Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. What do today's national accounts tell us about the economy and the Albanese Labor government's approach in the budget? What are the alternatives?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge and thank the member for Reid for her work to ensure that everyone, every taxpayer in her electorate, gets a tax cut on 1 July and every household gets energy bill relief as well.

Today's national accounts did confirm that growth in our economy was flat in the first three months of the year. It barely grew in the March quarter—just 0.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent through the year—but any growth in these circumstances is welcome. Over the past year around three-quarters of OECD economies have recorded a negative quarter, but Australia hasn't. The numbers came in broadly as the market expected, perhaps a little bit weaker. Certainly, we were expecting very soft conditions at the start of the year, and that's what we see in these numbers.

As I said before, there's lots of commentary about the budget settings. Some of it's objective, some of it's partisan, some of it's right and some of it is now clearly and embarrassingly wrong. Today's numbers make it really clear that to slash and burn, as those opposite and others called for, would have been diabolical in these circumstances. These national accounts show we got the budget settings right. They justify our approach to fighting inflation and repairing the budget without smashing the economy when growth was already soft and the people were already under pressure. They completely vindicate our strategy to repair the budget and to provide cost-of-living help at the same time.

The RBA Governor made it clear today that our two surpluses are already helping in the fight against inflation. At the same time we're supporting people with tax cuts and energy bill rebates and cheaper medicine. We're helping with rent and student debt as well. And the consumption numbers back in this approach. Household consumption was soft, growing by 0.4 per cent in the quarter and below its decade average for five quarters now. There was a big focus on essential spending at the household level growing faster than discretionary spending, which barely grew in annual terms. Household disposable income was up 1.1 per cent in the quarter and 5.2 per cent through the year, and there are more wage rises coming because of the excellent decision taken by the Fair Work Commission.

There are no shortages of challenges laid bare in the national accounts, but, more than just acknowledging them, we are acting on them, we are anticipating them, we are responding to them in the budget that was handed down not that long ago. And we still have advantages: moderating inflation, real wages growth, low unemployment and stronger public finances. Our responsible and methodical and measured approach to the budget is keeping pressure off inflation without crunching the economy. Today's data confirms that that responsible fiscal strategy is exactly right for this combination of challenges that we confront together in our economy.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. The latest national accounts showed that, compared to before the election, real disposable income has fallen by 7.8 per cent, productivity has fallen by 5.2 per cent, personal income taxes are 20 per cent higher and interest on mortgage repayments has almost tripled. Why are Australians paying the price for the Albanese Labor government's incompetence and mismanagement?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Some questions even the shadow Treasurer won't ask, and he's thrown this one up the back for very good reason! If they want to ask us about productivity, perhaps they could mention that their decade in office was the weakest for productivity growth in the 60 years that productivity growth data has been kept. If they want to ask about disposable incomes perhaps they could mention in passing at least that when we came to office real wages were falling by 3.4 per cent and now they're growing again. Now real wages are growing again. Perhaps somebody could explain to the honourable member up the back, with his unfortunate timing in his question about the tax take, that the tax take went down again in the national accounts this quarter and it went down in the quarter before as well.

They may have traded up when it came to the questioner, but the question is still incredibly, incredibly poor, and what it betrays is a total lack of understanding of the economy. You've got the shadow Treasurer wandering around saying there's $315 billion dollars too much spending in the budget, when that number includes indexation of the age pension, indexation of veterans' pension and it also includes our efforts to strengthen Medicare after a decade of attacking Medicare.

If they want to ask these questions about the economy, at least be upfront about the shameful record that you left behind when the member for Hume was the most embarrassing part of the most embarrassing government since Federation, and they delivered us inflation which is higher than now—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs will cease interjecting immediately, and so will the member for Herbert, so I can hear from the member for Hume on a point of order.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Relevance. The Treasurer wants to talk about his budget but all he wants to talk about is history.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat.

The Minister for Climate Change and Energy will cease interjecting. We'll hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In terms of direct relevance, the question specifically said: what are the alternatives? If the shadow Treasurer believes he's not an alternative, that's a matter for him.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for McEwen will cease interjecting.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The same guy who can't get two questions in a row on national accounts today wants to talk about relevance. I was asked a moment ago about productivity. I pointed to the fact that we want productivity growth to be stronger, but the weakest 10 years was the time that they were in office. I was asked about living standards, and I pointed out real wages are growing again, and they were falling under those opposite. I was asked by the shadow Treasurer in his scripted intervention a moment ago to talk about the budget.

I'd love to talk more about the budget in this place because we have delivered a cumulative improvement of $215 billion from the big Liberal deficits that we were left. We've turned two of them into Labor surpluses. And next year's big Liberal deficit we turned into a smaller deficit. So our record is there for all to see when it comes to our improvements to the budget—the fact that inflation is almost half of what we inherited, the fact that real wages are growing again, the fact that over two out of the last three quarters we've seen productivity growth go up. But it will take longer than that to turn around the record that we were left with.

The shadow Treasurer has the MPI shortly—ten minutes looking at himself in the camera like a budgie looking in the mirror, but without the insight. (Time expired)

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Petrie, on a point of order.

Government members interjecting—

Order! Members on my right. The member for Hawke will cease interjecting. The member for Cunningham will cease interjecting. Order! Member's on my right, there is far too much noise. If this persists, there will be a general warning issued and no-one will be given a second chance today. The member for Petrie is entitled to raise a point of order, and I'm looking forward to hearing it.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Standing order 90, reflecting on members. Two things. Firstly, the Treasurer is a serial offender reflecting on the shadow Treasurer. Secondly, the Leader of the House's intervention. Yesterday you threw two of our frontbench out for taking a point of order and then reflecting on a member. This guy gets up, takes a point of order and then—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resume your seat.

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! Order! The member for Lyons will cease interjecting.

The member for McEwen is warned. Don't interject—trust me—while we're trying to deal with matters before the House. The member for Petrie is entitled to raise a point of order. We are trying to raise the standards, as we began to do last week with the Manager of Opposition Business on 30 May, about undignified personal attacks. So it goes to both sides of the chamber. The thing that the Treasurer said wasn't reflecting on an individual, so I'm going to remind all members that—in their questions and in their answers—the reason why people were removed yesterday was that they were abusing the standing orders to simply get up and make a statement. Out of respect for the member for Petrie, he was able to do that, but it's not a time to just get up and say how you feel or what you think. Okay? That's across the chamber. Members are entitled to raise a point of order, as the member for Hume did. I'm just going to move to the next question.