House debates

Wednesday, 1 September 2021

Questions without Notice

Economy

2:04 pm

Photo of Stephen JonesStephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. The Treasurer said our economy was 'ahead of the pack', but new numbers show that it's growing more slowly than the US, the UK and the OECD average, and the current quarter has been extremely tough for Australians. Was your claim of 'ahead of the pack' about as accurate as your claim to be 'back in black'?

Photo of Josh FrydenbergJosh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | | Hansard source

The Australian people watching today's question time could be mistaken in thinking that the honourable member actually wanted the economy to contract in the June quarter. They were actually begging and hoping and wishing that our economy would contract. The reality is that it didn't. The reality is that, at 0.7 per cent in the June quarter, we saw economic growth that was better than what the market was expecting. We now see our economy is 1.6 per cent bigger than it was at its pre-pandemic levels. The honourable member references other countries. Let me tell him that in France, their economy has contracted by 3.2 per cent, whereas ours is up by 1.6 per cent. In Germany, their economy has contracted by 3.3 per cent, whereas our economy is up by 1.6 per cent. In the United Kingdom, their economy has contracted by 4.4 per cent, and our economy is up by 1.6 per cent.

These are the June quarter numbers, and of course we're going to have a tough September quarter with our two major states in lockdown. But I'd say to the honourable member that what these numbers show today is that our economic plan has helped drive economic growth. I point to the dwelling investment numbers, which are up by more than 15 per cent through the year. A pipeline of 151,000 house approvals over the course of the last year was driven by programs like HomeBuilder, which those opposite did not support. Our immediate expensing provisions have seen machinery and equipment up by more than 22 per cent since last October's budget. Normally, in a recession you get businesses putting their wallets back in their pockets and not investing in economic growth. But businesses across Australia are buying a new harvester for the farm, buying a new cafe machine for the coffee shop, buying new tools and equipment for the tradie and investing in their future because they have hope and they have confidence in Australia's future. Today's economic numbers show that we have seen solid growth over the June quarter, that our economy is strong, that our economy is resilient and that our economy will bounce back strongly once restrictions start to ease.