Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator Cash. Can the minister update the Senate on how the latest ABS labour force figures for October show the underlying resilience of the Australian economy and how the Morrison government's economic leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic has supported jobs and our economic comeback?

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

I thank Senator Chandler for her question. When the Treasurer earlier today was updating the Australian public on the national accounts, this is what he actually said:

The road ahead will be long, hard and bumpy. But the Australian economy has demonstrated its remarkable resilience …

And it actually has. Today's accounts show that the Morrison government's economic plan is helping to create jobs, it is helping to boost our economic recovery and it is helping to secure Australia's future. As the Leader of the Government in the Senate said, we have now seen GDP growth in the third quarter return to positive territory, growing by 3.3 per cent.

This is reinforced by the latest labour force figures for October, which show that, with a further easing of restrictions across Australia and businesses being able to reopen their doors, jobs are returning to the economy. In fact, the labour force figures for October show that labour market conditions across Australia continue to recover, with employment increasing in October by 178,800 jobs over the month. When you look at what the market expectations were versus what the employment growth actually was—178,800—it far exceeded market expectations. When you look at the breakdown of those jobs, full-time employment increased by 97,000 jobs. This is the largest monthly increase on record. Part-time employment rose by 81,800 jobs. We also saw an almost one per cent increase in the participation rate. So Australians are putting up their hands and they are saying, 'We want to go back to work.'

But this didn't happen by accident. This happened because of the strong policies that the Morrison government put in place— (Time expired)

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

Senator Chandler, a supplementary question?

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister inform the Senate how the October results build on the jobs recovery we've seen in recent months and how many Australians have found work again since the pandemic began?

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

Again, as we recognise, as the Prime Minister recognises and as the Treasurer recognises, there remains a long road to recovery. But Australians also want to know that we are on the right track. They want to know that the policies that we, as a government, are putting in place to support them, and to support their employers in keeping their jobs open, are actually working. And they are. In fact, more than 75 per cent of those who'd lost their jobs have returned to work. That is actually a good thing for those people. Seventy-five per cent who'd lost their jobs are back at work. When you look at the last five months, around 648,500 jobs have returned to the labour market since employment fell to its lowest level in May. Pleasingly, as Senator Payne knows, almost 343,800 jobs were for women. Australians want to be given hope, and certainly the employment figures do just that. (Time expired)

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

Senator Chandler, a final supplementary question?

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the coalition government had put in place the economic policies to support the creation of 1.5 million jobs. How will the government continue to support the recovery of the labour market and build on this record of supporting job creation?

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

The resilience of the labour market is on show with the employment figures, and, in particular, over the last five months. But that is because Australia entered COVID-19 from a position of economic strength. That is actually a good thing. You want to enter a pandemic from a position of economic strength, because it means that you have a chance of surviving it, and that is exactly what we are seeing happening. As we on the government side of the chamber know, governments don't create jobs; employers do—businesses do. Our role as a government is to put in place the economic policies that will help businesses keep their doors open, prosper, grow and create more jobs for Australians. That is exactly what we are doing, and that's why we have our JobMaker plan. It builds on our strong economic record, empowering businesses to prosper, grow and create more jobs for Australians, which is what we want them to do.