Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

That is manifestly true. Clearly, if we want to bring unemployment down, in the context of population growth, then we need about three per cent growth. What I am saying is that employment numbers are now growing faster than they were under you. We are heading in the right direction. We are making progress. Are we in the position that we would like to be in? No, we are not yet in the position we would like to be in. There is still more work to be done. But let me tell you, we are in a much better position than we would have been if the carbon tax, which you want to bring back, was still in place and if the mining tax, which you want to bring back, was still in place and if all that red tape that Senator Wong imposed on the Australian economy, which you want to bring back, was still in place.

This is a government that is getting on with the job, making sure that we are more competitive internationally and that we can strengthen economic growth. We are now on the right trajectory, whereas before we were on the wrong trajectory, and that is what matters. You can knock, knock, knock, but we are actually making progress. We are getting on with it— (Time expired)