Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer him to a statement by the Reserve Bank governor that the real consequence of persistently lower productivity growth into the long-term future is simply that living standards do not rise as quickly as they might have. I also refer to the 2006 OECD Education at a glance report, which found that investment in TAFE and university education in Australia declined by seven per cent while the average increase across OECD countries was 48 per cent. Does the Prime Minister accept any responsibility for Australia’s declining productivity growth?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I have two comments. Firstly, I think the Leader of the Opposition is selectively quoting the OECD. The reference was to public investment. My advice is that the education component of productivity growth in Australia has remained constant over the last 20 years.