Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Fairfax. I note that he and I worked together on the report From little things big things grow: supporting Australian SMEs go global. It was great to work with him on that report, and I will return to that directly.

It is not surprising that the member for Fairfax has brought this motion today spruiking the trade surplus that Australia is currently enjoying. Although they are about to start their seventh year in office next month, good economic news has been very scarce under this coalition government ever since they took office. Their self-promotion material claims they are 'outstanding economic managers', yet there has been little evidence to back this up. It is therefore unsurprising that the member for Fairfax has grabbed some good figures with both hands.

It is true that Australia has recorded record trade surpluses this year, but we need to look a bit closer to understand why we are seeing these record trade surpluses. As the member for Goldstein pointed out, most Australians work in the service industries. So are skilled manufacturing exports or education booming? I ask that question rhetorically to the member for Goldstein. No.

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