Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister please outline to the House how tonight's budget will continue to secure our economy and create a stronger future for all Australians?

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

I thank the member for Longman for his question. He knows and will learn this evening that tonight's budget is a budget that Australians have been working hard for. Over the course of the last three years, Australians have had to put up with a lot. They've had to sacrifice a lot. They've been pushing through. They have been dealing with pandemics, with floods and with fires. Australians have made great sacrifices. We've come through those years, working together and pushing through those difficult times. That hard work will be on display tonight in the budget that we're able to deliver, which will ensure that, combined with strong, responsible and effective economic management, we can deliver for the people of Australia tonight. That same economic management has driven unemployment from 5.7 per cent, when we came to government, down to 4.0 per cent—and it's falling still, to below four per cent, to have a 'three' in front of it. That same economic management, through the course of this pandemic, has enabled Australia to retain its AAA credit rating, one of only nine countries to do so—and the list was longer before this pandemic. That same economic management has ensured that Australia's economy today has around 370,000 more jobs in it than before the pandemic. That same economy has outstripped the performance of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France and the entire G7.

The economic management of this government, combined with the hard work and sacrifice of Australians, means that tonight we can ensure that we deliver support to Australians on the cost-of-living pressures that they are facing today. In addition to that, and doing so responsibly and in a targeted and an affordable way, we will also make the investments in Australia's future prosperity with our long-term economic plan that is working. We know that our economic plan is working because Australians are in work and unemployment has fallen to four per cent under our watch. Under Labor's watch, unemployment went up; under our watch, unemployment fell to four per cent.

We're making investments in skills, in infrastructure, in affordable and reliable energy, in making things in this country, in manufacturing and particularly in our regions. Tonight, you will see an investment in our regions that no government has ever had the ambition to embark on which will transform our regions and ensure that the wealth of our regions is unlocked so we can invest in the essential services that Australians rely on at record levels and we can keep Australians safe. A stronger economy means a stronger future. (Time expired)