Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with my colleague Senator Eggleston to support and endorse the motion before the Senate. It was only last week that the final report card, if you like, on the Howard government was handed down in the national accounts for the December quarter. It showed quite clearly that the economy continued to grow at record levels above the OECD countries, growing at 3.9 per cent a year. It showed that the economy maintained its strength, its resilience and its flexibility, that it had entered the 17th consecutive year of uninterrupted growth and that unemployment rates were at 35-year lows. Moreover, the investment boom was continuing. Businesses were investing in future capacity. The national accounts said that new private business investment grew by 0.6 per cent in the December quarter to be 11 per cent through the year. Profits remained strong. Pressures on wage breakouts were contained; nevertheless wages increased. Consumer confidence maintained its high levels even in the face of several interest rate rises.

That is the final report on the Howard government handed down in the national accounts. A strong, resilient economy was handed over to the new government. Let us have a look at the first report handed in on the Rudd government. It happens to be quite starkly on the front page of the Financial Review today. It is all centred around market expectations and market confidence. Its headline says ‘Consumer confidence slumps’. From December last year to now, we have had a slump in consumer confidence. It is worth while to read passages. Senator Sherry, you may want to hear this if you have not already read the front page of the Financial Review—the first report card on the Rudd government—as you slink out of the chamber, not wanting to hear the economic facts.