Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

That is right. That includes the GFC. It is not correct to say that consumer confidence has returned to its long-term average, as the Treasurer claims. In fact, it is at its equal lowest level, and it is lower than it has been at any time, putting aside the GFC, since 1993.

This is about the budget. It is about the Treasurer's rhetoric, which is ill-judged and irresponsible. The Treasurer's rhetoric in the lead-up to the budget was talking up a budget crisis, and the Australian people listened, as they do when a Treasurer speaks, and they put away their wallets, and Australian businesses have paid the price for the Treasurer's ill-judged rhetoric.

Australian families have paid the price for the Treasurer's ill-judged rhetoric and his actions in the lead-up to the budget and since. The Australian people and Australian consumers have also responded to the mixed messages from the government—the lack of an economic strategy, the lack of an economic narrative. One day we are told: 'It is fine and that the budget is 75 per cent passed. What are you worried about? Everything is dandy.' The next day we hear: 'We have a crisis on our hands because of that terrible Labor Party, standing up for what they believe in—standing up for fairness. How dare they! They are blocking our budget.' Can Australian consumers be forgiven for being confused? If the Treasurer was competent, the Australian people would be confident. But he is not, and they are not. This is the impact of this government on consumer confidence, and consumer confidence has a big impact on business activity.

The people who analyse these figures have been very clear about what has caused this reduction in consumer confidence. Let us have another look at the Westpac survey. Westpac's chief economist Bill Evans said in November in relation to the November results: 'This is an unsurprising but still disappointing result.' It is unsurprising because the Australian people and the commentators have become used to this government. Clearly this is sheeted home directly to the budget. I note that in July a record 74 per cent of those surveyed recall news on budget and taxation—the highest recall rate of the budget in the history of the survey— and 74 per cent said this was leading to their reduction in confidence. They went on to say that the recollections were extremely unfavourable and were likely to remain that way. Guess what? Later on there was another survey which was the second worst in relation to negative recall on the budget. They have got some achievements and they have got some records—the worst and second worst when it comes to the impact on consumer confidence of this budget. It is the result of this government's approach.

We do have a different plan for Australia; we do have a different vision for Australia. We say very clearly that the budget should be on a credible path back to surplus. We would support sensible measures to return the budget to surplus, as we have supported more than $20 billion worth of savings through this House and the other house. We have supported it and we would support it. We will support measures that are fair, but we will never support measures that unfair because they are bad for Australian families and bad for the economy and we will not stand for it. We believe in economic reform with equity at its core, and economic reform with equity at its core is better for the nation, as well as being better for Australian families. We will embrace the age of entrepreneurialism; we will embrace innovation. We will participate in that debate. The competitiveness report released by the government was a damp squib of a report—a report which was full of excuses and government announcements, which we welcomed as far as they went—it was a long time coming and disappointing when it was released. We will support and have supported those measures but we will point out that these measures go nowhere near far enough when taken against the $113 million of cuts to the CSIRO, the 1391 jobs lost from CSIRO, a 21.5 per cent reduction in the workforce. These are not small numbers—21.5 per cent reduction in the workforce of the CSIRO that Australia's economic growth rate will pay a price for for many years to come.

As we end this parliamentary year, let there be no doubt: the Labor Party will always be the party of economic growth. We believe in it; we will promote it; and in government we will deliver it. We will deliver it for the best interests of all Australians. We will not choose lifters and leaners; we will say every Australian should benefit from economic growth and every Australian should be encouraged to contribute to economic growth to the best of their ability and capacity. That will be the approach of a Shorten Labor government; that will be the contest of ideas undertaken in this chamber next year and across the nation. It is a contest of ideas that we intend to participate in and win.

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