Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on the September quarter national accounts figures that were released this morning?

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

I thank the honourable member for McPherson for the question and recognise that the national accounts released today show the economy grew at 0.3 of one per cent in the September quarter. That is 2.7 per cent over the year. This is the first full year of the coalition. Compared year on year with Labor, our 2.7 per cent in the last 12 months compares with 1.9 per cent under Labor over the corresponding period. It was 1.9 per cent under Labor.

Opposition members interjecting —

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

Silence on my left.

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

So, whilst the September figures are weaker than market expectations, they are only marginally lower than what we were expecting as result of the transitions in the Australian economy.

Opposition members interjecting —

What is clearly happening is that the resources sector, whilst enjoying very high volumes and increasing production, is not getting the income levels that were expected. Commodity prices have come off very, very significantly.

Opposition members interjecting —

Iron ore and thermal coal—

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

The member for Hunter! There will be silence on my left.

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

If you do not want to show respect to me, show respect for the moment.

Opposition members interjecting—

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

The member for Rankin is warned! The Treasurer has the call and we will have silence for the answer. The member for Chifley will leave under 94(a).

The member for Chifley then left the chamber.

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

The fact is that at the moment the Australian economy is quite obviously going through the transition where the mining production phase is stepping into the place of the mining investment and construction phase. Export volumes have increased significantly, but prices have come down much faster than expected. And the answer is that we have got to continue with our economic action strategy to strengthen the Australian economy.

One of the best indicators of how important our reform agenda has been is the fact that we got rid of the carbon tax in the first two weeks of this quarter, and you can see what it meant for growth in the quarter; you can see how important it was to lower energy prices for everyday Australians but also to lower energy prices for Australian businesses, because the Australian dollar has been stubbornly high for too long and that has meant that we have not been able to cushion the impact of falling terms of trade in a way that we would have expected.

Having said all of that, moving forward we are absolutely determined to continue with our plan to build the infrastructure that needs to be built to make the Australian economy more productive and more successful. Ultimately, 2015 will be better than this year, and the years beyond that will be better again.