Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business. Can the minister update the Senate on how the government is demonstrating it is on the side of Australians who want a job and update the Senate on the Australian labour force figures for the month of June?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brockman for his question. It actually builds directly on the answer that Senator Ruston gave to the previous question she was asked, which was that this is a job-creating government. We make no apologies for the fact that we believe that the best form of welfare is a job. Since we were elected as a coalition government in 2013 we have set about putting in place the right economic framework so that businesses can prosper, grow and, as Senator Ruston has stated, create more jobs for Australians.

Senator Brockman, in relation to our home state of Western Australia, the most recent labour force figures for June of this year show that employment increased by almost 14,000 jobs. That is a good thing. The economy in WA is creating jobs. I'm also very pleased that in Western Australia we have the very high participation rate of 68.5 per cent. That says that Western Australians are confident in the jobs market. They're putting their hands up and saying, 'We want to participate.'

We don't shy away from being a job-creating government focused on getting people off welfare and into work. Since we were elected in 2013 the economy—the businesses out there—has created almost 1.4 million jobs. We continue to see jobs growth in Australia. In fact, the June labour force figures show us that total employment in Australia is at a record high, with 12,871,700 Australians employed. We also have record full-time employment. Over 246,000 full-time jobs have been created in the past year. We are a job-creating government.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brockman, a supplementary question.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank you, Minister, for that answer. Minister, are there any policy risks that you're aware of that could jeopardise these record figures?

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You can hear an outcry from the opposition benches. I say 'opposition benches' because that is where the Labor Party are. They have failed to learn from the most recent election. Australians put their hands up and they voted for jobs. They understood at the 18 May election that the greatest risk to the economy was the Australian Labor Party. They also understood that taking to the election a promise to tax Australians an extra $387 billion is not a job-creating policy. You will recall that they then fought tooth and nail to oppose the tax relief that we have now successfully delivered to the Australian people. We are a job-creating government and we understand that you need to put in place the right economic framework so that businesses can prosper, grow and create more jobs for Australians, and that's what we're doing.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brockman, a final supplementary question.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, what actions are the Morrison government taking to continue to grow our economy and ensure that more Australians are given the opportunity to find a job?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Those on this side of the chamber understand that you cannot take economic growth for granted. You also need to understand that governments themselves don't create jobs. What governments do is put in place the right economic framework so that businesses can prosper, grow and create more jobs. That is what the role of government is, and this government is doing that successfully. We have a strong economic plan. We want to return, and will return—under the leadership of our Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann—the budget to surplus in 2019-20. That is something that those on the other side have not managed to do since 1989. We know that infrastructure projects create jobs. That is why we have a commitment to a $100 billion infrastructure project. We've passed our tax relief for hardworking Australians because we know it's their money and they deserve to keep more of it.