Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

When we came into government, we inherited a weakening economy, rising unemployment and a rapidly deteriorating budget position. The unemployment rate is well below where it was when we came into government. Employment growth has been incredibly strong, running at about 2.6 per cent or 2.7 per cent over the last couple of financial years and 2.5 per cent over the most recent year, well above the 1.8 per cent long-term average. I would again refer to what happened to the lowest income earners in Australia under Labor.