Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We live in a strange time, but I am proud of our government's strong economic response in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. This has not been an easy task. The current crisis we find ourselves in is unprecedented. But, thankfully, the coalition government's strong economic policies have put us in a good position to bounce back. Without the coalition government's decisive economic response, we would not be in the position we are in now.

The impact of COVID-19 has been severe, not only for our health system but for the economy as well. While those on the other side might try to attack us for our mismanagement of the economic crisis, it would be important for them to note that we are in a global crisis. The average fall in GDP across OECD countries in the March quarter was six times that of Australia. Our economy has only contracted by 0.3 per cent, which is negligible in comparison to countries which experienced the full extent of the outbreak at the same time as us—including COVID-19 successes, such as Germany, which had its economy shrink by 2.2 per cent in the same period.

Government initiatives like JobKeeper have helped 7,000 organisations in my electorate of Chisholm. These organisations have been able to keep people on the books and off an already strained welfare system. Without this program, unemployment was projected to rise to 15 per cent instead of the worst-case scenario of 10 per cent that is currently predicted. In what universe is this not a success in economic management? Additionally, the coronavirus supplement paid along with the jobseeker payment has effectively doubled the payment for those who have lost their jobs and are doing it tough. This has stopped Australians from having to default on their loans, which could have led to a wider collapse of the banking and financial systems. That could have had wide-reaching consequences for the economy. I'm glad we have managed to avoid that possibility through the coalition's measured and well-considered policies. Of course, these measures can only be temporary. We, the government, are committed to ensuring that our economy can fully recover from the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. This is of incredible importance for Australia as a whole and cannot be rushed, and I wish those on the other side could understand that.

Unlike those opposite, we do have a comprehensive plan for Australia's economic recovery, based on growing the economy and creating jobs. We have already begun to unveil parts of this, such as the JobMaker program, which aims to fast-track infrastructure projects around Australia, creating jobs and promoting growth. We are committing a further $1.5 billion to immediately start work on small priority projects identified by the states and territories. This is on top of the $7.8 billion of projects we have already brought forward since November last year.

Our economy is slowly reopening, with restaurants, cafes, bars and other non-essential services gradually beginning to serve customers again across Australia. This is a great help to those businesses that have been struggling through these difficult times. We should continue to work together to make sure that our hard work does not go to waste. We live in strange times, but I am glad we have a strong coalition government with a proven record of sound and strong economic management to lead us out of this challenging time.

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