Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question goes to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on the recent positive economic results and how this government has strengthened our economy over the last 12 months?

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

I thank the member for Wright for his question. Mr Speaker, this government is all about jobs and growth. Under this government they are getting more of that—more of jobs and growth. Over the last 12 months, as the national accounts demonstrated, there has been more growth—3.3 per cent through the year growth, up from two per cent the year before. This is one of the strongest rates of economic growth in the advanced world today. It is double that of Canada; double that of the United States. Our growth rate is the envy of the advanced economy world. It is important that we never take that growth for granted. It is not just the growth—it is not just the growth that we stand for—but it is the jobs. Some 200,000 additional jobs have been created over the last year and some half a million have been created since this government was elected to office in 2013.

This side of the House not only has a plan for jobs and growth which those opposite do not have—which is why they were rejected at the last election—but we also have a record of jobs and growth through the figures and the statistics that have been released over the course of the last week. It is not just that. As the Prime Minister said, exports have grown by 9.6 per cent. That is the strongest result since the Olympics—not Rio, not London, not Beijing, but Sydney—since the Sydney Olympics in 2000. That is also a stunning result in terms of the export performance by this government and the arrangements we have put in place to drive and support trade and exports right around the world. On top of that we have seen the diversification in how our industries are performing, as we move through this transition of the economy. As we transition the economy, it requires the safe and strong hand of careful economic management which enables this transition to continue to take place. We have seen services exports increased by six per cent, but mining volume and exports are up by 15 per cent.

So the growth continues to come, the jobs continue to come, but you cannot be complacent about it. That is why in this chamber we introduced legislation to ensure that businesses, particularly small businesses, with a turnover of less than $10 million will be able to access the instant asset write-off, they will be able to access depreciation pooling provisions and they will be able to access a lower rate of corporate tax. That is for one reason: so they can reinvest the earnings back into their business. To do what? To drive more jobs and to drive more growth. Over the past year, under this government—under the Turnbull government—we have stood for jobs and growth, we have delivered more jobs and growth and, over the next few years, we will continue to deliver jobs and growth.