Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Brandis. I refer to the Abbott government's two-year anniversary and Mr Abbott's election promise to build a 'strong and prosperous economy'. Is it not true that under this government economic growth has virtually stalled, unemployment has increased, net debt has increased and the deficit has doubled?

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

Senator Wong, I thank you for your question because it gives me the opportunity to acquaint the Senate and to remind honourable senators of the many great achievements of the last two years—two years in which this government has been focused on building a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia.

Senator Conroy interjecting—

We hear some caterwauling over there from Senator Stephen Conroy. He is a senator who was so embarrassed by the previous Labor government—the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government—that he refused to even be a member of it; he refused to even serve in it. That was the government that we replaced two years ago today, and in that time 335,000 new jobs have been created. In this year alone, 163,000 jobs have been created—that is an average of more than 23,000 jobs every month this year. Jobs growth over the past year has been stronger in Australia than in any one of the G7 nations. Under the Abbott government, female workforce participation has reached record levels with 171,000 more women in jobs today than at the time of the 2013 election. Environmental approvals have been given to 176 projects that were stalled under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government, unleashing more than $1 trillion worth of economic potential. We have introduced tax cuts, including tax cuts for small business, taking the rate of small business taxation to its lowest figure since 1967.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

) ( ): Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I refer to Mr Abbott's election promise to build a strong 'powerhouse economy' delivering more jobs. Is it not true that under this Prime Minister more than 800,000 Australians are now out of work—the highest level in 20 years?

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

What I do know is that, with the creation of 335,000 new jobs, unemployment is lower today than it was projected to be under the Labor government. Senator Wong, I know you do not like hearing the good news. I know that you went into opposition two years ago today pulverised by the whole experience you had of six years of directionless government in which this country went nowhere. But the Abbott government is absolutely determined to unlock the economic potential of this nation and that is why we have invested in $50 billion of new infrastructure spending since we came to power and that is why we have freed up investment with the $1 trillion worth of projects that are now underway or about to be underway. (Time expired)

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

) ( ): Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Is it not true that the economy has gone backwards since the Abbott government's first damaging budget? I ask this minister, is it any wonder that the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and many of her colleagues want Treasurer Joe Hockey gone?

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

Poor Senator Wong—you never graduated from university politics, did you? You never quite left the nest of university politics at the University of Adelaide. The reality is that as a result of the very budget decisions that this government has made, we have reduced Labor's budget deficit from $48 billion when Senator Wong was the finance minister to $7 billion over five years—that represents a reduction in the budget deficit of approximately one half of one per cent of GDP every year. These are the decisions, Senator Wong, that your government did not have the spine to take; these are the decisions that you as finance minister were unable to take—you took our country from a situation of no debt to a situation of unprecedented debt. In two years we have begun to reverse that trend. (Time expired)