Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The commitment that the government has made through the JobKeeper program, through the JobSeeker program, through the cash flow support, through the many measures—whether they be HomeBuilder, JobTrainer, all of these programs, including the balance sheet support that is being provided by the Reserve Bank, through which there has already been some $50 billion of support to keep rates low and to support the investments that have been made by businesses—these investments that are being made by the Australian government are not just for today, they're for tomorrow. They're extended out to the end of March and, for many of these programs, well beyond that.

The shadow Treasurer may be unaware that when you make funding commitments you do it not just now but over the next few years. That is how budgets work. I know the shadow Treasurer has never put a budget together and I know these are not matters that he may be well versed in, when his mentor on this was former Treasurer Swan, but I can let the shadow Treasurer know that the support we have announced is not just for today. It's for tomorrow and for the many months and quarters and in some cases for the years ahead. What is important as we move through this crisis is that we give that support both for today and tomorrow but also that we provide the road back for Australian businesses as they seek to make their way back.

Today's news is terrible news. It's devastating news. While it is true that, through the measures we've put in place, we've been able to cushion the blow with the expenditure already undertaken and the expenditure still to come, which Australians can count on, because it's been committed in the way we've set out, we have been able as a country to suppress this virus so much more than so many other countries around the world today, despite the very significant outbreak we've had more recently in Victoria. The same has been true to mitigate the impact, and far more devastating economic impacts that have been experienced in so many other places. There has been a 13 per cent fall through the year in Canada, a 19 per cent fall in France, an 11.3 per cent fall in Germany, a 10 per cent fall in Japan, a nine per cent fall in the United States, a 21.7 per cent fall in the United Kingdom and in Australia a 6.3 per cent fall. Devastating as that is, what I can also say is the death rate in Canada is nine times higher than in Australia, it's 18 times higher in France, it's four times higher in Germany, it's 21 times higher in the United States and 23.8 times higher in the United Kingdom. Australia is getting the balance right to save lives and livelihoods in a crisis. (Time expired)

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