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

I reject the interjection that was made by Senator Watt before I'd even started my response. What our government is confident of—indeed, the advice that has been received from and made public in various statements by the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the Secretary of the Treasury is to expect to continue to see jobs growth and jobs recovery as a result of the continued stimulus and activity going in across the Australian economy.

JobKeeper has absolutely saved many jobs. JobKeeper has, in fact, saved more than 700,000 jobs, on the estimates of experts. Other measures we've put in place include the tax cuts that I was talking about in this chamber yesterday, putting an extra $1 billion a month into the pockets of Australian households. They continue to drive extra economic activity and extra support. The $1.2 billion package announced in recent weeks in relation to support for the aviation, travel and tourism sectors will, again, provide additional activity job support across the Australian economy. The investment incentive measures we put in place and the loss carry-back measures that are there provide additional support for businesses across the Australian economy and continue to underpin jobs.

JobKeeper was, as we always said, intended to be a temporary targeted measure. What those opposite seem to forget is that that is also what the Labor Party called for. Mr Albanese—