Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

There have been 620,000 jobs created under this government's term in office. Unemployment today is at 3.7 per cent; it was 3.9 per cent when we came to office 18 months ago. The reason I run through these comparisons—and they are factual comparisons, not opinions—is that it shows that the Leader of the Opposition's nasty negativity is no substitute for economic credibility. And we know that because of the wasted decade of division and disappointment and failure on the economy that we saw from those opposite. We are working for Australia, and we are making some progress. More Australians are working. They're earning better wages. We're rolling out cost-of-living help, the budget is in better nick and we're investing in the future as well.

I say to the shadow Treasurer who is interjecting: we will start to take the shadow Treasurer seriously when his tactics committee take them seriously and actually gives him a question—

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