George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

It never ceases to amuse me to hear the Australian Labor Party asking questions about economic management. Economic management, of all things, is their special subject—their special subject at which they were so infamously unsuccessful during six long, tedious and fractured years in government. The reality, Senator Watt, is that economic growth under this government is strong. The economy is growing at 3.3 per cent, faster than any of the G7 economies and over double the speed of the Canadian economy, the G7 economy with which the Australian economy bears the closest comparison.

The unemployment rate, at 5.6 per cent, is the lowest that it has been in three years. To put jobs growth into perspective, around twice as many new jobs have been created in the last 12 months than in Labor's last 12 months in office. Consumer confidence is buoyant. The ANZ's weekly measure of consumer confidence remains at the high rate of 118.2 points—that is above the long-term average. It has been above the long-term average for every week of the last six months. Exports are strong. Exports of goods and services from Australia are 9.6 per cent higher than they were a year ago—the fastest yearly growth rate in 16 years. Let me say that again: it is the fastest yearly growth rate in exports in 16 years. International education in particular is playing an extremely important role in our services exports. So far this year, 328,000— (Time expired)