Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that Australia has plunged into the worst recession in almost a century?

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

This is a devastating day for Australia. The COVID-19 global recession and pandemic that has impacted the world has impacted Australia. Australians know that's the case. Australians knew many, many months ago that this day would come, and this day has come. As the pandemic continues to have its impact—not just here but all around the world—there will be further difficult days ahead. That is why the government acted with the most unprecedented act of intervention to support Australians in their time of need. As harsh, severe and heavy as this blow today is on Australia, we know that as a government we have acted to seek to cushion the blow as much as we possibly can. That has been done at a great cost and a price worth paying for the peace of mind, the assurance and the confidence of Australians so that, despite these heavy times, they know that the government has stood up and been there not just for today but for the future as well.

Australia will recover and Australia will grow again. The jobs will come back and they will support the lives and livelihoods of Australians, as they have in the past. Our plan for that to occur is to build on the resilience, strength and enterprise of the Australian people and to build on the businesses they run, the jobs they have in those businesses and the efforts they will put in—whether it is the skills that they need or the infrastructure they need, whether it is being able to keep more of what they earn and have the hard-earned reward for their effort—to ensure they can have available to them in their own lives and in their businesses what they need to invest in their future, to ensure that our federation works better and to ensure the many projects that are necessary, whether on water, on energy or on transport, will continue to be rolled out. Almost $10 billion of infrastructure has been brought forward just for the purpose of supporting those jobs. The energy costs that must come down and have been coming down, more importantly, will support affordable and reliable energy into the future to drive those businesses into the future.

This is the JobMaker plan the government has been rolling out and will continue to roll out and that Australians can rely on. They know that when Australia is under economic threat the wise and experienced hands of economic management matter, and that is what the Australian people know of this government. But today, for them, it is a heavy day and we stand— (Time expired)

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on how the COVID-19 recession confirmed by today's national accounts is impacting Australian workers and businesses and on how the Morrison government's JobMaker plan is working to cushion this terrible impact and provide the pathway to recovery?

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

As I have just said, this is a devastating day for Australia. The Australian economy has been savaged by the COVID-19 global pandemic and recession. It is delivering an awful and heartbreaking blow to Australians and their families all around the country. Australians know why we are in a COVID-19 recession, and they also knew, as the government has known, that this day would come. The government has acted to protect lives and livelihoods promptly, long before the numbers presented today, to suppress the virus and to cushion the heavy economic blow. More than a million Australians are out of work, but, as Treasury advises, without the actions taken by the government that number could be 700,000 more. We also know that we have avoided the even more severe impacts that we've seen in other places. But that is no comfort to the Australians who are dealing with a heavy blow today. It is no comfort to them that Australia, because of how we have responded, has been able to cushion the blow. The blow is still great.

As we have acted in this way, I know that that impact is still bitter and it is still real, and so we will continue to work, not just on cushioning that blow but on the road back and on the road beyond, to open up Australia, to ensure that we are not that dislocated nation. A dislocated nation is not success. That is a continued resignation to the virus. Australia will not resign to this virus, and our economy will not resign to this virus. What we will do is continue to believe in Australians and their resilience and their enterprise. We will make it easier for businesses to employ and to invest and to get Australians back into jobs, as the businesses of Australia lead the recovery, bringing the workers of Australia together with them as we go forward. Because of their effort, our government will ensure that they get the rewards of their effort. They will keep more of what they earn, and they can rest assured in the essential services that we will guarantee so they can rely on them. We will continue to be stronger and safer and together.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. One million Australians are unemployed, another 400,000 will be out of work by Christmas and Australia is in the worst recession in almost a century. Isn't this the worst time for the Prime Minister to be cutting JobKeeper, cutting JobSeeker and cutting the wages of some of the poorest workers in this country?

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

Because of the economic plan the government will continue to implement, in partnership with the states and territories, I look forward to the day when our economy will not need JobKeeper. I look forward to the day when we will not need the extraordinary supports that our government have provided. But we did not hesitate to provide them.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

I note the jeers and the laughter of those opposite, on the most devastating day for Australia we have seen in our economy, and I note the politicking of those opposite on this day. The only people who seem to be in a pleasant state of mind today are the opposition.

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—

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

The member for Gorton is warned!

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

On such a devastating day, our government will continue to focus on the plan and the response that we have provided, in a measured and carefully architected way. That plan has been working. More than 700,000 Australians would have been added to the number that the Leader of the Opposition refers to. Our plans will continue to deliver on these urgent tasks. But JobKeeper has been extended, it has been expanded and it will continue to be provided. JobKeeper must be transitioned. I refer to the words of the Leader of the Opposition himself. He said:

We obviously do need to shift away. The mechanisms won't be in place forever …

He also said:

But with JobKeeper, the fact is it needs a transition.

These are the each-way bets of the Leader of the Opposition. He says JobKeeper should be extended but it should be transitioned. He says it should be higher and he says it should be lower. What the Australian people know is that, with his each-way bet plan, the Leader of the Opposition is no-one that you can trust in a crisis. He is not someone who can be relied upon. Despite his many years in this place, where he considers himself the prince of the parliament, he has spent more time taking points of order than he has spent sat in a budget Expenditure Review Committee.