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

I've referenced the fact that we are rolling out the vaccine. I've referenced the fact that there'll be lockdowns. I can also reference the fact that in the budget we put nearly half a billion dollars towards increasing the quarantine facility in Howard Springs. The reality is that this budget is predicated on the fact that the pandemic is still with us. That is why we've extended the LMITO, the low and middle income tax offset, a temporary measure. That is why we've extended immediate expensing. That is why we've extended the skills program. That is why we've extended and expanded the infrastructure program. And that is why we are seeking to drive unemployment down. But the inconvenient truths for the member for Rankin are that under us unemployment today is 5.5 per cent, that even after the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression the unemployment rate today is lower than when we came to government, that more than 900,000 jobs have been created since the pandemic started, that more people are in work today than when the pandemic began and that our economy is bigger today than when the pandemic began. These are the inconvenient truths for the member for Rankin. (Time expired)

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