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

I thank Senator Sinodinos for his question and congratulate him on his recent—very recent—appointment as shadow parliamentary secretary assisting the Leader of the Opposition. I trust that he will bring his expertise on matters fiscal to that role.

In terms of the question about comparisons of unemployment rates, the answer is we are an advanced economy. We are not a developing economy or a newly emerging economy so, in terms of where we are in the stages of economic development of nations around the world, a more accurate comparison is to similar types of economies. Having said that, I would acknowledge this point: we do have a low unemployment rate by comparison at the moment—5.1 per cent, which is substantially less than that in the United States and, obviously, in Europe. Of course it is the case that you cannot simply look at the jobs created to date. You have to look at what are the circumstances that enable job creation and prosperity into the future. That is why the government is so focused on making the investments that Australians believe are important for Australia to succeed in the decades ahead; in particular, the investment needed to lift the educational standards here in this country. I know Senator Sinodinos is one of the few on that side who actually has an international mindset; I think that was the phrase he used in his first speech. I agree with that, and I think he would understand that we do have to ensure that, beyond the resources boom in the decades ahead, we are capable as a nation of making sure we can tap into the emerging and very fast-growing markets for services and other exports in our region. (Time expired)