Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer please update the House on the latest employment figures and the action that the government is taking to grow our economy to support more and better paid jobs? Treasurer, are you aware of any alternative approaches?

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

I thank the member for Petrie for his question. The second part of his question was: am I aware of any alternative approaches to growing jobs in this country, apart from the ones being pursued by the government? The answer to that is no, because those opposite do not have a plan to create jobs. What they have is a plan for envy. What they have from this shifty Leader of the Opposition is a plan to deceive the Australian people. He was shifty as a union official, and he's been shifty as a Leader of the Opposition as well.

On this side of the House, we have a plan that we're implementing to create jobs in this country. And we're getting results. Some 240,000 jobs were created in the last financial year. That is the highest rate of jobs growth we've seen in a full financial year since before the global financial crisis. But today's data reveals the strongest six-month growth in full-time jobs in 40 years—the entire period in which the Labour Force Survey has been run—with 210,800 full-time jobs created in the past six months. That is a fact. That is not a slogan; it's a fact. During the same period, some 36,000 young people got jobs. In the most recent data, which came down today, the youth unemployment rate has also fallen, as indeed the overall unemployment rate has fallen to 5.6 per cent.

It is not just that. Over that last six months, we have seen more Australians joining the labour force, with the confidence to go out and get a job in this economy. More than 200,000 Australians have joined the Australian labour force in the last six months. Jobs growth through the year is now at two per cent. That is 10 times the rate that we inherited from the job thieves on the other side of the parliament. It is 10 times the rate of growth, and some 736,000 jobs have been created in the less than four years since we were first elected. Average earnings over the year are now more than $80,000. That means, with the tax cuts delivered by the Turnbull government, if you are on the average full-time earnings you are not on the second highest tax bracket. That is a result of the tax cuts delivered by the Turnbull government. The Turnbull government equals jobs. It is as simple and fair as that. It means more jobs for Australians, with some 200,000-plus full-time jobs created in the last six months. That's our record of action. (Time expired)