Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stephens for her question. The Australian economy is in a strong position. We came through the global financial crisis in a much stronger position than almost any other advanced economy. We avoided recession, our economy is growing strongly—around 3.3 per cent over the past year—our unemployment rate has fallen and our public finances are amongst the strongest in the world.

But there are challenges that we face—challenges the nation faces; challenges this government faces—as we move to implement our reform agenda. First, the rising Australian dollar does reflect the strength of our economy, but we know that whilst the high dollar has a beneficial impact for consumers—for example, through cheaper imports—it does make life more difficult for sectors of our economy, such as manufacturing and tourism. On electricity prices, we know we need significant investment to replace our ageing network and to deliver energy security and certainty. A price on carbon will help to ensure that investment certainty.

The other threat to our economic growth is the breakdown of consensus around economic reform that we are seeing from the other side. We are seeing an opposition that, in the face of economic reform, only knows how to say no. This is a political party that no longer knows how to advocate reform; it only knows how to walk away from it. This government understands that economic reform can boost our economic growth, lift our participation rates and boost productivity, improving the standard of living of Australians, because that is of course what we want. We want a strong economy so we are able to enhance the living standards of Australians.