Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm to the House that there have now been 55 consecutive monthly trade deficits, the most ever recorded? Prime Minister, why is the trade account still in the red despite the resources boom? When does the government believe Australia will next achieve a trade surplus?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the first part of the question is yes. The answer to the second part of the question is the historic structure of the Australian economy and the fact that we are now going through an unbroken period of economic growth and expansion. When you have economic growth and expansion, you drag in a lot of imports. The idea that you measure the performance of the Australian economy just by that particular yardstick is very ill-informed.

I can also confirm that we have the lowest unemployment in 30 years. I can also confirm for the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition that, against an OECD average of net government debt of about 47 per cent, ours sits at zero—despite the inheritance from the person whose policy foundations he so lavishly praised at his inaugural press conference. I can also confirm to the Leader of the Opposition that this country is experiencing the 16th consecutive year of economic expansion. Given the historic structure of the economy, it is not surprising that the factors that he drew attention to should be occurring.

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer. Would the Treasurer outline to the House recent data on the Australian economy? What does this indicate about the need for ongoing strong and stable economic management?

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

I thank the honourable member for Stirling for his question. ANZ job advertisement figures released today showed that job advertisements were down in the month and that the number of advertisements was 5.5 per cent lower than at the same time last year. This should not surprise, because we have seen exceptional job creation through the course of this year. Over the course of the last 12 months we have seen 245,600 new jobs created in Australia, so to see something of a pause would not be a surprise at all.

Building approvals data was also released today. Although the data showed that approvals were down in the month of October, it was coming off a strong rise in September. Building approvals are now around 1.8 per cent lower than at the same time last year. This probably illustrates that, after some years of a pause in the housing market, there are tentative signs that housing is beginning to pick up again but not in any unsustainable way. I think most people who look at the economy will see both of these indicators as something of a pause in the strong economic growth we have had for several years. We are also seeing considerable differentiation between the states. Job advertisements were up in Queensland and Western Australia, but there were substantial falls in New South Wales and Victoria, down 4.1 per cent in New South Wales and 5.1 per cent in Victoria. So we are seeing quite an element of differentiation between different parts of Australia.

All of this shows that economic management in the year ahead will be challenging, as it always is. The Australian economy is expected to reach $1 trillion in the current financial year—this is a $1 trillion economy, and it takes careful management. And that is what this government does. It engages in strong and careful management of the economy—the kind of management that people need when they are risking their livelihoods and their homes.

I will miss the member for Lilley as the spokesman on economic matters for the opposition, as a consequence of today’s announcement. I certainly look forward to the member for Lalor becoming the shadow Treasurer. I look forward very much to exchanges with her at the dispatch box in the way that I have had them with her six predecessors since 1996. I would just recommend to her that when —

Gavan O'Connor (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You wouldn’t ever put yourself in a position to take on a leadership ballot!

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

A voice from the grave—the member for Corio! And long may he stay on the front bench. He has every support from this side of the parliament, right through to the time of the next election.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You never had the guts to take on a leadership ballot.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Melbourne is warned.

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

I would recommend that the member for Lalor go carefully in relation to economic management. This is a delicate business, and it takes some considerable skill to manage a $1 trillion economy.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister agree with comments by former Governor of the Reserve Bank, Ian Macfarlane, made in the Boyer lectures, that a lasting legacy of the economic management in the early 1990s was that ‘Australia had an inflation rate that was in line with world’s best practice; we had returned to being a low-inflation country’? Prime Minister, hasn’t the government’s failure to address skills shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks resulted in core inflation now rising above world’s best practice, with real implications for the cost of living for Australia’s working families?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No.