Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How is the government's strong economic leadership building a stronger economy? Will the Treasurer update the House on how Australia is transitioning from the mining boom to a more competitive economy?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Deakin for his question and his keen interest in these issues. He knows that Australians are realists, but they are also optimists. They are realistic about the global volatility that exists and about how our economy is transitioning post the mining boom, as we diversify this economy. They know their role in that process. We also know that they are very optimistic. They are optimistic because they know that they can deal with these challenges and they do know that they can succeed. They will not be cheated and they will not be intimidated out of the prosperity that they know that they can achieve in these circumstances. They have reason to be optimistic. The Reserve Bank Governor drew attention last week to the fact that, despite the strong headwinds that our economy has been confronting. we are growing and we are growing well. We are growing in the face of these strong headwinds—

Mr Conroy interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Charlton will cease interjecting.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and we are growing at a rate of twice that of similar economies like Canada and at a rate higher than the OECD. They know that we are optimistic because we are achieving 10 times the rate of job growth that was being achieved at the time of the last election in 2013. They know that we are confident because we can see—

Ms Plibersek interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Sydney.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the job ads figures, which came out today, show that we are up again in job advertisements. There are more opportunities being created in the job market today than there were at the time of the last election. We are seeing that confidence expressed in the various surveys of business conditions, business confidence and consumer confidence. The government is acting to back Australians to support jobs and growth in our economy. We are doing that through innovation—a statement will be brought down by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Innovation—and a $50 billion infrastructure plan is being rolled out around the country. There is greater choice through greater and more effective competition policy; then there are the trade agreements and, of course, our aspirations for a better tax system.

Australians are paying too high an economic price for our tax system, and we need a system that rewards effort and backs people being out there, working, saving and investing and removes impediments that are holding Australians back. We do not want a tax system that increases the tax burden on Australians. You do not need to increase the tax burden to deal with budget challenges that we as a country are facing. You do that by controlling expenditure and growing the economy. So we want a tax system that helps grow the economy by removing the impediments that are there. You do not want to engage in a tax-system discussion which is just about raising higher taxes to give a bucket of money to the states to spend, as they are already doing. What you want is a strong leadership that understands and identifies the problem, that works through the options and that works collaboratively with states and territories to ensure that we can get a model that deals with the challenges that the Australian economy is facing and Australians are facing—(Time expired)