House debates
Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Questions without Notice
Economy
2:16 pm
Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer confirm that, since the election, the government has downgraded its own forecasts for growth, the IMF and OECD have downgraded Australia's growth forecasts more than those of other advanced economies, and the Reserve Bank has downgraded its forecast for growth three times? Why has the government refused to provide support to an economy that was already floundering even before the bushfires and coronavirus hit?
Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I can confirm to the House that the International Monetary Fund has the Australian economy growing faster this year than the economies of the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The honourable member—
Tony Smith
Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
They like to talk down the economy. They like to talk down Australia.
Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
It's a very good point. The honourable member asked about the support that we were giving to the Australian economy. I can confirm that, in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, which was released just prior to Christmas, we announced the bringing forward of $4.2 billion in funding and spending on infrastructure. And we announced more than half a billion dollars extra for aged care. And, since the election, we've announced about $1.3 billion of commitments over and above what had previously been announced in relation to responding to the drought.
Those on this side of the House know that we announced a $2 billion national bushfire recovery fund, which was on top of the payments and allowances which we provide from the Commonwealth through the states. That $2 billion was announced without increasing taxes. And I remind the House that today unemployment is at 5.1 per cent. When we came to government, unemployment was at 5.7 per cent. I remind the House that employment growth today is at 2.1 per cent—around three times what it was under the Labor Party and around twice the OECD average. I refer to the real minimum wage. It has gone up every year under the coalition, whereas, under the Labor Party, it went down in three out of their six years in office. The Labor Party are in favour of higher taxes, they're in favour of fewer jobs and they're in favour of stronger unions. What we on this side of the House are in favour of is more jobs, lower taxes and a stronger Australian economy.