Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wentworth for his question and acknowledge his extensive experience as a leading Australian diplomat before he came into this place. In his electorate, there are more than 80,000 taxpayers who will benefit from the tax cuts that we on this side of the House have supported. More than 30,000 small businesses in the electorate of Wentworth will be able to access the instant asset write-off again, which we announced in this year's budget. The Australian economy faces significant global and domestic headwinds. We know, with the trade tensions globally, that the IMF have said that, if they don't abate next year, you could see $700 billion come off global GDP. And we know, in terms of the devastating drought here in Australia, that agricultural output in the last two years is down by more than 14 per cent and that this drought is affecting around two-thirds of Queensland and about 95 per cent of New South Wales.

Despite those economic headwinds, domestic and global, the Australian economy continues to grow. We're in our 29th consecutive year of economic growth. While Germany, the United Kingdom and South Korea all experienced negative growth this year, the Australian economy continued to grow. We have a AAA credit rating and employment growth is around two per cent, which is around three times what we inherited from the Labor Party and more than double the OECD average. And today the current account surplus is the highest on record: $7.9 billion. It's through the work of this government that we are opening up access to markets for nearly two billion new customers across the region, as a result of the FTAs that we've entered into.

I'm asked about any alternative approaches. Now, despite S&P saying this week that the outlook for Australia is sound, despite Deloitte saying that the growth momentum is picking up, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia saying the economy has reached a gentle turning point and despite the IMF and the OECD saying that Australia, next year, will have faster growth than any G7 nation, those opposite, particularly the member for Rankin and the Leader of the Opposition, talk down the Australian economy. It's probably the first time and the last time I'll say it in this place, but the Leader of the Opposition should listen to Wayne Swan when he says: 'It's important our political leaders not be out there talking down the economy. Relentless negativity from the doomsayers insults the hard work so many Australians put in to make our economy strong.' I say to the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Rankin: they should dwell on that fact when they continue to talk down the Australian economy, despite this side of the House and this government cutting taxes and creating more jobs. (Time expired)

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