Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's good to see you in the chair, Mr Speaker. As people in my electorate often say to me, a strong economy is central to everything in government. It's central to a safer economy. It's not by accident that the Australian economy is going gangbusters at the moment, with unprecedented consecutive quarters of growth—some of the fastest growth rates of our bordering OECD nations. This growth is not happening by accident. Business conditions are at their highest level since the global financial crisis, and we've created 1.14 million jobs since coming to office. The Australian unemployment rate now currently starts with a five—5.3 per cent—the lowest rate since the peak of the mining boom. Just think about that for a moment. There are more jobs now than at the peak of the mining boom, which saw unprecedented prosperity in Australia—150 years of capital expenditure spent in that space. We are now matching it. Global growth is now at its fastest pace in six years.

All of this is a result of the government's economic work and the plan that we've put in place. Our plan is working. We can ensure that the benefits of a stronger economy and economic growth can continue to be secure and shared with all Australians. It is a plan that is providing tax relief to encourage and reward working Australians. What we're doing is backing business to invest in creating more jobs. We're leaving more money with businesses so that they can reinvest because, we believe, that business invests money better than we do as government. What they do is go and put more people on or they buy more infrastructure. They invest it, and the multiplier effect throughout the economy is far greater than when government makes those investments.

We're giving tax relief to low- and middle-income earners as a first priority of the government's seven-year plan to make personal income tax in Australia lower, fairer and simpler. In the first tranche, by the year 2024-2025, 94 per cent of all taxpayers will face a marginal tax rate of around 32 per cent. If we hadn't put that in place, 63 per cent of the public would have been paying a higher rate of tax. We're backing business. We're also backing business to invest and create more jobs by extending the $20,000 instant tax write-off. That has been such a multiplier and a stimulator for businesses to reinvest. We're investing $75 billion in transport and road infrastructure. These are mega projects. On the eastern seaboard of Australia, in the future, it's going to be difficult to find tier 1 operators that are going to be able to build large projects, because they are going to be flat out. This government is committed to $75 billion worth of infrastructure. We're building a stronger economy.