Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How do Australia’s employment numbers compare with jobs data in other advanced economies?

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

I thank the member for Ballarat for her question because, for those of us on this side of the House, support for employment goes to the very core of our belief system and it goes to the very core of the government’s economic stimulus, which is supporting jobs and which is supporting small business. It keeps customers going through the door, and it is supporting employment through this global recession.

That is why it was so stunning, just before question time, to watch the shadow Treasurer in his press conference, because the shadow Treasurer indicated that the principal aim of the opposition’s economic policy was not to support employment in the middle of a global recession. Of course, you can see it through all the questions asked in the House here today, nitpicking away at the edges of a program that goes to the core of supporting employment in Australia and supporting small business. The employment and unemployment figures today are quite important but obviously irrelevant to those on that side of the House. The shadow Treasurer does not think it is the principal aim of economic policy to stop the destruction that occurs in families when people lose their jobs—and the demand that is reduced, which destroys small business. That is no longer an objective of those who sit opposite. It goes into a long line of clangers dropped by the shadow Treasurer in and out of the House in recent days.

In terms of the figures today, there is an unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent where employment fell by 27,000 people. But the fact is there are still 663,000 unemployed Australians. This government will move heaven and earth in a responsible way to support employment. For those on the other side of the House, this is just about playing politics. We have seen a rolled gold example of that today where, because the unemployment rate did not go up, the Leader of the Opposition did not go out. He did not go out to do the press conference. He only ever goes out when the unemployment figure goes up, because the only job he is concerned about is his. He is not concerned about the employment of the Australian people. Had he been concerned about the employment of the Australian people he would have voted for the economic stimulus measures in this House.

It pays to go through the list. In February unemployment went up 0.4 per cent and there was a Turnbull doorstop. In March, unemployment went up by 0.4 per cent and there was a Turnbull doorstop. In April unemployment went down and there was no Turnbull doorstop. In May unemployment went up and there was a Turnbull doorstop. In June unemployment went up and there was a Turnbull doorstop.

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

Order! The Treasurer will refer to members by their parliamentary titles.

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

July: there was no change in unemployment and no Leader of the Opposition doorstop.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

That is right, no leadership. There was no leadership today because the shadow Treasurer was again sent out. But what did he do? He went out and gave a press conference saying, ‘Unemployment was not the principal objective of the opposition’s economic policy.’ That is all very clear. It is very clear that the only jobs they care about are theirs. They do not care about the jobs of the Australian people and they do not care about the businesses in Australia that depend upon having employed workers walking through the door.

We did see the other clanger, which the Prime Minister referred to before. It was a classic. On Sky, yesterday afternoon with David Spears he advanced his left-wing conspiracy theory about the behaviour of the G20. The reason the G20 is supporting coordinated global action is that they are all dominated by the centre-left. All of these countries sitting around the table are dominated by the centre-left. When the Prime Minister and I go to the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks time, we will look forward to the European caucus at the G20 with Merkel, Sarkozy and Berlusconi all sitting around singing the Internationale and all getting carried away with the occasion. This shadow Treasurer will go to any lengths to distort any fact to misrepresent anything in the economy because the only job he cares about is his.