed from meeting with customers and their supply chains around the world. It's a business that exports to 42 countries around the world. Obviously, people being able to travel and engage with their customers and their suppliers, and having people come to this country and do the same, is very important for international commerce. We are an exporting nation. Export income makes an enormous contribution to our income as a nation. We've got tens of thousands of businesses that export, so the border changes are an excellent outcome for those exporting businesses.

It was a few weeks ago now that I had to keep refreshing my computer screen when the ABS published the unemployment statistics particularly for my home state of South Australia. It said that our unemployment rate was 3.9 per cent. I thought, 'This can't be right.' I was pleasantly surprised that it was the case. I downloaded the historical data and thought, 'God, has it ever been this low before?' The answer is no, never. Since records began in 1978, the unemployment rate in South Australia has never been as low as 3.9 per cent. Of course, our national unemployment rate has a four in front of it. The Reserve Bank governor is saying it's going to have a three in front of it soon. It has already got a three in front of it in South Australia. No-one could ever claim that the federal government's policy settings do not directly contribute to excellent economic statistics like that.

In many ways, unemployment is the most important economic indicator, because it's so vital to the livelihoods of everyone to have a job, to be able to provide for themselves and their families and to have that economic security for the future, so to have these record-low unemployment statistics in this country goes to show that we're making decisions as a government that are paying very significant economic dividends for all the people of Australia.

It's been a tough two years—there's no doubt about that. We've had to make decisions on the health side that have had economic impacts, and we've equally made decisions on the economic side to mitigate those impacts. The economic data—not just unemployment but other statistics as well—show the benefit of those decisions. I have a confidence that we're on the other side of the worst health challenges of the pandemic, particularly the recent omicron surge that has been prevalent in my home state of South Australia, which until recently had escaped major outbreaks, and other states like Queensland and Tasmania as well. We're on the other side of these challenges, I hope, but most importantly we've got a government that knows how to make health decisions and the economic decisions to match them that not only keep us safe but also keep us economically strong and resilient.

I commend the decisions that we've made as a government, and I appreciate the opportunity provided through this matter of public importance proposed by the Leader of the Opposition to comprehensively point out just how safe and secure the Morrison government is keeping the people of Australia.

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