Michael Ferguson (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. Would the Treasurer outline to the House the results of the July labour force survey?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Bass for his question. I can inform him that today’s labour force survey showed that unemployment has fallen further from 30-year record lows. It has fallen from 4.9 per cent in June to 4.8 per cent in July, a position that Australia has not been in for over 30 years. There was a solid rise in employment, with 50,700 new jobs in July—although, as the ABS indicates, some of that could have been generated by the training of temporary staff for the August 2006 census. This is to be added to the increase in jobs in both June and May, meaning that, over the last year, 219,000 jobs have been created in Australia—and, under this government, 1.9 million new jobs have been created. In addition to that, the participation rate rose to 65 per cent in July, which is a new record high. Putting those things together, the participation rate is higher than it has ever been before, yet unemployment is now at a 30-year low.

Can I also indicate to the House an interesting statistic. Since Work Choices was introduced in March, 159,000 new jobs have been created in Australia. The Labor Party predicted there would be mass sackings and that the world as we know it would end.

Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Beazley interjecting

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

‘What rubbish!’ he says. Unfortunately for the Leader of the Opposition, some of us have a memory that lasts longer than 24 hours. We remember all of the doom and gloom which the Leader of the Opposition forecast in relation to Work Choices. He was wrong about that. There is no evidence whatsoever that Work Choices has led to doom or gloom—in fact, quite to the contrary. I should mention for the benefit of the member for Bass that unemployment in the seat of Bass was 11.1 per cent when the Leader of the Opposition was the relevant minister. It is now 5.4 per cent—double as good as it was under the Labor Party—because of the economic reforms which this government has put in place.