Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline to the House how the Morrison government's plan to create jobs and rebuild our economy will secure our economic future and guarantee the essential services Australians rely on?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Reid and all members of this place who have been supporting their communities through what has been one of the most difficult times Australians have known for many generations. We know that the challenge we face is great, but Australians are up to that challenge, and the plan that the budget delivers tonight, through the Treasurer, is also equal to that challenge. It is a plan for economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession and a plan to rebuild Australia's economy for the future.

There will be a coalition led economic recovery from this COVID-19 recession as we bring back jobs and protect jobs. This budget is a plan to keep Australians in jobs and to get more Australians into jobs, to cushion that blow, to recover what was lost, and to ensure we rebuild our economy for the future. This budget guarantees the essential services that Australians rely on. Our approach is to ensure that Australians see in the budget that we bring down tonight that the health and education services, disability services, aged-care services and other services that Australians rely on are guaranteed and assured, while at the same time we are fighting this virus and fighting for the jobs of Australians. Our approach enables Australians to keep more of what they earn. It is a fundamental principle of our government that Australians should be able to retain more of their hard-earned income for their future, so they can have choices and plan for their future.

Our approach ensures that we are making it easier to do business in this country and providing incentives for businesses that employ Australians to employ more of them, to invest more in our economy into the future and to give them that support. It ensures that we're enabling Australians to get the skills, training and education they need, through either the 340,000 places under the JobTrainer program or the additional 12,000 university places the Minister for Education himself has announced in the past seven days. Our approach ensures they will get the education they need, not just for themselves but for the employers who want to employ people with those skills. Our approach will enable our economy to have the affordable, reliable and lower-emissions technologies that will guarantee our economy not only for today and tomorrow but for 30 years into the future. This is what our plan does. It builds the infrastructure. It supports our manufacturers. It's a bold, responsible and reliable plan. It's a plan that allows Australians to sit around their kitchen tables and start to plan again for their future with confidence, as a result of the economic leadership that will be provided, and will continue to be provided, by this government. Tonight is that recovery plan for the future. It is the plan to rebuild our economy for the future. It is the plan for jobs Australia needs.