Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a pleasure to rise tonight to confirm that the tide is finally turning for the Australian economy. The better days for our economy have emerged. The green shoots in the economic landscape are poking through. In recent months we have seen more jobs, more investment, more wages and more exports. I am delighted to stand here tonight to confirm that the Turnbull coalition government has delivered on its promise for jobs and growth. It's more than a catchcry; it is an outcome.

The national accounts for the June quarter reveal solid and more balanced growth for our prosperous and unique economy. This is a clear demonstration that only the coalition has the skills to implement the policies that deliver economic growth for all Australians. The facts are clear. The policies of the Turnbull coalition have secured economic stability and prosperity for Australia. Our economy has expanded 1.9 per cent during 2016-17. We've exceeded even our own expectations. Economic growth was above our 1¾ per cent forecast in the 2017-18 budget, and I'm very proud that we've managed to achieve this growth despite the volatility that continues in our commodity prices.

Only a coalition government can deliver the diligent and informed economic management that Australia requires. As evidenced by our national accounts for the June quarter, the forecasts that this government has made on areas such as growth, jobs and unemployment, have proved to be extremely accurate and even highly conservative. We've been able to maintain the confidence of the ratings agencies through these conservative assumptions, particularly those relating to commodity prices. This is no mean feat, and I doubt that those sitting opposite us tonight could achieve those same results.

The Treasurer, Scott Morrison, is 100 per cent right: the better days are, in fact, within reach. We've seen over 240,000 new jobs created just in the last fiscal year alone, and there is strong evidence to suggest that the labour market is tightening. Everything seems to be lining up with more jobs and more investment. The Turnbull coalition government is adamant this will flow through to the household sector, and Australians will finally soon see the real wage growth that has been so elusive in recent years—not just in Australia, but around the world.

We have a plan to jump-start wage growth. Incomes may be flat—they have been flat for a long time—but that is why growing the economy is so very important. The Turnbull government will not just dole out random cash payments in an untargeted manner, in a scatter-gun approach, nor will it implement higher taxes. That is a doomed policy of those opposite. Increased taxes on the Australian economy act like a wet blanket on not just growth but wages, investments and jobs.

To secure the sustained economic growth we rely on individual Australians. We rely on their aspirations and we rely on their accomplishments. Those accomplishments are realised by their initiative, by their enterprise and by their hard work. Accordingly, the Turnbull government's national economic plan has been carefully devised to increase private investment. And new private investment, very excitingly, has expanded in this last quarter by 1.1 per cent. Things are looking good. New private investment has expanded, and, at 1.5 per cent higher throughout the year, this is the first really positive growth sign since March 2013, which signalled the end of the mining investment boom. This is a sign that our economy is, indeed, transitioning from the mining days. Australian businesses have benefitted from the government's increased investment.

I rise in the chamber tonight buoyed by the economic data that we've seen in the June quarter accounts and buoyed by the knowledge that the coalition has the right economic plan to secure those better days ahead. Australians have long rejected the socialist agenda and the erroneous premise of high spending and high taxes idealised by the opposition leader. Our economy simply cannot afford to indulge in the cynical politics of envy, upheld by the opposition leader, Mr Bill Shorten.

The tide is now beginning to turn. It's very exciting that economic growth is just there. It's there. It's right before us. The time is now, and I thank the chamber for its time.