Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Brandis. Is PricewaterhouseCoopers correct when it says that more than one third of Australia is in recession?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ketter, I did see that report, and what I think you need to do is look at the real story—the real facts—because there is strong and broad momentum in the Australian economy, with growth of 0.9 per cent in the first three months of this year, an annualised growth rate of 3.6 per cent, which, as Senator Cormann reminds us, is about the fastest growth rate in the industrialised world. It was 2.3 per cent last year. It was 1.9 per cent in the last year in which the party you represent was in government. It was 1.9 per cent under Labor, 2.3 per cent in the first year of the Abbott government and, at the moment, on an annualised basis, it is 3.6 per cent, in the second year of the Abbott government.

Housing construction is booming, up 4.7 per cent in the March quarter—the best quarterly result in six years. Residential building approvals are 16 per cent higher than they were a year ago. They are at near record high levels. Exports increased by five per cent in the March quarter, the strongest quarterly increase since September 2000—the largest quarterly increase in 15 years. Exports are over eight per cent higher this year than the equivalent time last year. Service exports in areas such as tourism and education are up eight per cent over the past year, the fastest growth since 2007. Retail sales are up 4.1 per cent over the past year. There is a reason why our economy is growing as strongly as it is, and that is the policies of this government.

Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Is PricewaterhouseCoopers correct when it says that one in every five dollars of national income is produced by just 10 of 2,214 locations in Australia?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ketter, I read the media report of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. I cannot pretend to have read the report myself, but I did notice in the table that was reproduced in the media report that the principle areas in which economic activity was generated were the CBDs of the great capital cities—the postcodes of the CBDs of the great capital cities. Of course, that is what you would expect. Of course you would expect that the CBDs of Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane and Perth—

Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And Adelaide.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Bernardi—and Adelaide and, indeed, Hobart would be where business is concentrated, where the services sector in particular is concentrated, and would be the locality from which, overwhelmingly, the largest amount of economic growth is generated. That is a matter of common sense, Senator Ketter. But we should look at the position of the economy overall. (Time expired)

Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a final supplementary question. With one-third of Australia in recession, high unemployment, slowing growth and growing inequality between the different parts of the Australian economy, can the minister advise when the Prime Minister decided to junk his promise to build a stronger economy so everyone can get ahead?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ketter, not a day has gone by since this government was sworn in on 18 September 2013 when we have not been building a stronger and better economy for a more prosperous Australia, trying to turn the economy around from the economic basket case that was left to us by the party which you represent.

Senator Ketter, I quoted you figures about economic growth—3.6 per cent annualised this year, the fastest in the developed world. I quoted you the figures about housing construction and retail sales. Let me give you some more evidence of the success of the Abbott government's policies: the NAB business confidence index jumped four points to plus-seven points in May as a direct result of the budget. Business confidence is at the highest level in a year and well above the average which it had when the Labor Party was in power. Meanwhile 110,000 new jobs have been created this year alone. (Time expired)