Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on how many jobs have been created so far in 2014 and how are the government's policies helping to create jobs?

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

I thank the member for Robertson for that question. I know it is a hard to act to follow my good friend the member for New England, but I will give it my best shot because on this side of the parliament we are focussing on good economic policy and on the creation of jobs. That is why I am pleased that the Australian Taxation Office and a number of other government agencies are employing more than 600 people in Gosford. We are able to announce a new centre of excellence in Gosford on the Central Coast of New South Wales because we are absolutely committed to getting more jobs into more regional areas, as well as importantly helping to stimulate economic growth. The impressive fact is that in the first months of this year over 106,000 new jobs were created in Australia.

Opposition members: About time!

'About time,' they say, and now they are fighting over who said it—106,000.

An opposition member: How many part time?

I will tell you: 79,000 full-time jobs out of 106,000; 79,000 full-time jobs in the first four months of this year. Under Labor, 200,000 more Australians were unemployed in just six years. The unemployment rate had a four in front of it when Labor was elected and it is going up to 6¼ per cent as a result of the legacy of Labor. They do not care about jobs. They never cared about jobs. We are the party for job creation.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Rankin will desist.

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

We are the party for a prosperous economy—106,000 new jobs in just four months. Is there any apology from the Leader of the Opposition about his behaviour at the beginning of this year? He said:

How on earth can someone protest to be the worker’s best friend, the best friend of wage-earning, tax-paying employees in Australia, when 63,000-plus full-time jobs have gone since they came into power?

Well, 108,000 jobs have been created since we came into power, but we have lifted in the first four months of this year, as I said, in net terms, 106,000. The member for McMahon is looking down at his papers—and no wonder. He said:

The jobs lost at SPC, Holden, Toyota or Ford are not being replaced with other jobs being created across the economy because we see the figures in net terms.

There have been 106,000 net new jobs in just four months! That is our economic plan. That is our economic action strategy at work. I say to the Labor Party: get out of the way of our budget and there will be more jobs created.