Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister inform the House how action to increase exports and support small business will create jobs and opportunity in my electorate of Petrie, and all around the country?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Petrie for his question, and I thank him for the support that he gives to the 8,000 plus small businesses in his electorate, some of whose representatives I was able to meet in February at the Dolphins rugby league club.

Our economy is fundamentally strong, and it is getting stronger. Yesterday's national accounts figures show that our economy grew by 0.9 per cent in the March quarter, and that was well above expectations. The latest statistics show that in the March quarter export volumes were up five per cent, and that is the best quarterly result in 15 years. In the March quarter, housing construction was up by almost 5 per cent. Again, that is the best quarterly result in six years. Confidence is strong—with the Westpac index up by more than six per cent after the budget. Jobs growth is strong. It was four times stronger last year than it was in 2013, and there are over 250,000 more jobs in our economy than there were at the election. A strongly performing economy does not happen by accident. It happens because Australia is open for business; because this government is open to business.

Since the election we have abolished the carbon tax. We have abolished the mining tax. We are rolling out the biggest infrastructure program in the history of this Commonwealth. We have provided environmental approvals to some $1 trillion dollars worth of new projects. We have cut red tape costs by $2 billion a year. We saved $30 billion in last year's budget. And, most importantly, we have secured free-trade agreements with China, with Japan and with Korea, our three largest export markets, covering more than 60 per cent of our merchandise exports. We are building on last year's tax cuts in this year's budget with the biggest small-business tax cuts in our history.

Today I went to Elite Meats, in Holt, here in Canberra. They became famous the day after the budget by putting a sign in their windows saying 'thank you Joe Hockey' for at last recognising the contribution that small business makes. I can report to the House that Elite Meats is buying an automatic meat slicer, thanks to the instant asset write-off that the Treasurer brought in, and this is happening right around our country. This is a government that is backing the people who are having a go, because that is the Australian thing to do.