Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McGrath for his question. The Australian economy is proving to be remarkably resilient as it strengthens and comes back from the COVID-19 induced recession. Today, the national accounts for the September quarter show that the recovery of the Australian economy is well underway. The Australian economy grew by 3.3 per cent for the September quarter, the strongest quarterly growth rate since 1976, and ahead of market expectations of 2.5 per cent. It follows, of course, the COVID-19 induced seven per cent fall in the June quarter.

The COVID-19 recession may, in a technical sense, be over, but our recovery continues and the government know that there is significant hard work ahead. We know that many Australian households and businesses continue to do it very tough, but, pleasingly, the national accounts saw strong growth in every state except Victoria for the September quarter. Growth is being driven by household consumption, which grew by 7.9 per cent for the quarter, the largest increase on record. It contributed some four per cent to real GDP growth for the quarter. Consumption was up across 17 categories, with the largest contributors being health, hotels, cafes, and restaurants—many sectors where small businesses and employees have been doing it tough. We welcome very much the fact that they are coming back strongly in terms of their recovery.

Our government's goal has been to make sure that Australians are safe from the virus, to keep Australians in their jobs and to help them to find a job through these tough times. We have been succeeding in these goals. Over the last five months, 650,000 jobs have been created, with the effective unemployment rate down from a peak of 14.9 per cent to 7.4 per cent. The Morrison government strongly contributed to this recovery with $257 billion of direct economic support and continues to invest. (Time expired)