Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are successfully paving the way to a full economic, health and social recovery for Australia. Last month, the unemployment rate dropped again, this time to 5.6 per cent. The Australian economy has recovered 85 per cent of the fall since the start of the pandemic. There were 70,700 new jobs created in April 2021 alone, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Consumer sentiment is the highest it's been in 11 years. Australians are confident in the Morrison government's ability to steer us out of this pandemic, businesses are no longer afraid to invest and other countries on the global map are looking to Australia's handling of this COVID-19 crisis. While the United Kingdom's economy contracted by 9.9 per cent, Italy's by 8.9 per cent, France's by 8.2 per cent, Canada's by five per cent, Japan's by 4.8 per cent and the United States' by 3.3 per cent, Australia, in comparison, was only down by 2.5 per cent.

Last night, the Morrison government revealed the next stage of this government's economic plan in the 2021-22 yet. This budget will secure Australia's economic recovery, create more jobs, ensure that Australians have access to essential services and make sure we come out on the other side of this pandemic stronger and more resilient than ever. Included in this budget are a $1.7 billion Child Care Package to boost workforce participation; a $353.9 million investment to support women's health, including funding for cervical and breast cancer, endometriosis and reproductive health; a $1.2 billion Digital Economy Strategy which will provide the framework for ensuring Australia is a world-leading digital economy and society by 2030; the $1 billion Building Better Regions Fund to deliver infrastructure upgrades to regional airports, sporting precincts and health facilities; and a new National Recovery and Resilience Agency to coordinate and align Australia's national capability to build resilience, better prepare for natural disasters and recover from all hazards.

The data speaks for itself. It's written there in black and white. This is not a government that has fallen behind and it's incorrect to even suggest otherwise. We are leading by example and we are recovering strongly. Yes, there are still some bumps in the road, some creases to iron out and some challenges ahead, and there are sectors and regions out there that are doing it tough, but Australia's economic recovery is strong, broad based, resilient and well underway. This was confirmed by last week's national accounts. We will continue to lend our economic support to all Australians and businesses every step of the way.

Other figures which should be noted include that the Australian economy grew by 3.1 per cent in the December quarter, following a 3.4 per cent rise in September. This is the first time in recorded history that Australia has seen two consecutive quarters of economic growth of more than three per cent. Growth over the quarter also reflected a renewed pick-up in private investment, supported by government policy incentives such as HomeBuilder and business tax incentives. New private business investment also expanded by 2.6 per cent.

While out and about in my electorate of Longman, the main concerns brought up by my constituents as a result of this pandemic are employment, crime and support for small and medium businesses, which is why it's great to see our labour market has also remained resilient, with the incredible news that there are now more Australians in employment than there were pre-pandemic. I'm proud that to say that our information tells us we are the first OECD nation to achieve this. Leading indicators suggest the labour market recovery will continue in the near term, with the National Skills Commission vacancy index up by 11 per cent through the year to January.

As a business owner myself, I'm a big advocate for business investment in the electorate of Longman. With consumer and business confidence back to pre-pandemic levels, I'm hoping that more businesses will choose to invest as confidence continues to increase, which will see more businesses open across Longman.

These numbers are a reflection of one thing, and that is business confidence—confidence in the Morrison government's ability to manage the economy in a responsible manner during the most testing time since the Second World War. I look forward to this trend continuing while remaining in government and look forward to being a part of a government that will continue to inspire a private sector led and government supported recovery from the pandemic.

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