Kym Richardson (Kingston, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Treasurer, who is part of the best team ever. Would the Treasurer inform the House of the results of today’s consumer sentiment survey? What does this indicate about the state of the Australian economy, and how does this compare to other economies?

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

I thank the honourable member for Kingston for his question—the best member for Kingston Australia has ever had. In the years to come I hope that he will continue to give the people of Kingston the first-class representation that they all deserve. This morning the Westpac Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey rose by 4.2 per cent for the month of September. This comes after a fall in August on the back of movements in monetary policy. But today the recovery in that sentiment index takes sentiment to a very high level, up 14.3 per cent over the last year. This is a very strong result, and it shows that consumers are confident in Australia with consumer sentiment above the long-term average. One thing that is driving strong consumer sentiment in Australia is jobs. This is the lowest rate of unemployment we have seen in Australia for a generation. It illustrates that good strong economic policy gives people an opportunity in life. That is why it is important that good strong economic policy continue. Also, business profitability is strong, investment is strong and the Australian economy continues to grow.

I want to make the point that the government is now in the process of investing for Australia’s future. We have our Future Fund, which is investing for the long-term ageing of the population; we have the Higher Education Endowment Fund, which is going to build first-class facilities in first-class institutions; we have the health and medical infrastructure fund, which is going to bring to Australia cutting edge technology and facilities; and we have the largest investment in road and rail under AusLink that we have ever had in Australian history. We are now beginning to save for the future. It was different under Labor. Under Labor all we did was drive future generations into debt—a form of financial child abuse where you run up debts against future generations that future generations have to service.

Let me complete my answer by referring to a report by the Comptroller General of the United States of America. He said:

America is on a path toward an explosion of debt and that debt threatens our country, our children’s and our grandchildren’s futures.

He said:

Other countries with similar challenges have already acted. The best two examples are Australia and New Zealand. Like the United States, they have ageing population. Unlike the United States, these two countries have stepped up to the plate and dealt with some of their serious long-term challenges.

That is the Comptroller General of the United States of America commenting on Australia. We are stepping up to the plate, we are dealing with our problems and we are investing for generations of future Australians.