Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Our economy is now 13 per cent larger than it was prior to the global financial crisis. Why is that so? Because of the policies we put in place to support demand in our economy in the face of the global financial crisis and the global recession. The consequence of that is that we did not go into recession like most other developed economies, and we are far stronger for it. We have created over 950,000 jobs in this country during our period in office. And, of course, we have a AAA credit rating from the three major global rating agencies, confirmed again last night by those rating agencies.

So this budget is all about a sustainable path to surplus, supporting jobs and growth and making the investments, particularly the smart investments which will drive productivity in our economy for the future—the investments the Prime Minister was talking about before. The investments in school improvement are absolutely critical not just to making sure that no child is left behind but also to lifting our productivity for the long term. Then, of course, there is the sustainable funding of DisabilityCare, a very big initiative from this government.

That is why I was so disappointed to see this morning that the shadow Treasurer said there was no hope in the budget. Tell that to the 460,000 people with permanent disabilities in this country: 'No hope in the budget.' Tell that to the people who are in employment: 'No hope in the budget.' What this actually shows is that those opposite do not have a clue as to what they are doing when it comes to economic policy.

On this side of the House we have a record of getting the big economic calls right. We are doing it again to support jobs and growth in our economy.

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