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

Australia's health and economic performances have been world leading, and we were the first advanced economy in the world to see the size of our economy, our GDP and our employment market jobs levels surpass the pre-pandemic levels. More than one million jobs have been created across the Australian economy since May last year, with an estimated 160,000 more Australians in work than before the pandemic, notwithstanding the current lockdown challenges and difficulties. Our unemployment rate decreased for nine consecutive months, falling to 4.6 per cent in July.

In terms of health outcomes, while we've tragically seen millions of deaths occurring overseas and still significant daily deaths around the world, in Australia we've saved an estimated 30,000 lives as part of that health response. Tragic though the loss of life is in Australia, there is much to be proud of in the way we have managed this pandemic and managed to do so saving the lives and livelihoods of so many of our fellow Australians. (Time expired)