Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline to the House how the Morrison government is squarely focused on driving Australia's economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic to support jobs and businesses in electorates like my electorate of Lindsay? Is the Prime Minister aware of any alternative approaches?

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

We received the news today of the employment statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It was another terribly hard and difficult day for Australians all around the country. There have been many such days over the course of 2020. This is, sadly, for many Australians, proving to be one of the most difficult years in their lives ever. For some of them, it takes them back to terrible and awful memories of times from many generations ago. We have worked over these many months and Australians have come together. A terrible blow has befallen Australia because of the coronavirus and, indeed, the bushfires that preceded it and even the floods and, of course, the drought that preceded that. Australians have made great sacrifices. While Australia is in a position none of us would have hoped to have been in at this time, that position has significantly protected Australia from what otherwise might have been the case. Australians look around the world and they see the absolute horror show that has occurred: mass graves filled with the victims of the coronavirus, economies destroyed, deaths that have occurred that haven't even been recorded. Here in this country, there has been a response that I believe Australians can be proud of, and they can be proud of each other.

We have a long road ahead. Today's news is tough, and there are more tough days ahead of us. But I know the government has steeled itself to make the difficult and important decisions that are necessary to give Australians the support that they need to get through this crisis and to make our way back. This is a dark hour for Australia, but our government can see the brightness that is ahead. That is why we have seen a return in consumer confidence, a restoration of business confidence, and that is coming because they can see us opening up and they can see the successes that we've been having. They can see the product of their efforts and they can see the plan of a government that knows how to create jobs, knows how to restore budgets and knows how to guarantee the essential services that they will rely on by having pro-growth policies, whether it's in skills, industrial relations, infrastructure, deregulation or lower taxes. That's our plan. They know that's our plan and they can have confidence in that plan, and they can have confidence for their future, even in this dark hour. So I thank Australians for their sacrifice. I thank them for their determination. We will not let them down.

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.