Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Carr's has perhaps a different philosophical bent! Household disposable income has in fact increased in this country by 2.5 per cent—the fastest quarterly rise in a decade—with the ABS saying it was driven by a decline in income tax payable and interest paid on dwellings as well as continued rises in the compensation of employees. That is what the ABS has said. It is not what Senator Watt has said but what the ABS has said. I'll say it again: it was driven by a decline in income tax payable and interest paid on dwellings as well as continued rises in the compensation of employees. As Senator Cormann said, it is up to the Australian people how they decide to spend or save their tax cuts. At least this side of the chamber gave them the choice. We gave them tax cuts so they could make the decision as to what was in the best interests of their families and their households. We gave them the choice.

Let me quote what Mr Philip Lowe, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, said in a press release just yesterday:

The US-China trade and technology disputes continue to affect international trade flows and investment as businesses scale back spending plans because of the uncertainty.

As Senator Cormann has frequently said in this place, this economy is facing difficult international issues that are not of its making. Notwithstanding that, and notwithstanding the fact that countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Singapore have all experienced negative economic growth this year, Australia is still producing positive economic growth. Notwithstanding those headwinds, there is still positive economic growth. We have maintained our AAA credit rating, and we're one of only 10 economies around the world to do that—an outstanding performance.

What are other people saying, other than those on the other side of the chamber in the opposition? Standard & Poor's said recently that the outlook for the Australian economy is sound. Deloitte said that the Australian economy is picking up with momentum. The IMF and the OECD are forecasting Australia to grow faster than any other G7 nation in 2020. The Reserve Bank of Australia has said that the economy has reached a gentle turning point.

To go on, in terms of the Reserve Bank of Australia's commentary:

The central scenario is for growth to pick up gradually to around 3 per cent in 2021. The low level of interest rates, recent tax cuts—

opposed by those opposite—

ongoing spending on infrastructure, the upswing in housing prices and a brighter outlook for the resources sector should all support growth.

So it is a positive story and Australia is doing remarkably well, notwithstanding the headwinds on an international basis.

What else did we hear today during question time? The Canberra bubble is alive and well. Earlier today, eight out of 12 Queensland senators supported the legislation in relation to repairing the medevac scheme—eight out of 12 senators representing the will of the Queensland people. We heard their voices loud and clear at the last election. We went to that election with a promise that we would deliver those amendments to the scheme. We delivered those today, and today we can go back to the constituents of Queensland and say, 'Job done.' Eight out of 12 Queensland senators supported that legislation. We will remind Queenslanders that four out of 12 Queensland senators did not—three from the Australian Labor Party and one from the Greens.