Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

Another cheap stunt from those opposite. They have the opportunity to ask ministers at the table questions, and what are they reduced to? They do not want to ask a question in question time about the 71,500 new jobs created in this economy in February—the highest since July 2000. They do not want to ask about the growth of the economy in the December quarter of 3.1 per cent compared to the 10-year average of three per cent. They do not want to ask a question about the low unemployment rate of 5.4 per cent, well below the OECD average of eight per cent. They do not want to talk about the 900,000 jobs created since Labor came to office despite 28 million jobs lost worldwide. They do not want to ask a question about the inflation rate of 2.2 per cent, below the 10-year average of 2.8 per cent. They have a chance today to ask about the interest rate cash rate sitting at three per cent, lower than at any time during the Howard government—and that was the government that went to an election promising there will always be lower interest rates under a Liberal Party. The interest rates today are lower than at any time during the previous, Howard government.

We have the LaRouche economics faction down in the far corner: Senator Barnaby Joyce, who wants to talk about debt. He wants to talk about debt all the time, 'Let's talk about debt; let's talk about net debt'. No, he just wants to try and fudge the numbers—show that he can do the job by fudging the numbers—and he got sacked. He got sacked because he could not manage to describe any economic rationalist position.

The net debt that we have in this country as a percentage of GDP is peaking at around one tenth of major advanced economies. And yet those opposite, particularly the LaRouchian economics faction down in the corner, think about debt and make references to Greece. He talks about Greece all the time. He walks out and does a doorstop: 'Oh, no—that's Greece. That's Greece here'. Well, Mr President, debt is one-tenth of the level across major advanced economies. And did we get a question today about the AAA credit rating that we have from all three ratings agencies? This is something those opposite were never, never able to achieve.

Not everyone is on easy street. There are patchy conditions due to factors like the high dollar, factors like changing consumer patterns and ongoing global challenges. But the global economy is changing, technology is changing, and we can and should grasp the jobs and the opportunities that these changes will create. The Gillard government is getting on with the job of addressing the real issues facing Australians. That is why we are building the National Broadband Network.

Just this morning I demonstrated a brand new cutting-edge technology developed by the CSIRO in conjunction with the National Museum of Australia. And what did they have to say? What did we have to demonstrate? An extraordinary educational tool for every child in Australia. You can now take a tour of the museum here in Canberra no matter where you live. You do, of course, need one thing—a lot of bandwidth. And that bandwidth cannot be delivered on a piece of copper. Access to education services and access to health services should not be determined by how close you live to an exchange or, under the opposition's failing plan, how close you live to a node. The copper in the ground cannot deliver the next generation of health services, of aged-care services, of disability services or of educational services. (Time expired)