Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stoker for that question. From day one, the Turnbull-McCormack government has been focused on creating jobs. We've been focused on creating jobs for the last five years. We've been focused on creating jobs because the most important start for young Australians is the opportunity to have a job. It is great news for this country that more than a million jobs have been created over that period. Indeed 400,000 jobs, a record number of jobs, were created last year, in one calendar year. We in the coalition understand that those jobs are not created from a room here in Canberra; they are created in farms, factories and offices all around our country. And it is those farms, factories and offices that we need to support so that we can create jobs. We do not support job creation in this country by focusing only on what goes on here in Canberra. We create jobs by focusing on the businesses that then go and employ people right around our country.

That is why we have cut taxes for businesses—because we support strong businesses that can have strong employment records. That is why we have signed free trade agreements right around the world with some of our biggest trading partners—China, Japan and Korea—and also across the Pacific region, because that will create more wealth, more income and more opportunity for businesses across Australia to employ people. It is why we are investing in infrastructure, with a record spend on infrastructure—on roads and dams across our country, building wealth in storing water to create more farming opportunities and more jobs there. It is why we support the wealth-producing industries of our country that put the things on a boat that allow us to buy things from overseas—our resources industry, our agricultural industry, our tourism industry—because we know our wealth and prosperity depend on the success of those businesses too. It is also why we are expanding into new industries and sectors, like defence, and building a defence industry in this country to further support job growth right around Australia.