Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks to the new member for Bullwinkel for her important question and for all of her work in this place already as a new member of parliament focused on the most important issues. The numbers we got today in the national accounts were very encouraging, and they were very welcome. The numbers came in better than what almost all economists were expecting today. We saw growth in the quarter of 0.6. We saw through-the-year growth of 1.8. That beat expectations on both fronts, and that's a very good thing. Our economy is gathering pace and it's gathering momentum. We have seen in the data released today for the June quarter a very welcome and a substantial pick-up in growth in our economy, and that's important.

The big story in the national accounts today was the pick-up and the recovery in the private sector in particular, and this is the recovery in the private sector that we've been planning for and preparing for and, frankly, hoping for. To see the private sector make the contribution to growth in the numbers today again was very welcome. The reason why the private sector is recovering, the reason why that's feeding through to the biggest contributor to growth in the quarter, which was consumption, is that this government has worked diligently every single day to lift wages and lift incomes in our economy. That's what's driving the improvement in growth in the numbers that were released today. Consumption is recovering in our economy because incomes are recovering in our economy.

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