Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on the latest job figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today? How is the coalition's economic plan helping to drive more and better-paid jobs for Australians, including in my electorate of Bonner?

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

I thank the member for Bonner for his question. He is proud to be part of a government that has now, with today's January figures, overseen the longest run in consecutive jobs growth in recorded Australian economic history—some 40 years. That is 492,000 jobs created in those 16 consecutive months of jobs growth. It's part of the 971,500 jobs that have been created from the day this government got elected back in 2013. Over 403,000 jobs were created in the last 12 months—again, over 1,100 jobs created every single day, on average. The member for Bonner will be particularly interested to know that 118,000 of those jobs were in Queensland, which had the highest rate of through-the-year growth—five per cent growth in jobs—and 73 per cent of those jobs were full-time. And on female labour force participation: I know that the Minister for Women will be thrilled to know, and as an economic minister as well, that it is at record highs.

But there's more to do. We know that there's more to do, and we know that by lowering taxes we enable businesses to grow, to create more jobs and pay their workers more. We know that if they've got to pay the government more they can't pay their workers more. Labor used to believe this. It was Julia Gillard who said, as I reminded the House yesterday, that if you cut company taxes it will increase wages.

Labor continues to stand in the way of Australian workers and a pay rise by opposing our tax policies. We know who we are when it comes to economic policy. We know what we're about. We're sticking to our plan, because we know it is creating the jobs and growth that we promised Australians at the last election when they gave an endorsement for our national economic plan. But Labor have lost their way. They've lost their economic compass. They have no clue how to create jobs in this economy, or any economy, and none more starkly than the shadow Treasurer, who used to write about how he supported company taxes, and then he derided them as trickle-down economics. Then yesterday he trickled up again, and he's supportive of company taxes—just not now.

We also learnt yesterday of the shadow Treasurer's keen interest in videos. Perhaps a video he's familiar with is the film Zoolander, in which Derek Zoolander looks into that puddle and says, 'Who am I?' 'I don't know', Zoolander answers himself, 'I guess I have a lot of things to ponder.' The Australian people can't afford the shadow Treasurer's Zoolander economics and the wibble-wobbling he'd put on economic policy in this country.

Ms Butler interjecting—

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

The member for Griffith will cease interjecting.