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

I thank the member for her question and hope that letter she received had a $100,000 cheque and that it was properly disclosed, because these Independents are speaking from both sides of their mouths The last thing they are is true Independents.

The reality is that this side of the House have helped deliver more than $60 billion of economic support to the people of New South Wales—record support to the people of New South Wales, whether it's been the JobKeeper payment, the cash flow boost, the $750 payments to pensioners, carers, veterans and others on income support, or, indeed, the COVID disaster payment, where we picked up the tab during the recent Delta outbreak. We partnered with the New South Wales government on a fifty-fifty basis to provide business support, which was very important.

But now the economy is recovering strongly. There are definitely businesses and families who continue to be challenged by the current economic conditions, but Australia has outperformed all major advanced economies. We have been there for the Australian people, including the people of New South Wales, when they needed our help. Today, we have an unemployment rate at 4.2 per cent, a 13-year low, on track to a 50-year low. We look at the strong pipeline of business investment, which is counterintuitive during a recession. Businesses are taking advantage of the immediate expensing provisions that we have outlined in successive budgets. We have held on to our AAA credit rating from the three leading credit-rating agencies, and we've been supporting households and businesses with lower taxes, because that's consistent with the values that we on this side of the House support and live by.

Another proof point to the people of New South Wales that we are recovering strongly is consumer confidence. Today consumer confidence was up by 3.3 per cent for the past week, the single biggest increase in consumer confidence since April 2021. It was up in New South Wales, it was up in Western Australia, it was up in Victoria, it was up in Queensland, it was up in South Australia and it was up in Tasmania. So the fact is on the health front we have seen the omicron cases and the ICU and the hospitalisation numbers start to come down, but our economic support is still there with the COVID payment for those who are forced to take up to a week of leave from their job. (Time expired)

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