Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline to the House how the government is strengthening the Australian economy, what opportunities tomorrow's Intergenerational report will detail, and what that will mean for the constituents of Gilmore?

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

I thank the honourable member for Gilmore for her question. Gilmore is a great electorate on the South Coast of New South Wales. I spend my Christmas holidays there, actually, and it is a terrific part of the world. As the member for Gilmore knows, it is hugely important that we deal with the long-term challenges facing Australia but that we embrace the challenges and opportunities. The member for Gilmore is absolutely right: we inherited a bit of a mess from the Labor Party, predictably. We had rising unemployment and we had a deficit that was never going to be within its means, never going to go back to surplus. The debt kept going up and up, and, of course, there was no credibility on the Treasury benches, thanks to the great efforts of the member for Lilley, who is still here, and the member for McMahon.

Mr Swan interjecting—

Sorry, I can't hear you, buddy. In fact, no-one can! The good news is that we are turning the ship around and heading in the right direction. We have gotten our job growth up to three times higher than it was under Labor. We are getting the deficit under control, and we are putting in place a whole range of structural reforms and strengthening the Australian economy. Tomorrow's Intergenerational report, which is released by the government every five years, will clearly show that we have made significant progress in dealing with the mess that was left to us by Labor but that there is still much more work to be done. Perhaps even more importantly, the report illustrates the demographic change in Australia's future. It is exciting that there is, in all likelihood, a chance that by the middle of this century life expectancy will be around 100 for every Australian. As we live longer lives, we want to delay the ageing process. We want to keep working until we choose to retire, not until we are forced to retire. We want to be able to continue to contribute, having many careers along the way.

Madam Speaker, you may well be still here by the middle of the century, as Speaker, keeping the other mob in check! We believe Australians have many years in which to contribute in order to improve the quality of their lives. We have an obligation to make sure that our future is affordable and sustainable. Getting the budget back into good shape is part of the equation, but so also is embracing change, embracing new technology and using new technology not only to extend and improve our quality of life but also, importantly, to help create prosperity. We are looking forward with optimism, because Australia's days—Australia's best days—are going to be before us.