Bill Shorten Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
2:00 pm
My question is to the Prime Minister: if the last two years have been about jobs and growth, why is unemployment up and growth right down?
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Government Members:
Government members interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
That question is as false and misleading as the statement that we heard earlier from the member for Rankin. It is a false and misleading statement—
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Opposition Members:
Opposition members interjecting—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
from a Leader of the Opposition who has a general reputation for getting things wrong and for being two-faced. For the benefit of members opposite, let me remind them that in the March quarter Australia's economic growth was amongst the highest in the developed world. We were growing at a rate which was just about the highest in the developed world in the March quarter. Our growth is strong—stronger than it was under members opposite in their last year—and when it comes to jobs there are now 335,000 more jobs in our economy than there were on election night. Jobs growth now is four times the rate it was when members opposite were in charge in 2013.
This is very important, because everywhere you turn the Labor Party is against jobs. It is against jobs at the Adani mine in Queensland. It is against jobs on the East West Link in Melbourne. It is against the China free trade agreement, which will create jobs. Everywhere you look, the Labor Party is against jobs, because the only thing the Labor Party is interested in these days is protecting union rackets and appeasing the Greens.
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the ABS data that shows the Prime Minister has increased unemployment in Australia.