Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to the government’s spending spree over the last three months alone: firstly, the $15 billion COAG agreement, which the Treasurer said would ‘create 133,000 jobs’; secondly, the $10 billion cash splash, which he said would create up to 75,000 jobs; thirdly, the $4.7 billion infrastructure package, which he said would create up to 32,000 jobs; and fourthly, the $42 billion spending package, which he said would support 90,000 jobs. Treasurer, where are these 330,000 jobs you say will be created and supported?

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Randall interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Canning is warned!

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. We have had a demonstration in this House today of how little the opposition understand about the state of the economy and how little they have to offer in terms of an alternative to cushion the Australian economy in the circumstances of a global recession.

Last October we put forward the Economic Security Strategy to support up to 75,000 jobs. We put it forward for a very good reason. And a few weeks ago we put in place the Nation Building and Jobs Plan to support up to 90,000 jobs over two years. This is a very important point that those opposite just do not seem to understand, so we are going to go through it very clearly. They have not done their homework, they do not understand the nature of the challenge, and the consequence is that they do not have a positive alternative for Australia. The other consequence is that they are now opposing a stimulus to the economy, which will support jobs for Australian workers, without putting up any alternative whatsoever. This package will support jobs for Australian workers.

The opposition somehow think that if we provide a tax bonus or if we provide support to a pensioner or a carer it has nothing to do with job creation. I would have thought it was Economics 101 that if we stimulate demand in the economy and that results in people having employment along the supply chain, as the Prime Minister was saying before—in stores, in service industries, in cafes, in the transport sector or even in the ports—then that is important. But the opposition do not think it is important. The great party of business, as they proclaim themselves to be, will not support any measures which support business. They will not support any of them. So what we get in the House is point-scoring. We get nothing but point-scoring because there is no positive alternative.

The two packages that we have put together—the Economic Security Strategy and the Nation Building and Jobs Plan—have been modelled by the Treasury, and those estimates are there.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: the government have been given five opportunities to say where any of these jobs have been created. If the Treasurer cannot answer the question—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sturt will resume his seat. That is not a point of order.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will take the opposition through the facts—the facts they try to distort, the facts they will not listen to and the facts they will not acknowledge. Fact No. 1: the Economic Security Strategy of last October was estimated to lift growth by between one-half of one per cent and one per cent and support up to 75,000 jobs.

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors, Tourism and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Ciobo interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Moncrieff is warned!

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fact No. 2: the Nation Building and Jobs Plan was estimated to lift growth by around one-half of one per cent in 2008-09 and by three-quarters of one per cent to one per cent in 2009-10 and to support up to 90,000 jobs. They are the facts; they are laid out for everybody to see. They are acknowledged by the business community. The Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group and ACCI all acknowledge this—but not the federal opposition. They are so far out of touch that they do not understand the importance of the fiscal stimulus or the investments that we will make on a temporary basis to support employment in the Australian economy. I will tell you why. It is because the Leader of the Opposition does not walk in the same shopping aisles as the average Australian.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order—and it does go to relevance: I asked the Treasurer to explain where the 330,000 jobs are.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the member for North Sydney that, in what was quite a lengthy preamble that went across a number of the government’s economic measures, on the basis of the way in which this House has worked, the Treasurer is being relevant to the whole question. The member for North Sydney knows that when he was in his previous position we had discussions about whether we should allow the amount of debate that we do allow in answers. The standing orders only indicate that in questions there should be no debate. Regrettably, it has been the past practice of this House that there has been a lot of debate. Again, I am in the hands of the House about whether we want to constrict those matters.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was making the point that the Liberal and National parties in this House are simply out of touch with the everyday lives of average Australians. The shadow Treasurer said only last week that Australians have never been richer. That is what he said only last week. Despite the fact that the stock market has halved in value in recent times, his view is that the champagne is still flowing. Of course, when you have the opposition led by a merchant banker and lawyer for merchant bankers, it is no wonder that they are so far out of touch.

This government is dedicated to supporting jobs and cushioning the Australian economy from the impact of the global recession, and we will do everything in our power to achieve that. It would be so much better for the nation if there was some agreement from the opposition in this House on this critical national interest question. The public is crying out for some unity on this question. We have the support of the business community. We have the backing of the IMF. We have the support of most market economists. Why don’t we get the support of the Liberal and National parties in this House? It is because they want to play a bit of point-scoring politics—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Mr Speaker, you did ask the Treasurer to conclude his answer and he is acting in defiance of you. Would you please ask him again?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar will resume her seat. Again I say in a self-critical way, regrettably I have not really defined ‘conclusion’ but I invite the Treasurer to conclude his answer.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So this government will not be diverted by the opposition from doing everything within its power to support jobs for Australians. We understand how important jobs are in this environment and those opposite do not. Only the Liberal Party could make the former ‘Minister for Job Insecurity’ their Treasury spokesman. Only the Liberal Party could do that.